Gender Specialist – Iraq At INTERSOS

INTERSOS is an independent humanitarian organization that assists the victims of natural disasters, armed conflicts and exclusion. Its activities are based on the principles of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equality of rights and opportunities, respect for diversity and coexistence, paying special attention to the most vulnerable people.

Terms of reference

Job Title: Gender Specialist

Code: SR-29-2707

Duty station: Erbil (with frequent travel to program locations)

Starting date: 01/11/2022

Contract duration: 5 months (renewable)

Reporting to: Protection Coordinator

Supervision of: n/a

Dependents: Accompanied duty station

General context of the project

INTERSOS has been present in Iraq since 2003 and currently operates across Ninewa, Salah Al Din (SAD), Erbil, and Sulaymaniyah Governorates. INTERSOS thematic sectors of intervention are Protection, Education, and Health. The INTERSOS coordination office is in Erbil with bases located in Tikrit, Mosul, Telafar, and Sulaymaniyah and programming presence in other areas of Ninewa, SAD, and the Kurdistan region. As of 2022, INTERSOS has over 300 national staff, 18 expat staff, and 200 volunteers. By applying an integrated programmatic approach, INTERSOS provides lifesaving services and supports the creation of durable solutions for women, men, girls, and boys in IDP, refugee, and host communities in its areas of intervention.

General purpose of the position

The Gender Specialist will provide technical and programme support to the INTERSOS team to strengthen the mission’s capacity to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and ensure mainstreaming of gender within INTERSOS programming as well as its internal policies, in line with INTERSOS strategic vision.

In close collaboration with the Head of Mission and the coordination team, the Gender Specialist will define a gender strategy for the mission; provide technical guidance and capacity-building to INTERSOS staff, ensuring that all INTERSOS program interventions are gender sensitive and in line with international standards; and review and make recommendations on internal policies, particularly those regarding recruitment and working conditions, from a gender and inclusion perspective.

The Gender Specialist will: i) Define a gender strategy for the mission with a plan of action including developing the approaches and tools to be used; ii) train/re-train the INTERSOS team on gender analysis and gender mainstreaming; iii) review and make recommendations on program interventions (through all stages of needs assessment, proposal writing and project development, implementation, and monitoring & evaluation) using a gender lens; iv) design standard indicators and tools to monitor the quality of gender and inclusion within INTERSOS programs; vi) develop and deliver a capacity building plan for INTERSOS team on gender and inclusion; and viii) work with the human resources team and other support departments to ensure gender mainstreaming into internal policies and processes.

Reporting lines: The Gender Specialist will be part of the Protection team and will report to the Protection Coordinator but will maintain close coordination with the Program Coordinator (on all programmatic-related gender issues); the Education and Health technical coordinators; the MEAL Coordinator; and the HoM & HR Coordinator (on internal policy issues); and other INTERSOS specialists (community engagement, GBV, MHPSS, CP).

Main responsibilities and tasks

Strategy, coordination, and support:

• Review INTERSOS strategies and policies and make recommendations on promoting gender inclusion in all strategic objectives.
• Provide technical assistance and guidance on gender inclusion and mainstreaming to the program managers and staff.
• Support the development of tools, processes, and approaches that continuously improve gender-sensitive technical excellence and impact in the areas of intervention.
• Make recommendations on INTERSOS interventions and activities ensuring that they are AGD sensitive and ensure AGD and context appropriateness.
• Actively contribute to proposal development and design of new projects.
• Lead, coordinate, support, and/or conduct gender and power analyses, effectiveness and efficacy studies, appraisal, evaluation, and needs assessments as required by the program; in particular, lead on the production of a research paper on gender dynamics in INTERSOS targeted areas.
• Assist with quantitative/qualitative assessments in targeted communities to assess the effectiveness the of interventions and impact.
• In coordination with MEAL and program staff, develop M & E tools to measure the impact and effectiveness of INTERSOS interventions in terms of gender inclusion and diversity, and ensure piloting and standardization of these tools.
• Work with other members of the Protection, Health, and Education teams to ensure proper collaboration and support.
• Deliver training and workshops to protection and other sectoral staff to build their skills on gender-related topics.
• Mentor selected national staff (for example the GBV Specialist) to support their professional development and expansion of their responsibilities.
• Facilitate and support a strong learning and knowledge-sharing community around gender-transformative practices amongst all INTERSOS teams.
• Support the HR Coordinator, HoM, and Protection Coordinator in developing and implementing a gender mainstreaming policy.
• Design and roll out a standardized gender induction and training package for all INTERSOS staff, tailored to different roles (program, support) and seniorities.
• Undertake regular field visits for monitoring, capacity-building, and assessments, and provide support tools to monitor the quality of programme implementation.

Networking and Partnerships:

• Maintain collaborative working relationships with relevant coordination bodies and working groups at national and/or field level. Ensure that gender concerns are brought to relevant stakeholders to advocate for the respect of human rights and minimum protection standards.
• Network with gender focal points of other missions and other organizations to share best practices and resources.

Required profile and experience

Education

• BA in a relevant field (Social Science, Social Work) is mandatory
• Masters’ Degree in a gender studies-related subject is preferred
• Additional gender-related training is desirable.

Professional Experience

• Minimum 3 -5 years of relevant work experience in gender programming and mainstreaming with INGOs and/or NGOs.
• Experience working within a humanitarian and/or development context (experience with IDPs is an asset, as is experience in the Middle East)
• Experience in project design and proposal writing.
• Experience and skills in community engagement and development of community-based programming is a distinct asset.

Professional Requirements

• Strong theoretical, technical, and practical knowledge in gender inclusion and mainstreaming in field locations.
• Demonstrated ability to develop gender sensitivity orientations/training to support the rolling out of them across large organizations.
• Very good understanding of protection, human rights law, and international humanitarian principles;
• Facilitation, training, and mentoring skills.
• Experience in gender research, analysis, and advocacy.
• Computer literacy (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Excellent analytical and reporting skills.

Languages

• Fluency in English (written and spoken).
• Arabic is preferred

Personal Requirements

• A high degree of flexibility and ability to work in stressful environments.
• A respectful and non-discriminatory attitude, and commitment to confidentiality.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Strong time management skills, resourcefulness, and attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and cross-cultural skills, ability to communicate effectively on culturally sensitive issues to diverse audiences.