Position Title: Senior Gender Adviser
Location:
London, Nairobi, Kampala, Bishkek or other locations where Saferworld has a presence may be considered.
National T&Cs will be offered and the right to work in that specific country will be required
Reporting to:
Head of Programme Support & Learning
Management responsibility (if applicable)
Yes
Type of position:
National
Grade and Salary:
Grade G (In line with National Salary Structure)
Contract terms and hours:
Open contract. Standard working week is 37.5 hours.
Background:
Saferworld is an independent international organisation working to prevent violent conflict and build safer lives. We work with people affected by conflict to improve their safety and sense of security, and conduct wider research and analysis. We use this evidence and learning to improve local, national and international policies and practices that can help build lasting peace. Our priority is people – we believe in a world where everyone can lead peaceful, fulfilling lives, free from fear and insecurity. We are a not-for-profit organisation operational across Africa, Asia and the Middle East and in policy centres in Beijing, Brussels, London, and Washington DC.
The success of our organisation’s mission depends on people. Capitalising on what is unique about individuals and drawing on their different perspectives and experiences will add value to the way we work. Saferworld is committed to the principles of equality of opportunity for all and seeks to promote a positive approach to equality and diversity and within the scope of the relevant legislation, to having a workforce and working environment that is free of discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping, harassment, victimisation and undignified behaviour. We oppose all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination.
Gender equality is one of Saferworld’s strategic objectives. We challenge and transform the gender norms that drive violent conflict and gender-based violence and support the leadership of women and girls in peacebuilding. We develop research, guidelines and programming tools to reveal and understand how deeply embedded social norms about gender roles contribute to repeating cycles of conflict and violence. We work to challenge and transform these gender norms and the related attitudes, behaviours and relationships that perpetuate insecurity and the use of violence. We partner with women-led and other organisations that lead in this area to bring change.
Job purpose:
The Senior Gender Adviser will work strategically across the organisation and be responsible for shaping Saferworld’s approach to gender transformative peacebuilding practice, research, policy influencing and internal organisational policies and practice. They will help to ensure that Saferworld delivers on its Strategic Objective on Gender Equality and related work within Saferworld’s Strategic Plan 2021- 2031: Working in solidarity for a safer world.
The job holder will work within the Programme Support and Learning (PS&L) team and will work functionally with the Policy Team and Conflict Advisory Unit. They will provide ongoing accompaniment and technical support to Saferworld teams and their partner organisations in the quality design and delivery of their strategies and implementation plans - including on cross-organisational approaches and commitments on gender equality and equitable partnerships.
The Senior Gender Advisor will lead in delivering Saferworld’s Gender Equality Strategy, through policy and programmes as well as internally in coordination with the Saferworld core functions teams. They will provide thought leadership and oversight in developing and implementing organisational policy, practice and programming on gender, peacebuilding and security.
Key areas of responsibility
Organisational leadership on gender equality
- Lead in the implementation and MEL of the Gender Equality Strategy: provide accompaniment and technical support to teams in the implementation of the strategy across the organisation, including by developing implementation and tracking/measuring tools and leading internal communications around it.
- Strengthening organisational capacities for meaningfully integrating gender across research, policy and advocacy, communications and programmes.
- Lead in identifying where there are gaps in knowledge, and working with the Gender Team and the Knowledge and Learning Hub and Saferworld Advocacy Group to find innovative or different ways to learn and adapt our peacebuilding work from a gender perspective, and create linkages across the multiple levels and locations where we work.
- Influence and inform organisational decision-making through a gender lens, through formal and informal engagement with leadership teams across the organisation.
- Actively support and advise on internal efforts and initiatives on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Policy and programming leadership on gender transformative peacebuilding and gender, peace and security
- Provide technical support in the design, oversight and/or
leadership/management of gender-specific cross-organisational programmes
and approaches, and on gender integration and transformation in broader
peacebuilding programmes. This includes:
- “Resourcing Change: supporting Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs) in Fragile and Conflict Affected Setting”, which provide core, flexible and accessible funding to WROs in FCAS.
- Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Helpdesk, a call-down facility that aims to provide flexible, responsive and easy-to-use technical advice and support on WPS and gender in conflict and crisis contexts to the UK government.
- Develop programmatic approaches, tools and training materials in relation to the gender, peace and security according to organisational and team-specific strategic priorities.
- Provide technical and thought leadership on our gender and peacebuilding policy work, including our policy and advocacy on gender, peace and security. This includes leading or overseeing research and related advocacy and communications on gender, peace and security in coordination with policy, advocacy and communications colleagues.
