Gender & Equity Specialist, Health Systems

Summary

The Health Systems team takes a systems and cross-technical approach to ensure delivery of equitable primary health care. The Gender and Equity Specialist is a new position dedicated to advancing equity, especially gender, and ensuring that our programs are gender-responsive and inclusive. The Specialist will work closely with program teams to implement our new gender strategy that aims to integrate gender considerations into the full program cycle in line with VillageReach’s equity framework.

The Gender and Equity Specialist will lead efforts to develop and implement gender mainstreaming strategies within programs, such as conducting gender analyses, and support staff capacity building in this area. Candidates eligible to work in USA, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tanzania, or South Africa are eligible to apply, with preference for being based in Africa. This position does not qualify for relocation or work permit sponsorship. This is an immediate hire and candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Description

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time.

Gender-Based Analysis (30%):

• Conduct comprehensive gender-based analyses to identify and address gender disparities as part of the programs, such as related to supply chain strengthening and research. Example of programs include using community based participatory research to understand barriers to immunization.
• Guide program and country teams in conducting gender analyses and incorporating gender considerations into program design, monitoring & evaluation, and dissemination.
• Collaborate with teams to integrate gender perspectives into all stages of project development and implementation.
• Develop and implement tools and methodologies for gender-based analysis.
• In coordination with internal teams, regularly undertake landscaping reviews to identify the organization’s own state of gender integration at the programmatic level.

Gender-Responsive Programming (50%)

• Support the following programs to incorporate gender in process indicators and improvements in design
• Bodies of work under Supply Chain Integrators program
• Next Generation of Supply Chain in provinces with high numbers of zero-dose children in DRC
• Supporting provinces with high numbers of zero-dose children with the implementation of the Equity Accelerator Fund (EAF) in DRC, in coordination with gender specialists in the country
• Ensure costing for programs incorporates gender-responsiveness in design.
• Work closely with the research, evidence and learning team to regularly assess the quality of gender integration into programs and initiatives, and design necessary improvements in close consultations with relevant VillageReach staff.
• Publish papers and articles on VillageReach’s deployment externally, including but not limited to UNICEF’s IGE portal

Gender Strategy Deployment (40%)

• Lead the implementation of the new gender strategy for programs and teams within VillageReach.
• Offer expert guidance and one-on-one mentoring to VillageReach staff in integrating gender perspectives into existing and future program documents, including theories of change, process indicators, funding proposals, and research reports.
• Actively participate in annual work planning to include gender sensitivity into the design and implementation of programs.
• Conduct semi-annual or quarterly reviews to assess progress and ensure implementation of the strategy is aligned with overall goals.
• Identify new donors and areas of funding related to gender
• Serve as the organization’s gender integration thought leader and key resource person responsible for offering strategic guidance, analytic support, and capacity building.
• Serve as the organization’s external focal point for all gender-related communications including but not limited to new funding proposals, webpages, and externally published thought showcasing thought leadership in this area.
• Represent the organization in key donor and government counterpart engagements, and/or public forums, related to the integration of gender considerations into program design.

REQUIREMENTS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

This position has no supervisory responsibilities currently, but may supervise employees in the future.

Education & Experience:

• Master’s degree with 3-5 years of experience, or equivalent experience.
• Experience in developing and deploying gender considerations into international development programs.
• Leadership abilities to work with multiple stakeholders, including government, other donors, grantees to create a common vision and visualize simple and effective but implementable solutions to complex problems.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent thought leadership and effectively communicate it to external audiences in oral and written formats.
• Familiarity with or prior work experience in, particularly with a focus on supply chains or system strengthening work which is not focused directly on beneficiaries.
• Experience in operationalizing gender integration into nonprofit program design and implementation in health systems strengthening.
• Strong comprehension of leading gender analysis frameworks, well-established concepts and the tools used in their deployment in practice.

Other Qualifications:

• Ability to collaborate effectively in multicultural environments while working with teams from diverse subject matter backgrounds.
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, particularly in producing peer-reviewed publications, blog posts, op-eds, videos, and stakeholder presentations.
• Excellent organizational abilities with experience managing multiple complex projects simultaneously.
• Comfortable working independently and with global teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Fluency in English required; fluency in French or Portuguese is a bonus
• Established cultural competency in partnering with racial, cultural and linguistically diverse groups.
• Demonstrated understanding of challenges with working in rural, underserved and low-income context; experience living in and/or working in a low-income country a plus.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, Teams) and comfortable in a fast-paced technical environment.
• Comply with VillageReach’s COVID-19 vaccination policy which requires full vaccination for in-person work or travel.