Company Profile

WUSC (World University Service of Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of students, volunteers, schools, governments, and businesses who share this vision. Together, we develop solutions in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to overcome inequality and exclusion for youth around the world, particularly young women and young refugees. WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million. We have over 90 staff in our Ottawa office, and over 200 people overseas implementing 16 development projects in collaboration with donors such as Global Affairs Canada, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Mastercard Foundation and the African Development Bank.

Job Description

• Position location: Accra
• Reports to: INVEST Project Director 
• Contract term: 2 years with possibility of renewal
• Application deadline: 15th May, 2020

The INVEST Project
The Innovation in Non-Traditional Vocational Education and Skills Training (INVEST) is a 5 year (2020 -2025) initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The project will build sustainable pathways to enhanced economic empowerment, well-being and inclusive growth for 5,000 urban poor young women in Accra, Kumasi, and Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana. Working in high growth sectors, the initiative will test and scale innovative, sustainable models to improve the enabling environment for and reduce gender-specific barriers to women’s economic participation. The project will ultimately enhance access to decent work for marginalized women in non-traditional sectors within the Ghanaian economy.   

Nature and Scope
The Gender Advisor will play a crucial role in developing and implementing INVEST Project’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Strategy. The Gender Advisor will develop tools, resources and conduct training and coaching to Project staff, partners and volunteers to enable them to contribute to INVEST’s gender equality and Social Inclusion goals.

Specifically, the Gender Advisor is responsible for the following:

• Support project staff in the development of project-specific GESI strategies, plans and activities;
• Assist project staff in integrating Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) into project planning and management approaches (including results based management tools) and propose strategies to increase project impact on GESI;
• Facilitate the use of GESI data to promote evidence-based learning, reflection and decision making within the INVEST project;
• Work with the MERL Advisor to ensure that the Project’s M&E system is established to ensure that GESI results are captured and reported to relevant stakeholders;
• Create GESI resources and tools (ie. Tipsheets, Operational Plans) to assist staff in effectively prioritizing and integrating GE in their work;
• Work with the Project team to ensure the integration of GESI in activities design, including: initial rapid gender equality & empowerment assessment, initial GESI strategy, identification of GESI activities;
• Recommend financial and human resources necessary to execute project GESI strategies;
• Support the INVEST project inception planning, particularly the development of the project-specific GESI strategy and planning
• Conduct analysis of opportunities to maximize GESI results within INVEST Project
• Facilitate organizational learning opportunities, including the annual Gender Equality Training Weeks, webinars, tipsheets, etc;
• Liaise regularly with the HQ Gender Equality Advisor; project-specific gender equality resources (staff/ consultants) to share best practices, tools, and organizational approaches to GESI;
• Support the establishment of systems that enable a “community of learning” within INVEST and across other programs to enhance lesson sharing and impact.
• Participate in GESI-related working groups and maintain close working relationships with counterparts in other relevant international NGOs.
• Seek opportunities to increase the awareness, commitment and involvement of project staff, private sector partners and other key stakeholders in GESI;
• Participate in WUSC’s communications work by providing data, information and other material for use with WUSC’s Canadian and International constituency and assists in implementing constituency building, communication strategies

Required Skills or Experience

• MA/MSc or equivalent in International Development or a related field (human rights) required - coursework in Gender Equality in International Development is preferred;
• A minimum of 5 years of active GESI work experience in development programming required; ideal candidate will have both theoretical and practical background in GESI and skilled in GESI analysis and methodologies;
• Technical experience in inclusive market systems development, youth empowerment, women’s economic empowerment.
• Knowledge of accountability, protection, women and children’s rights frameworks and best practices;
• Strong analytical and research skills;
• Proven ability to work productively with a variety of stakeholders to run participatory processes and meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products;
• Excellent capacity building skills, with demonstrated experience in effective training, coaching and facilitation;

Competencies

• Effective interpersonal and influencing skills, including the ability to build relationships, network and communicate.
• Flexibility, with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate high levels of responsibility and multiple priorities;
• Commitment to local capacity building and the ability to engage local stakeholders in policy design and implementation;
• Passion and commitment to gender equality and youth empowerment