Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Technical Specialist

 

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Technical Specialist will use their in-depth contextual understanding, technical and practical expertise, and relationship building skills to define and deliver our strategic ambition for advancing gender equality and social inclusion in Kenya and Madagascar.   The role will lead strategy development and the technical design, implementation and measurement of high-quality programmes that advance gender equality and social inclusion, and ensure that girls and boys can equitably access, participate within, benefit from and act as decision makers for both emergency and development programming. The role supports national advocacy and influencing, while driving strategic partnerships to advance gender equality. 

 

It provides leadership to ensure our work is grounded on intersectional gender and power analysis and supports the design and implementation of gender transformative monitoring and evaluation systems to demonstrate impact, while sharing learning across our programmes, teams and partners.  The role will work closely with operations (programme implementation) colleagues and with partners, especially women’s/girls’ rights and gender equality-focused organizations, in Kenya, fostering the building of ownership and agency of local and national actors. It will provide leadership to design/adapt and deliver gender transformative content for capacity building and system strengthening of staff and partners. This role includes a focus on external representation on priority issues including child-centred gender and power analysis, girls’ empowerment, gender-based violence and other topics central to gender transformative child rights-based approaches across thematic areas. In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Director of Programme Development and Quality

Staff reporting to this post: no direct reports but expected to provide coaching and mentoring support to operational and other technical colleagues and local and national actors.

Budget Responsibilities: None but might be responsible for delivering some project activities.

Contract Duration: 2 years

Role Dimensions: The role is expected to foster relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including Save the Children members, the Country Office Programme Development & Quality team,  regional advisors, technical counterparts in other organisation, donors etc. The role is also expected to engage with internal technical working groups and communities of practice (COP), including regional and global gender equality COPs.

Context: Humanitarian and development

Scope: The Kenya and Madagascar Country Office has diverse programs in areas of Health, Nutrition, WASH, Food Security and Livelihoods, Child Protection, Child Rights Governance, and Education Sectors.   

Primary Technical area: Gender Equality

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategy & Technical Leadership:

• Provide technical leadership for gender equality and social inclusion for the Country Office and set the strategic approach in relation to the wider global strategy, Country priorities, and supporting the organization to implement Save the Children’s Global Gender Equality Policy.
• Provide technical leadership to establish/support/monitor a Gender Equality Action Plan for the for-Country Offices, grounded in Save the Children’s Gender Equality Self-Assessment and other tools.
• Stay abreast of technical developments and trends in gender equality and social inclusion  disseminating information to Country Office technical experts to access, understand, utilize, and contextualise global guidance, evidence, materials and tools
• Build capacity of staff and partners across the Country  Office in key technical approaches related to advancing gender equality and social justice via developing and facilitating high quality training via workshops, webinars, etc., as well as providing ongoing high-quality technical assistance and coaching.

 

Resource Mobilization & Programme Design:

• Work closely with New Business Development team at the Country Office to serve as the technical lead on key strategic gender equality and social inclusion  funding opportunities, including but not limited to scoping, capture planning, positioning, information gathering, partnership brokering etc
• Provide technical assistance to the Country Office on design to fashion a high quality, holistic gender-transformative and gender-equality focused programs grounded on intersectional gender and power analysis, upholding accountability for Save the Children’s global Gender Equality Marker (development or humanitarian), and incorporating best practices, evidence-based solutions and innovation for gender equality;
• Work with Child Rights Governance colleagues to ensure that a rights based approach is reflected in our programme design and implementation (in line with our child rights programming approach), with a strong focus on meaningful and equitable child participation
• Promote a Systems Strengthening approach as the overarching framework that supports working in collaboration and partnership with governments and local partners and working towards impact, scale and sustainability.

 

Programme Quality during Implementation:

• Provide oversight and guidance to programme implementation teams to ensure that thematic programme components are technically sound and grounded on gender and power analysis, implementation methods are consistent with national and global strategies, acknowledged good practice (e.g. Save the Children Common Approaches); and are likely to achieve scale, as well as equitable and sustainable results.
• Promote and monitor integrated programming in a way that increases overall impact of gender sensitive and transformative programmes at the community level. Contribute to strengthening the use of equality-focused programme principles and good practice across themes and sectors.
• Contribute to the development, dissemination, monitoring and evaluation of innovative program quality tools and resources focused on advancing gender equality
• Undertake field visits to project sites; work with implementation teams to understand impacts, operational challenges, and continuously identify opportunities for learning and improvement.
• Support Humanitarian colleagues (as needed) to develop gender sensitive and transformative emergency preparedness plans, and conduct intersectional, sectoral assessments (including gender and power analysis, using SC assessment processes and tools) and to design and deliver gender sensitive/transformative emergency response and recovery programmes. Build capacity on gender equality and gender-based violence among humanitarian teams involved in different sectors. Ensure synergies between humanitarian gender equality teams, disaggregated data and gender sensitive/transformative programme design.
• Monitor trends in humanitarian crises in order to ensure early, gender sensitive/transformative action; and lead technical design and implementation and technical coordination of humanitarian responses