- Embed learnings from Saferworld programmatic work and research into future planned policy and programming priorities and approaches.
- Sit on the Board of Trustees for Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS UK), the main UK WPS advocacy network, which is hosted by Saferworld, and provide strategic support to the GAPS team and its Director based on our MoU.
Cross-organisational representation and strategic stakeholder engagement
- Represent Saferworld at conferences, seminars and other events in relation to strategic objective on gender equality.
- Engage with donors, wider NGO and policy community, and diverse partners in relation to driving positive change in Saferworld’s gender, peace and security work.
Key working relationships
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Advisers in the Programme Support and Learning Team: in particular the Partnerships, Research and MEL Advisors
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Advisers in the Policy Team, and advocacy and communications colleagues
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Colleagues in the Conflict Advisory Unit: co-leading the UK WPS Helpdesk with the team, external partners and donor.
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Key staff in Saferworld’s regional programmes in Africa, Asia, Central Asia and Middle East & North Africa: develop, implement and MEL on gender integration in peacebuilding programmes and gender-specific programmes.
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Programme Development Managers: providing technical support for fundraising proposals, and strategies for gender funding.
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The Knowledge and Learning Hub: ensuring gender is meaningfully integrated in our cross-organisational research and learning.
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The Saferworld Advocacy Group: ensuring gender is meaningfully integrated in our cross-organisational policy and advocacy work.
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External actors: support gender team in maintaining and developing new relations with relevant Saferworld partner organisations, donors and policy makers on gender, peace and security spaces.
Scope and accountability
Decision making and limits of authority
The post-holder is expected to show considerable leadership within the organisation and to make a significant contribution to strengthening Saferworld’s gender equality strategic objectives.
Financial resources
Some budget and financial management support of cross-organisational specific programmes, and/or oversight particularly during periods of ‘surge support’ to country teams.
Other resources
Responsible for cross-regional and organisational information-sharing and lesson learning regarding research resources and guidance in particular.
People management
Gender advisors & project/programme managers as relevant, as well as consultants as per required
Legal, regulatory and compliance responsibility
Developing research ethics guidance that comply with safeguarding and legal obligations.
Person specification
Knowledge, qualifications and experience
- Extensive experience and knowledge of gender integration in peacebuilding (preferred), development and/or humanitarian policy and practice and into organisational policies, systems and processes
- Extensive experience of providing practical advice, expertise and accompaniment to staff and partners in developing gender-transformative programmes, with a strong intersectional feminist approach to gender.
- Experience and skills in training and facilitation of learning in gender-transformative peacebuilding practice and the provision of capacity-strengthening support to culturally diverse audiences.
- Experience of gender, peace and security policy formulation, advice and successful high-level advocacy in the areas of gender, conflict, security or gender in international development. Experience doing this in the UK setting desirable.
- Relevant Qualification in political science, gender studies, conflict or peace studies or similar area; or equivalent gender integration, programming and policy experience,
- Experience of working in partnership with other NGOs and NGO networks, and preferably women’s rights organisations (WROs) through principles of power-sharing, accompaniment and on feminist movement-building.
- Lived experience or experience living and working in a conflict-affected setting desirable.
Skills and abilities
- Excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English. An additional language is desirable, in particular a working language of a country(ies) where Saferworld operates (e.g., Arabic, Russian, Somali, Burmese).
- Experience of training, mentoring, peer support and/or other capacity-strengthening techniques on research design and implementation
- Able to ensure that research is designed and produced/packaged in the most efficient way for influencing policy and practitioner audiences.
- Knowledge of policy-making processes and of interacting with government policy-makers, particularly in the UK desirable.
- Good organisational and planning skills and the ability to work under pressure with the ability to manage multiple and complex priorities to deliver on objectives effectively.
- Ability to work in a non-partisan and impartial manner, particularly in high-stress and highly politicised environments, appreciating gender, cultural and ethnic diversity.
Personal qualities
- Committed to working collaboratively in and across Saferworld teams in a multi-cultural environment
- Committed to Saferworld’s vision, mission and values and way of working, notably in terms of gender equality and strengthening local people’s voices in local and global peace, security and justice policies and processes
- Commitment to and compliance with Saferworld’s safeguarding principles
- Commitment to respect and value equality and diversity, and understanding of how this applies to own area of work
Other requirements
- Travel: Up to 3 months overseas travel per year (non-consecutively)
How to apply
Application process
To apply: Send your CV and a covering letter addressing the person specification and why you feel your experience matches the requirements of the role and send to jobs@saferworld.org.uk. (Ref:SnrGA) More information about the role and Saferworld can be found here http://www.saferworld.org.uk/jobs/jobs