Technical Advisor II -- Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Central Africa Region

Job Description

Job Title: Technical Advisor II – Gender Equality and Social Inclusion

Department: Central Africa Regional Office (CARO)

Reports To: Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality (DRD PQ) CARO

Country/Location: Telecommuter

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Job Summary

You will provide technical advice, guidance, and support to a wide range of program design and implementation issues with a focus on larger projects in the area of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to regional and Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality, gender-responsive and transformative, inclusive programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your technical knowledge, advice and guidance will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ gender programming is across the globe.

Job Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the development and implementation of agency-wide and CARO strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in gender that effectively engage partners, donors and governments. Support, specifically, actions from CARO’s regional gender audit that contributes to improvements in gender mainstreaming across CARO’s programming and operations.
• Provide gender technical solutions to regional and CARO CP teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to regional and CP efforts to pre-position CRS for growth opportunities in gender equality, gender integration and social inclusion in key sectors. Lead or contribute to the development of the technical design for large and/or complex proposals, including conducting relevant gender or other social analyses, defining subsequent appropriate gender strategies and gender-responsive and transformative approaches, as relevant. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical gender requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening initiatives in gender integration and social inclusion for programming for staff and partner through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and mentoring and coaching to CP staff.
• Lead the CARO gender community of practice through regular coaching of key gender staff, online and in-person training and learning initiatives and effective remote communications.
• Contribute to CARO’s gender equality and social inclusion knowledge management and learning through collecting and analyzing program data, evaluating strategic projects’ gender strategies, assisting with measuring program gender impact, capturing and sharing lessons learned and best practices, and research and internal reports.
• Establish and maintain relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions. Participate in professional forums in the area gender integration/equality to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

Education and Experience

• Master’s Degree in Gender and Development or related field(s) including international development, development economics, sociology, etc.
• Minimum of five years relevant international working experience in an advisory or management role with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of three years working for programming interventions in gender equality, gender-based violence, female/girls empowerment or social inclusion.
• Previous experience providing gender technical assistance and developing successful proposals for external donor funding, including technical writing, is required.
• Experience in mentoring, coaching, facilitation and training applying adult learning principles and practices. Additional considerations for experience mentoring a remote team of experts/community of practice.
• Experience with programmatic gender analyses, assessments and evaluation, including applying data collection tools and methodologies, with particular experience in qualitative data analysis, and data presentation.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

• Demonstrated expertise with facilitation, capacity strengthening and partnership building through formal and informal training in gender equality and related subject matter (male engagement, women/girls economic empowerment and other gender transformative approaches across sectors.)
• Demonstrated application of technical principles and concepts in gender integration. General knowledge of other related disciplines (specifically Protection Mainstreaming, Emergency response, Monitoring and Evaluation and Nutrition/Food Security) to ensure proper cross-sectoral/integrated approach.

Personal Skills

• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Required/Desired Foreign Language: Required fluency in English and professional proficiency in French

Travel Required: -50% travel

Key Working Relationships:

Supervisory: N/A

Internal: CARO Regional Team (regional technical advisors, regional directors and deputies), Key gender staff and focal points across CARO CPs, CARO Country Representative, Head of Programs, Head of Operations and relevant Chief of Parties/Project Managers. CRS/HQ staff including HQ-based Gender and Youth Advisors and CRS global Gender Community of Practice

External: USAID, government officials, international and local partners.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

What we offer

CRS offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, generous retirement savings plan and the opportunity to work in a collaborative, mission-driven culture that is committed to improving the lives of the poor throughout the world.

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

EOE/M/F/D/V - CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

About the Organization

CRS staff, alongside our partners and the people we serve, work daily to bring our mission and guiding principles to life. We share our stories of hope, compassion and solidarity to inspire others to join us in creating a more just and prosperous world for all.