 

Research, Evidence & Learning:

• Work with Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) teams to carry out gender and power analysis, and conduct quality monitoring against international standards through participatory methodologies that promote gender equality and social justice (including child-friendly and gender sensitive/transformative methodologies).
• Contribute towards the creation of an organisational learning culture that promotes the use of disaggregated data, evidence and analysis and understands its link to quality and accountable programming.
• Contribute to organisational learning on gender equality, ensuring that learning and evidence generated from our programmes is distilled into succinct and compelling programmatic guidance and thought leadership, and shared within Country Offices and with our partners, as well as with colleagues in the wider regional and global gender equality community within Save the Children via Technical Working/Leadership Groups and Communities of Practice and externally.
• Provide technical leadership and coordination to nurture a thriving Country Gender Equality Community of Practice, strengthening quality, cross-pollination of learning, alignment across the region, and creating links between local, regional and global work.
• Leverage and liaise with technical colleagues from across Save the Children, including technical working groups and centres of excellence, ensuring that learning from the Country is shared with others and global lessons brought back.

 

Networking & External Engagement:

• In alignment with Country Office strategy, engage in strategic positioning with donors, partners and governments, and ensure that Save the Children is a partner of choice in gender equality programming.
• Foster partnership with feminist organisations focused on women’s and girls’ rights, engaging men and boys, equal rights and advancing gender equality. 
• Ensure that Save the Children is influencing and learning from others to advance gender equality through Country technical coordination and networking bodies such as clusters and working groups focused on gender equality and gender-based violence or focused on specific thematic areas and requiring a strong gender equality lens (education, child protection, sexual and reproductive health and rights, etc.).
• Strengthen civil society engagement in national dialogues and policy processes for advancing gender equality and eliminating gender-based violence, including ending child marriage, through working closely with advocacy and child rights governance colleagues. Ensure that the diverse voices of children, girls and boys are equitably heard and represented across thematic advocacy work.
• Ensure the quality, clarity and consistency of technical components of internal and external reports, prioritizing and embedding gender equality across framing and content, working closely with awards, programme implementation and communications colleagues as needed.

 

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength

• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

 

The post holder must commit to work in an international agency that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion and fights racism, gender inequality and discrimination in all forms, including based on sexual orientation; and to model positive behaviours that demonstrate a commitment to equality and respect to all colleagues, partners and communities.

QUALIFICATIONS 

• Master’s degree in Women and Gender Studies or related degree with focus on gender equality in international development, social work, public health, sociology, anthropology or related area, or equivalent experience

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• At least 7 years’ experience (including field experience) providing technical leadership for the design and implementation of humanitarian and development programmes focused on advancing gender equality.
• At least 5 years’ experience of leading the design and implementation of humanitarian and development Disability Inclusive programmes will be an added advantage.
• Strong understanding of gender equality principles and practices, the gender equality sector, policy priorities and key gender inequalities impacting children in Kenya.  
• Proven senior level experience leading diverse, complex initiatives and virtual teams to achieve agreed objectives; including demonstrated experience designing, implementing and reporting upon thematic/cross-cutting strategies and/or policies
• Significant experience in gender equality training, capacity building and mentoring, and a demonstrated ability to make complex concepts compelling and accessible
• Demonstrated knowledge and skills related to intersectional gender and power analysis, and to the design, piloting, implementation and evaluation of innovative technical tools and resource to advance gender equality 
• Track record in successful business development/fundraising, designing and pitching gender transformative approaches, models and programs
• Demonstrated strong knowledge and skills related to gender sensitive and transformative program design, monitoring and evaluation, including designing pathways to sustainable impact at scale.  
• Experience of strategy development and planning to advance gender equality and social justice
• Experience of context, capacity and policy analysis, grounded on intersectional gender and power analysis, and influencing and advocacy at regional/international level in order to hold duty bearers to account to advance gender equality and realise children’s rights.
• Skilled at networking, representation and partnership development in order promote learning, strengthen civil society and mobilise resources. 
• Able to generate and use data and evidence to innovate, deliver, learn and share what works and what doesn’t work for transforming the root causes of harmful gender norms and promoting gender equality for and with children
• Demonstrated thought leadership expertise such as contributions to academic journals, books, articles; speaking engagements, workshop facilitation, leading conference presentations and panels
• Experience of promoting quality and impact through at least one cross-cutting area: resilience and climate change; adaptive and safer programming; child rights; disability; migration and displacement.
• Experience of supporting humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI’s global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Gender Equality policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.