Job Title:  Gender Specialist

Mercy Corps is an International NGO that exists to alleviate poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps has been fully registered in Uganda as an operational NGO. Currently Mercy Corps has an office in Kampala and is implementing Food Security programs which comprises of Water and Sanitation, Livelihood and Agriculture and Conflict Mitigation Management Program in North and North Eastern Uganda. We implement programs in the northern districts of Pader, Kitgum, Agago, Lamwo, Kaabong, Abim and Kotido with funding from USAID, USDA, Walmart Foundation, SDC, DFID as well as other private donations.

Job Summary: The Progress Gender Specialist will work toward providing a framework of activities to guide gender integration throughout the life of PROGRESS and across all technical sectors with the goal of enhancing absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity for resilience of women and augmenting access to assets, capital and decision-making processes.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Actively coordinate and work with and the Moroto-based Programme Manager, Moroto-based Practice-Area Team Leaders and partners to promote gender integration in to the various sector-based activities of PROGRESS.
• Develop training series on women leadership and negotiation,
• Development of tools as needed for cross-cutting, cross-cutting integration of women in decision making around household governance, community change, management of natural and community resources, and advocacy for policy and budget formulation that is geared towards innovative gendered approaches.
• Promote women leadership skills through VSLA component, engaging men in decision making tools etc.
• In collaboration with the Mercy Corps technical support units, set up gender-focused elements of the PROGRESS monitoring system and work closely with M&E team to ensure sex and age disaggregated data is collected and that gender analysis is applied.
• Carry out regular community consultations to ensure programming remains gender sensitive and on-track.
• Work in liaison with the PROGRESS Consortium partners focused on Monitoring and Evaluation and learning and advocacy partners to support and conduct studies as well as learning events.
• Maximize program participation and increase empowerment opportunities for currently marginalized groups
• Collect sex and age disaggregated data while performing proactive and recurrent gender analysis.
• Responsible for Curriculum development for after school programs to address girls and boys and women-focused group series to ensure maximum participant engagement from the beginning of the program while mitigating risk of exposure to gender based violence.
• Seek community recommendations on how to best overcome identified challenges like engaging men in nutrition programming to finding meaningful methods to include women in conflict management interventions.
• Seek community recommendations on how to best overcome identified challenges like engaging men in nutrition programming to finding meaningful methods to include women in conflict management interventions
• Establish current awareness of the importance of gender-sensitive programming among target participant groups including traditional leaders, government officials, health workers and youth group participants.
• Actively participate actively in the design of the value-chain and small business development activities in rural Karamoja including larger towns such as Moroto and Kotido and other growing urban centers to ensure adequate gender integration components.
• Design qualitative research from the Gender Empowerment and Decision-making learning study.
• Work with the PROGRESS Consortium partners focused on Monitoring and Evaluation and learning and advocacy partners to support and conduct studies as well as learning events.
• Support development and dissemination gender research.
• Develop/adapt gender mainstreaming training for Mercy Corps Karamoja Field Offices, partners and PROGRESS consortium members
• Provide gender technical reviews to program proposals, program tools, internal and external communications as needed
• Provide direct support for gender advocacy in policy formulation at the county and national levels, along with gender-sensitive budgeting that considers opportunities and mitigates risks to women in pastoralism and those who are transitioning out of pastoralism.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant should hold a Bachelor’s degree in relevant subject, preferably a Masters Degree.
• Five or more years of experience in design and implementation of development programs, preferably with a gender focus and a strong background in gender programming approaches.
• Past exposure and experience conducting research and analysis on gender issues, including leading focus groups or research on sensitive issues
• Prior experience working in the sectors of sexual and gender based violence, harmful traditional practices, the role of women in community-led processes, especially around natural resource management and other sensitive gender issues
• Significant experience in the ASALs and working with pastoralist communities preferred
• Experience designing and adapting programmatic tools to address gender issues or to promote positive gender outcomes
• Experience working on project monitoring and evaluation
• Prior experience with training and capacity building of team members and partners
• Experience working in Uganda, especially northern Uganda and familiarity with post-conflict affects on women, girls and community dynamics is a plus.
• Excellent analytical and information management skills.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work under stress and in austere contexts of remote locations.
• Flexible and creative in planning and problem solving.
• Attention to detail, ability to follow procedures and meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Proven excellence maintaining professional internal and external relationships.
• Have a keen focus on building staff capacity.

How to Apply for the job:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their applications including a cover letter clearly stating your salary requirements, CV (with 3 referees), and copies of academic qualifications/certificates to the Human Resource Manager via E-mail to: mcuganda@ug.mercycorps.org will also be accepted.

NB: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted by Mercy Corps. Female Candidates are encouraged to apply.

Deadline: 10^th October, 2014

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