Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion (GYSI) Lead, USAID/Niger Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA)

Save the Children is seeking a Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion (GYSI) Lead for the upcoming USAID/Niger Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA). The goal of the Activity is to improve food and nutrition security and resilience among poor and chronically food insecure households and communities in a sustainable manner. The GYSI Lead will work with the RFSA staff and leadership to integrate gender equality and ensure youth inclusion throughout operations including by providing onsite technical assistance and capacity strengthening to staff and partners (including, but not limited to key stakeholders, government actors and local partners). They will oversee the application of gender-responsive and transformative approaches as well as positive youth development approaches through Activity interventions to ensure that they account for and address gender and intersecting inequalities  (based on age, disability, etc.) and promote equitable participation. This work includes spearheading the Activity’s do no harm approach including preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV). The Lead will also help to design, conduct, and ensure the use of Activity research, including the gender and power analysis, youth analysis, and ongoing monitoring. This position will be based in Niger for the anticipated five-year period of performance (exact location TBD). Hiring is contingent upon USAID approval of the candidate and award of the project to Save the Children. This position is unaccompanied.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

Key Functions:

Gender Analysis and Strategy (35%)

• Ensure the use of participatory and collaborative problem-solving approaches to develop strategies and methods for effectively mainstreaming gender equality  and ensuring youth integration, and  social inclusion for marginalized groups, within implementation plans, Theory of Change (ToC) processes, monitoring and learning plans, implementation guidance.
• Lead the collection, analysis, and utilization of information from a wide variety of sources to inform the Activity’s gender, youth and social inclusion approaches.
• Manage the Gender and Power Analysis, Youth Analysis, or similar gender/ youth/ social dynamics analyses during the RFSA’s first year Refinement Period and utilize the findings of these Analyses to formulate an effective Gender Strategy, Youth Strategy and Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA) plan.
• Train and mentor team members on the realization of this strategy in the context of implementation plans. Contribute to other Refinement Period studies, and related strategies, to ensure gender integration. 

RFSA Implementation (50%)

• Stay abreast of donor and host government gender, youth and social inclusion policies, programs, and best practices, ensuring coherence and coordination with the same. 
• Provide gender equality and youth inclusion related technical support, on an ongoing basis, to thematic team leaders, participating in thematic team planning processes and the implementation as required. 
• Contribute to participatory learning processes that build commitment and capacity among activity staff to ensure gender equality and youth empowerment.
• Inform and support tailoring income generation strategies to meet the needs of women, girls, youth and other disadvantaged groups, across purposes/objectives.
• Track local social and conflict dynamics as feasible, and gauge potential impacts on women, girls, youth, and marginalized groups ; adjust implementation approaches accordingly.
• Ensure the development and adaptation of gender equality/transformation, youth and social inclusion markers/benchmarks/indicators across the RFSA. Support the collection and analysis of gender, youth and social inclusion data.
• Lead the development of documentation related to the above and contribute to programmatic reporting.
• Support the RFSA to map GBV referral pathways and conduct training for frontline staff on safe and ethical referrals to prevent and respond to GBV. Ensure GBV mitigation strategies are integrated across the RFSA.
• Ensure that USAID’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy, USAID’s Youth in Development Policy, ADS 205, and other relevant gender equality, youth and inclusion principles, policies and regulations are applied consistently throughout the RFSA lifecycle.

Coordination & Capacity Building (15%)

• Foster commitment from, and build the capacity of, team members, partners, local stakeholders and communities to facilitate gender transformative outcomes and positive youth engagement; this includes developing and delivering formal training but also coaching and mentoring. 
• Manage team members supporting gender and youth engagement and leadership, and social inclusion, at the field level.
• Represent gender equality and social inclusion aspects of the RFSA to external stakeholders, such as the donor, governments, and partners; disseminate learnings and best practices; and participate in technical working groups.
• Contribute to Monitoring & Evaluation activities and periodic Data Quality Assessments and ensure that data collection methods and tools are adequate to track how the RFSA contributes to advance gender equality , youth empowerment and social inclusion.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• In-depth knowledge of social inequalities, especially based on gender, age and other intersecting power dynamics in Niger.
• Seven years of technical expertise with gender equality and youth approaches in the context of food and nutrition security and resilience programming, with a demonstrated understanding of age, gender, and other socio-cultural factors in the context of such programs, a demonstrated understanding of positive youth development, and a demonstrated understanding of gender transformative activities in the context of food security programming.
• Demonstrated capacity to lead the collection, analysis, and utilization of information in relation to gender equality, youth, and other locally significant socio-cultural factors from a broad range of sources.
• Demonstrated experience leading the gender component for a large award, including conducting Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) analysis and developing a gender or GESI Strategy for such an award.
• Demonstrated experience integrating GESI considerations into Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plans, detailed implementation plans, and interventions.
• Strong management and interpersonal skills, mentoring and facilitation skills and the ability to network and communicate with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure gender and youth integration and empowerment.
• Previous experience in implementing USAID-funded projects and familiarity with USAID donor regulations and quality standards. Ability and willingness to travel.
• Fluency in English and French required.
• Strong tool/curriculum development and participatory facilitation skills.

Qualified Nigerien candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.