Gender, Youth and Social Dynamics Lead at Food for the Hungry (FH Kenya)

Position Purpose

The Gender, Youth and Social Dynamics Lead (GY&SD Lead) will be responsible for effective integration and mainstreaming of gender and youth considerations in a USAID Title II Food for Peace funded Development Food Security Activity (DFSA) throughout the entire award period to ensure compliance with the USAID Food for Peace commitment to gender integration and female empowerment, and positive youth engagement in development as keys to realizing intended outcomes. The GY&SD Lead should have an in-depth understanding of gender, age, and other socio-cultural factors in the context of food security programming; a demonstrated capacity to design and implement a gender analysis, including the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated data (qualitative and quantitative) from a broad range of sources to identify gender and youth-based issues (constraints / weaknesses and opportunities / strengths) that must be considered for the project to achieve its intended outcomes; and the ability to integrate the findings from the gender and youth analysis into project design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. This role will also have skills in participatory data collection and facilitating collaborative problem solving; and the ability to foster commitment and build capacity among activity staff and in-country actors to support gender integration and female empowerment. This position will work closely with the COP to understand program goals, to meet expectations and lead assessments to identify protection risks to gender issues, to map points of entry and support structures for reinforcement. The GY&SD Lead will analyze trends of gender and youth engagement and identify national gaps and develop/adjust program strategies to meet needs; contribute to program design and the preparation of concept notes and proposals; identify needs of implementing partners for training and supervision.

Responsibilities

Please note: this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Key Result #1 – Program Management, Development, Monitoring and Evaluation.

• 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 researches 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 findings from the gender and youth analysis to effectively guide gender and youth integration into all aspects and stages of the project ( design implementation and monitoring and evaluation) as applicable, and throughout the project’s duration;
• Develop a gender and youth integration strategy for DFSA;
• 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 training and train consortium field staff and staff of government 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 field team and compile and submit monthly quarterly and annual reports of ongoing projects to the COP.

Key Result #2 – 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 county level;
• 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.

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

Vibrant personal relationship with Jesus Christ and Christian commitment to serving the poor and in full agreement with FH’s Christian foundation and beliefs as expressed in The Heartbeat: our Values, Vision, and Purpose;

• Excellent people skills including warmth and sensitivity, conversational, able to relate to and effectively communicate with people from different cultures (at various levels within the organization);
• Diplomacy and assertiveness; the ability to confront and discuss sensitive issues with respect;
• Excellent organizational skills; ability to plan and coordinate work, ensure the efficient flow of projects and processes, and excellent report writing, research documentation and presentation skills;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Excellent facilitation, training and research skills;
• Demonstrable capacity to lead collection, analysis and utilization of information from wide range of sources;
• High integrity and a strong sense of professional ethics;
• Able to self-manage a diverse and dynamic set of responsibilities, proactively solve problems and / or suggest viable solutions while advancing goals and objectives;
• Demonstrated computer operating skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office products, Google platform, and virtual technologies such as Skype and / or GoToMeeting;
• In-depth understanding of gender, age and socio-cultural factors in food security programming;
• Knowledge of gender and youth analytical frameworks;
• Experience conducting literature reviews and identifying knowledge gaps;
• Knowledge of job training and gender empowerment programs;
• Knowledge of working with USAID / FFP Title-II and similar programs preferred but not essential;
• Awareness and knowledge of GBV issues, knowledge, skill and experience in participatory methods for community education and mobilization;
• Strong people management skills / interpersonal skills with the ability to motivate, teach and mentor staff and skills to lead participatory learning, action and collaborative problem solving;
• Comfortable and persuasive when speaking before both large and small groups;
• Ability to interact positively with all levels of the organization and across organizational and cultural boundaries;
• Develops and maintains good working relationships between fields, National Organizations and Enabling Services;
• Familiar with the issues and cultures in Kenya or closely related East African countries; and ability to interact with people at all levels, individually and/or in groups;
• Demonstrated experience of monitoring and evaluating projects;
• Must be able to work independently while being a strong team player with proven supervisory skills;
• Self-starter, proactive, able to multi-task; ability to handle pressure well, ability to improvise, flexibility, cultural and environmental sensitivity;
• Effectively and efficiently manages all resources entrusted for work purposes;
• Medical fitness to live and travel in rural and urban areas with extreme conditions and limited medical support;
• Ability to live and productively work in insecure, unstable and / or harsh environments;
• Ability to travel up to 50% of time per year in the US and internationally, to insecure countries or locations, and able to travel on rocky roads, and stand for long periods of time.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree (B. A.) in a relevant academic area and seven years of field experience at the community level is required;
• Preferable is a Master’s degree in gender, sociology, social work, public policy, international relations or related fields and a minimum of five years of experience in economic development programming related to gender and youth, with two years at a managerial level; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Supervisor Responsibilities: This position does not have direct supervisory responsibilities.

Language: Proficiency in spoken and written English. Proficiency in Swahili 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.