Position Description

FHI 360 seeks to hire a Gender, Equity, Safeguarding, and Social Inclusion (GESSI) Manager for a USAID-funded project entitled Young African Leaders Initiative Legacy and Localization (YALI L&L). YALI is a USAID project supporting the next-generation expression of the Regional Leadership Centers (RLC) component of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI), the United States’ premier investment in young African leaders. As the on-continent component of the YALI program, in 2015 USAID launched four YALI RLCs at higher education institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa. The RLCs have provided access to leadership and functional training to 22,000 young leaders aged 18–35 from 49 sub-Saharan countries in three tracks: business and entrepreneurship, public management, and civic leadership. YALI 2030 will build on the RLC foundation to create an expanded pan-African youth development model that will harmonize training curriculum, serve underrepresented/underserved youth, build alumni network capacity and professional development opportunities, and develop new program-related partnerships with the private sector and other stakeholders and donors.

Accountabilities

Technical Requirements

• Provide technical leadership to activities related to GESSI.
• Liaise and coordinate with key collaborators, including YALI Africa, RLCs, alumni chapters, and other key counterparts including host institutions, government officials, private sector, and civil society organizations.
• Mentor junior technical staff in tracking, analysis, and synthesis of GESSI results to advance learning both within the program and externally.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Project Design and Implementation

• Coordinate closely with the technical staff at the project office in Kenya and with YALI RLC staff in Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, and South Africa to ensure effective integration of GESSI approaches in workplan deliverables, activities, and needs identified by key YALI collaborators and counterparts.
• Lead the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Analysis
• Create a GESSI Action Plan
• Ensure the timely implementation of the GESSI Action Plan
• Serve as the project’s Safeguarding Focal Point
• Revise and apply existing tools to conduct a GESI Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA)
• Support YALI Africa and the RLCs to conduct participatory GESSI organizational capacity assessments that roadmap steps toward becoming GESSI transformative organizations.
• Work with the RLCs to improve their GESSI Capacity
• Support recruitment for YALI scholars to ensure there is an equitable balance of women, men, and LGBTQI+ individuals, as well as people with disabilities, urban, rural and ethnic minorities.
• Support alumni to work at the grass-roots level to engage and support marginalized youth facing barriers in application, participation, and alumni phases.
• Work with YALI alumni to develop recruitment materials and approaches on social media.
• Assist YALI to develop approaches to providing reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities who are recruited as YALI scholars.
• Assist in the development of a suite of policies for YALI addressing harassment and violence in the work environment, safeguarding program participants, diversity equity and inclusion.
• Work with HR team to train staff on awareness, implementation, and enforcement of GESI-related policies.
• Address physical and cultural accessibility: Audit residences, classrooms, and other gathering places and prioritize upgrades to eliminate to the extent possible physical and cultural barriers to inclusion.
• Establish formal and informal partnerships with organizations led by women, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups.
• Co-develop a GESSI Transformation Course for alumni and other participants.
• Work closely with the YALI Africa team to integrate and mainstream Gender and inclusion principles in all aspects of the project.
• Conduct annual GESSI audits.
• Serve as an internal technical resource on relevant issues or facilitates connections between staff members and divisions as and where needed.

Operations Management

•  Raise challenges or issues to project leadership, as needed.

Project/Program Reporting

• Support the tracking of technical assistance and refinement of GESSI activities.
• Support documentation and collation of GESSI-related lessons learned, standard processes, and success stories.
• Review and strengthen regular programmatic reporting on GESSI approaches and activities.
• Help in the development and review of workplans related to GESSI activities.
• Work closely with the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP) team to support the tracking of one or more GESI-related indicators.

Quality Assurance

• Ensure technical deliverables related to capacity strengthening from assigned countries are of high quality and meet client / funder contractual obligations.

Applied Knowledge & Skills

• Ensure appropriate and timely technical support for activities.
• Strong GESSI knowledge and skills
• Strong knowledge and skills on youth leadership development through training, networking, and related activities.
• Strong knowledge and skills on gender equity and social inclusion.
• Strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail.
• Comfort attending and facilitating meetings and representing GESSI issues.
• Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills, creativity and flexibility.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Has the ability to lead activities, set realistic priorities, and plan for the successful implementation of activities.
• Proficient writing and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to lead their own work to job to meet performance standards.
• Must be able to read, write and speak fluent English.

Supervision Given/Received

• The GESSI Manager reports to the DCOP and is a senior member of the technical team.
• May supervise other staff members.
• Self-motivated, proactive orientation to setting and achieving priorities and meeting
• Works under general guidelines for completion and accuracy as determined by the supervisor

Requirements

Education

• Master’s Degree or its International Equivalent in a relevant field such as Public
• Policy, Organizational Development, or Education, or a BA with commensurate work experience.

Experience

• At least 6 years experience working in international development settings with local or international organizations.
• At least 5 years experience working on gender and or inclusion issues.
• Experience developing GESSI training curricula and training a variety of stakeholders.
• Experience conducting a gender and social inclusion analysis or experience developing a GESSI Action Plan
• Experience working in countries in Africa.
• Advanced skills in French, Portuguese, or other widely spoken African languages other than English are preferred.
• Positive and professional attitude, including ability to lead and work well in a team setting.