Senior Manager - Gender and Programs at World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)

Overview

• The ideal Senior Manager, Gender and Programs will be a compelling leader and leading gender expert, able to foster and steer high quality initiatives at AWARD. He/she will provide robust professional and technical guidance for multi-faceted programs focused on the nexus between gender and agriculture, environment and climate change, agricultural policy, and practice in Africa. He/she will oversee the implementation of the current portfolio of AWARD’s programmatic activities, coordinate the planning and design of new initiatives, lead AWARD’s conversations and engagement on gender in agricultural research for development with regional and global stakeholders. The incumbent will work collaboratively with all AWARD units to ensure seamless program execution and identify key learnings and opportunities for action to accelerate and achieve AWARD’s vision and mission. He/she will be also responsible for enhancing AWARD’s performance and credibility as an essential player and expert on gender responsive agricultural research for development (AR4D).

Duties and responsibilities

• The Senior Manager, Programs and Research will: Provide leadership, direction, and technical support in the day-to-day program operations, production of high quality and timely deliverables in line with the work planning and allocated budgets.
• Lead AWARD's engagement with national, regional and global agricultural research and development communities on issues of gender and agriculture, climate change, and policy.
• Prepare comprehensive work plans, develop program budgets, and work closely with the Team to ensure cost-effective interventions and operations at AWARD.
•  Lead the development of a robust gender research agenda and preparation of guidance materials, including toolkits and guidelines on gender responsive AR4D.
• Work closely with the Programs, M&EL and Communications units, to translate data, evidence, and learnings from AWARD initiatives into compelling narratives and action points for sharing with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
• Coordinate with the Programs, M&EL and Communications units, the review and analysis of the implementation and progress of the various initiatives to ensure that AWARD’s standards of excellence are maintained as well as to enable continued adaptive management. Support the review of AWARD’s grants, the analysis of cumulative results achieved and the preparation of recommendations to improve performance.
• Prepare regular progress updates, lead the reporting exercises and sharing with the relevant internal and external audiences.
• Contribute to AWARD’s resource mobilization efforts, identify, and provide guidance on new funding opportunities and strategic partnerships to explore as necessary. Serve as a member of the senior management team and contribute to the strategic positioning, decision making and working towards a farsighted, efficient, and effective leadership for AWARD.
• Support continued capacity development of the AWARD team in the areas of gender responsive AR4D.
• Proactively supervise a dynamic team of colleagues by providing effective coaching and necessary support for team motivation, personal and professional growth.  
• Represent AWARD externally as needed.   

Education, knowledge and experience
Education

•  PhD in a relevant discipline, including gender studies, agricultural economics, social sciences, rural sociology, international development, rural development, or any related fields. Language proficiency
•  Excellent command of the English language, both written and spoken, with proven drafting and editing skills. Fluency in French would be an added advantage. Knowledge and experience
•  A minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience working in the field of international development/organisational development with a strong focus on integrating gender dimensions into programs and policies, particularly in the context of agriculture, climate change, rural development, food security and nutrition.
•  Internationally recognized expertise in gender methods, gender analysis and development research, preferably in the food systems and agriculture sphere.
•  Strong knowledge of, and experience in program design, implementation, management, and evaluation.
•  Proven experience in the coordination of donor-funded projects and thus, good knowledge of donor planning cycles, agreement requirements and regulations as well as donor reporting processes.
•  Experience working in Francophone Africa will be ad added advantage.
•  Experience in managing culturally diverse teams, including recruitment, and managing performance, career development, coaching and mentoring.
•  Solid experience working with multi-stakeholders in the agricultural sector and managing the implementation of complex institutional transformation processes on the African continent.
•  Strong understanding of the role of gender in the African agriculture and food systems, the policy landscape in Africa; value chain development and implications for socio-economic development, challenges, and opportunities for Africa’s effective development.
•  Solid track record of research contributions in agriculture and development, use of mixed-methods approaches, evaluation design, impact assessment and other strategic analyses focused on gender, agri-food systems, and related research topics.
•  Demonstrated experience in resource mobilisation and donor relations, including writing grant proposals and other fundraising materials.
•  Experience in communicating research, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (M&L) using a gender lens – related evidence including practical recommendations for action.