Senior Gender Specialist

Job Title : Senior Gender Specialist, Prosper Cashew Project

Reporting Unit/Supervisor : The Deputy Chief of Party, Prosper Cashew

Location : Abidjan, Côte DâIvoire or Lagos, Nigeria

About TechnoServe:

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of business and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.

The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. For many women and young people, the challenges are even more daunting. Working with TechnoServe staff, people around the world are lifting themselves out of poverty. The results are amazing...when incomes increase and living conditions for families get better, they are able to access health care and education previously out of reach. Communities and even whole countries are better off. 

TechnoServe Background:

TechnoServe works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. We are a nonprofit organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital, and markets. Our work is rooted in the idea that given the opportunity, hard working women and men in even the poorest places can generate income, jobs and wealth for their families and communities. With five decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.

TechnoServe is committed to advancing gender equality and womenâs economic empowerment. We recognize that engaging, empowering, and benefitting women and men is required to maximize inclusive, climate and nature-positive economic growth and achieve widespread prosperity. Our work is guided by our Gender Equality Policy, which necessitates actions focused on both our programming and our corporate practices and culture. Our policy states our ambition to achieve parity in the share of women and men who financially benefit from our programs and enable them to translate their economic participation into positive outcomes for them, their families, and communities. By investing in gender equality and womenâs economic empowerment, we deepen our impact, improve the quality of our work, and ensure the benefits of our work equitably reach and empower women and men.

Job Summary:

The Senior Gender Specialist will work closely with all components of the Proper Cashew team in Cote DâIvoire, Ghana and Nigeria and in coordination with the Global Gender Practice to support the delivery of gender integration activities in the Prosper Cashew Project. This will include technical support to program staff, staff capacity development, direct management of gender integration activities, support to monitoring, reporting, and knowledge management activities, participation in the Gender Champions Network, and overall support to advance TechnoServeâs Gender Equality Policy.

Program/Practice/Department Overview:

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service through its Food for Progress (FFPr) program is anticipating funding a regional value chain improvement program for cashew production and processing in Cote dâIvoire, Ghana, and Nigeria for the period of 2021-2026. West Africa is responsible for 45% of the global cashew production, yet the majority of those yields are exported for processing. The project will complement other USDA investments and programs in this sector to address market barriers through technical assistance (TA) and financing solutions along the West Africa cashew value chain to improve sector productivity, increase incomes, and create jobs.

Specifically, the Prosper Cashew project seeks:

Increased value added to the cashew sector in Cote dâIvoire, Ghana, and Nigeria, primarily through increased processing into kernels and cashew byproducts Increased mobilization of capital for the cashew sector Increased capacity of key stakeholder institutions Improved policy and legal/regulatory enabling environment Increased competitiveness and integration of the cashew sector into global markets Inclusive net job creation, particularly in the expanded processing and byproduct sector.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

Provide technical oversight and technical assistance on gender integration across the Prosper Cashew Project provide technical oversight and technical assistance on gender integration Identify, develop, and support deployment of gender-responsive activities to meet the needs of clients Build local capacity among processor and project staff for gender integration, and facilitate gender-related training for staff Support the development and adoption of gender analysis tools including gender action plans which assist with the design and implementation of activities and continuously improve technical excellence Conduct assessments and facilitate meetings, as needed, with key stakeholders and clients to identify measures to improve inclusiveness, especially for women within the project scopes Provide strategic guidance and counsel to program leadership and staff on gender integration approaches, priorities and compatibility with program aims and resource constraints Support monitoring of gender integration in activities and inclusion in program reports Contribute to reporting on gender-related topics Support the development of key knowledge products (e.g., case studies, lessons-learned documents, etc.) that facilitate program development, program implementation, internal knowledge sharing and the influencing agenda Support staff recruitment and hiring processes Participate in regular meetings with the Global Gender Practice and the program leadership Participate in the Gender Champions Network

Basic Qualifications:

A Bachelorâs degree with 5 years of experience or a Masterâs degree with 3 years of experience. Degree in development economics, sociology, anthropology, gender or another relevant discipline Demonstrable experience implementing practical approaches to advance gender equality in agriculture programs. Experience in adult learning techniques, excellent in-person and virtual facilitation skills Must be able to work across teams to influence behavior and build capacity. Ability to work both persuasively and diplomatically in a team-based environment with a high degree of complexity and ambiguity. Ability to communicate complex gender issues with clarity and precision Demonstrated success in leading tasks, activities, or initiatives requiring a combination of strong analytical, writing, social and management skills A deep, demonstrable commitment to gender equality and womenâs economic empowerment. Experience implementing approaches to mitigate and reduce gender-based violence in economic growth programs, a plus High standards of personal integrity and a flexible, laid back personality with an excellent sense of humor required

Preferred Qualifications:

Additional qualifications that would make a candidate more desirable.

Strong gender experience working in Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana or Nigeria in particular and/or west africa in general. Experience working with international donors especially with US donors. Experience working with high margin agriculture especially tree crops related projects.

Required Languages:  A bilingual (French and English) candidate is ideal

Travel:  Up to 35%

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

The candidate should have the following

Good communication skills Good Communication skills Understanding of project management keen interest in details

Supervisory Responsibilities: None.

Closing Statements for all TechnoServe Job Ads:

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.

Please submit your application before September 25 ,2023.