Technical Specialist, Gender

Job Purpose:

The purpose of the Gender Technical Specialist role is to support a project that will promote the economic empowerment of marginalized young people, especially adolescent girls and women in Rwanda, Somalia and Tanzania. Through skills development and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the project will enhance access to skills training for decent employment, particularly in the green and digital economies, thereby improving overall development and community resilience.  The Gender Technical Specialist will establish gender sectoral standards for program quality, strengthen monitoring and evaluation, technical support for project implementation including gender capacity assessment and training for project staff and partners and supporting gender mainstreaming in all the project activities.  This position will also support the robust monitoring of gender responsiveness of the project’s implementation and ensuring the reporting to the donor meets desired expectations.

Ongoing responsibilities include gender equality strategy development, coordination & harmonization across countries, and high-quality technical support (e.g. indicator and tool development, data analysis, document review, coaching, workshop learning forum planning and supportive supervision) both remotely and via travel to work with field teams, as well as active participation in Canada-based gender technical working groups.

The Gender Technical Specialist will report to the People Leader, Technical Excellence, Programs & Policy and will work closely with the Gender Sectoral Lead and project team.

Availability for international and domestic travel 2 -3 times per year as needed.

Responsibilities:

Gender Technical Advisory and Quality Assurance

• Support field staff to conduct gender and human rights assessments,
• Develop, integrate and implement gender equality strategies and feminist approaches in each stage of the project’s life cycle, ensuring overall coherence and technical quality, including measurement through the project’s performance measurement framework.
• Represent the project in World Vision Canada’s Gender Equality Technical Team.
• Actively engage with field teams and partners to ensure that all project plans are informed by a robust gender analysis.
• Monitor gender equality technical quality at the country level through effective relationships with field teams.
• Support field teams to review project deliverables and donor reports from a gender technical quality control perspective, ensuring consistency and compliance with donor gender equality policies.
• In collaboration with MEAL staff, develop and monitor gender-transformative indicators, targets and goals in the program performance measurement framework.
• Contribute to creating knowledge and capturing impact of gender mainstreaming and gender transformative approaches on the project and in targeted communities.  

Advocacy & Business Development

• Support the development and execution of advocacy strategies by the field teams and partners, particularly with relevant local institutions, including microfinance institutions, business development services, TVET institutions and employment services to influence gender-related policy changes
• produce high quality thought leadership materials and supporting positioning activities within the implementing countries.

Knowledge Mobilization & Innovation

• Support implementing countries in the design, testing, and evaluation of innovations to advance gender equality in the context of marginalized youth aged 15 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
• Explore additional options to support the unpaid care component, for example with resources that directly help young women and adolescent girls with this added burden (e.g., childcare structures/resources, resources to support expecting/young mothers etc.)
• Distill learnings and evidence generated into succinct and compelling programmatic guidance and thought leadership for internal and external engagement.
• Monitor developments in the sector and field to develop and refine program models and identify new research opportunities.
• Partner with project staff and communications teams to develop and disseminate technical and project materials.
• Contribute to and benefit from cross-organizational learning on gender transformative approaches through active participation in WVC’s Gender Equality Technical Team.

Capacity Building and Learning  

• Assess project staff’s capacity to lead gender- transformative programming, using GEEHR donor guidance and local knowledge as the main points of reference to support and develop, implement and showcase capacity building plans, technical support workshops and learning platforms to build capacity of field staff and partners.
• Amplify the work of local teams by providing ongoing mentoring and coaching for field-based gender staff and focal persons as required, and supporting learning platforms to showcase their work.

Qualifications:

• Masters degree in Gender and Development studies, or related gender-focused discipline, with at least 5 years international experience in gender equality programming, or an undergraduate degree in gender and professional designation in gender with at least 7 years international experience in gender programming.
• At least 3-5 years’ experience in the design, implementation and management of grant funded development projects with gender as the focus.
• Keen understanding of the East African contexts and culturally relevant gender-transformative programming approaches
• Experience with youth empowerment approaches, TVETs, and youth skills development
•  3-5 years’ experience in Gender Policy work, Capacity Development, Research and Evaluation, and Cross-sectoral Partnerships
• Outstanding gender analysis skills and ability to support others in translating analysis into concrete gender transformative program implementation at local level
• Demonstrated experience/expertise in:
• gender program documentation, program monitoring, donor report writing, networking, and partner development for resource acquisition.
• working in cross-functional and remote teams for the purpose of program implementation and development of technical standards.
•  GBA+ analysis and other gender equality frameworks, gender mainstreaming, and gender-transformative planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Understanding of a human -rights based approach to development.
• Availability for international and domestic travel 2 -3 times per year as needed.
• Innovative, develops new ideas, and demonstrates adaptability.
• Seeks to empower others and has a passion for gender equality, inclusion and human rights
• Ability to synthesize and develop high-quality knowledge products from diverse data sources including programmatic materials and tools
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills to develop good working relationships across cultural and organizational boundaries.
• Strong knowledge and experience in qualitative research methods as well as Feminist MEAL is an asset.
• Excellent English communication and writing skills.
• Thought leadership expertise such as contributions to academic journals, books, blogs, articles, speaking engagements, leading conference presentations and panels.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines.
• Computer literacy including Internet, Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams)

Why Consider Us?  

• World Vision Canada has consistently been awarded Canada and GTA top employer awards.
• We are Canada’s largest development, relief, and advocacy non-profit organization.
• We embody an Agile mindset here.
• We offer competitive pay and benefits. Our comprehensive health benefits start at day 1 which includes a Health Spending Account. 
• We match pension contributions up to 6% and provide a top-up for pregnancy & parental leaves.
• We offer extra time off for restoration by closing for an additional day on long weekends, 6 times a year.
• We provide up to six weeks’ vacation, plus paid sick days, personal days & wellness days.
• We offer a family-friendly, caring, and flexible work environment. 

#LI-Hybrid