Gender and Youth Specialist (Subject to grant approval from the donor)

FH Ethiopia is a non-governmental organization engaged in relief and development activities. At FH, we operate under a set of guiding principles we call the “The Heartbeat”. This includes our Values, Vision and Purpose, which serve as the explanation of who we are and how we work as organization. Together we follow God’s call responding to human suffering and graduating communities from extreme poverty. FH Ethiopia would like to invite potential candidates to apply for the following position:

Job Summary

Responsible for effective integration and mainstreaming of gender and youth considerations in the Resilient Food Security Activity-Poverty Reduced Sustainably in an Environment of Resilient and Vibrant Economy (RFSA-PReSERVE) throughout the entire award period. This is to ensure compliance with USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs’ (BHA) commitment to gender integration and female empowerment, and positive youth engagement in development. The position holder will work closely with the COP to understand program goals, meet expectations, lead assessments to identify protection risks on gender and youth issues, and map points of entry and support structures for reinforcement. Contribute to program design and the preparation of concept notes and proposals and identify needs of implementing partners for training and supervision.

Principal Responsibilities

Technical support

• Provide leadership in planning, implementation and monitoring of gender and youth focused strategies and interventions.

• Ensure gender and youth considerations are integrated/mainstreamed throughout the various sectors of the project.

• Conduct formative research to identify gender and youth specific barriers/constraints (such as social and economic) inhibiting inclusive development, as well as gender and youth-based strengths/opportunities that could foster development in the operational areas and provide recommendations.

• Lead the design and implementation of gender and youth analysis studies, including, developing research protocols and data collection tools, supervising data collection, facilitating focus group discussions, and analyzing sex and age-disaggregated data from a broad range of sources for the identification of gender and youth specific issues.

• Develop a gender and youth integration plan drawing from the gender and youth analysis findings to guide integration into all aspects and stages of the project (design implementation and M&E) as applicable, and throughout the project’s duration.

• Analyze trends of gender and youth engagement, identify national gaps and develop/adjust program strategies to meet needs.

• Demonstrate in-depth understanding of gender, the unique needs of youths by gender, age and other socio-cultural factors in the context of food security programming.

• Establish and maintain relationships with stakeholders to ensure gender and youth integration in the project is achieved.

• Design gender and youth training for consortium field staff, government staff and other stakeholders on gender and youth integration and empowerment in food security programming.

• Identify and document best practices of the project in implementing gender and youth components for learning with partners.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation to ensure gender and youth sensitivity in the monitoring and evaluation process.
• Collect data and figures from the field team, compile and submit monthly, quarterly and annual reports for the project

Coordination and Advocacy

• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with all stakeholders – including community leaders, NGOs, UN agencies, and community-based organizations to enhance multi-agency and multi-sectoral cooperation and coordination.

• Develop and maintain constructive relationships with key local government and Ministry officials.

• Ensure FH actively participates in cluster and sector meetings at all levels.

• Provide continuous monitoring of gender, youth and social inclusion activities, including knowledge and information sharing for continuous learning.

• Maintain an open dialogue with all relevant sectoral and inter-agency actors in operation sites.

Safeguarding Policy

FH strives to provide an environment free from sexual exploitation and abuse and harassment in all places where relief and development programs are implemented. FH holds a zero-tolerance policy against sexual exploitation and abuse and harassment. FH expects its employees to maintain high ethical standards, protect organizational integrity and reputation, and ensure that FH work is carried out in honest and fair methods, in alignment with the FH Heartbeat and safeguarding and associated policies. Violations to stated policies will be subject to corrective action up to and including termination of employment.

Gender Responsibility

• Provide adequate time to staff to participate in gender sensitivity workshops and related events.

• Through observation, interviews, and spot-checks, ensure that the staff planning process is gender sensitive.

• Build a better gender balance in staffing through affirmative action.

• Observe if women staff are as involved as men in high-profile activities such as interaction with visitors and chairing meetings, and take corrective action if warranted.

• Encourage female staff to participate in external networks (local and regional), as well as seminars and cross visits.

• Facilitate open and regular discussions with staff on about the work environment, policies, and values convenient to gender issues

Safety & Security Responsibility

• Encourages compliance of Safety and Security principles and policies of the organization by all staffs;

• Visiting project Offices and operational areas periodically to meet staff and making sure that all staff members are aware of the safety and security procedures;

• Explains to staffs the reasoning behind the organization’s safety and security policies and procedures

• Organizing local training sessions, such as First Aid, Fire Safety, and Defensive Driving for staff members.  If possible, he/she should conduct briefing and training sessions himself/herself;

• Ensures that safety and security objectives are added to performance reviews and evaluations of all staff members;

• Encourages staff to adopt safe and secure practices. Ensuring that updated personnel information related to safety (Record of Emergency Data) and security management are kept in Human resources

Education/Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Gender Studies or a related field (agriculture, nutrition, development studies, social sciences, health).

• Master’s degree preferred, in gender, sociology, social work, public policy, international relations or related fields.

Experience

• Typically, 7 years of experience in gender and youth programming (related to food security, livelihoods, health, nutrition, WASH and emergency response) with 5 years of experience in economic development programming related to gender and youth.

• 3 years of managerial experience is preferred.

Language

Proficiency in spoken and written English is essential. Proficiency in Amharic is preferred. Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or government regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.

Job Level Specifications

• Full agreement with FH’s Christian foundation and beliefs as expressed in The Heartbeat: our Values, Vision, and Purpose.

• Proven rigor in analytical, conceptual and project design skills relevant to gender and development and youth programming with an understanding of theories of change and pathways from intervention to results.

• Skills in participatory learning and action and facilitating collaborative problem solving, the ability to foster commitment and build capacity among activity staff and in-country actors to support gender and youth integration, female empowerment, and positive youth engagement.

• Experience conducting literature reviews and identifying knowledge gaps.

• Knowledge of on the job training and gender empowerment programs.

• Knowledge of working with USAID/BHA Title-II and similar programs.

• Awareness and knowledge of GBV issues, knowledge, skill and experience in participatory methods for community education and mobilization.

• Ability to confront and discuss sensitive issues with respect.

• Demonstrated experience of monitoring and evaluating projects.

• Ability to live and productively work in insecure, unstable and/or harsh environments.

• Familiar with the issues and cultures in Ethiopia or closely related East African countries.

• Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships between fields, National Organizations and Enabling Services.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and Google systems.

• Ability to travel up to 50% of time per year to remote project sites in Ethiopia.