Company Profile

Job Description

Policy LINK – Senior Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Manager

Policy LINK in Ghana
USAID Feed the Future Ghana Policy LINK Activity is a five-year activity with the overall objective of fostering behavior change that strengthens the capacity and ability of Ghanaian stakeholders to participate in a more transparent, inclusive, and evidence-based agriculture and food system policy process that leads to improved food and nutrition outcomes and broad-based economic growth. Specifically, the activity will facilitate the transition towards a policy development paradigm driven by multiple stakeholders.

This approach to policymaking will strengthen the capacities of Ghana’s main agricultural policy system actors and institutions and support them to engage stakeholders traditionally excluded from decisionmaking, including academia, financial institutions, the judiciary, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private sector representatives from the national, regional, and
local levels.

This approach is underpinned by Policy LINK’s overarching theory of change focused on increasing human and social capital, engaging policy system actors in collaborative processes, and developing mechanisms for collaborative governance and dynamic learning systems and platforms to sustain collective action.

The Policy LINK Activity has its main office in Accra and a subnational office in Tamale to support efforts in the USAID Feed the Future Zone of Influence (ZOI) regions – 17 districts in Northern, North East, Upper East and Upper West regions. This operating model will maximize engagement with a diverse set of key agricultural stakeholders and institutions at the national, regional, and community levels.

Position Objectives
The Senior Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Manager will work closely with Policy LINK Ghana Country Lead, Programs Lead, technical leads, and Regional Program Manager to ensure that principles of gender equity and social inclusion, specifically women, youth, and disability inclusion, are integrated into all aspects of project planning, monitoring, and implementation of activities under the Feed the Future Ghana Policy LINK Activity.

The Senior Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Manager will work closely with Policy LINK Ghana technical staff and stakeholders. The Manager will be responsible for leading policy analysis on gender and social
inclusion and mainstreaming related activities. S/he will facilitate the identification of approaches working with Policy LINK Ghana’s partners and stakeholders to address gender and social inclusion gaps in the agriculture and food systems policymaking process while recommending and supporting opportunities to empower vulnerable groups.

The Senior Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Manager will design and develop strategies and plans to improve the empowerment of women, and gender equity, and promote inclusion and the participation of vulnerable groups in the agriculture and food systems policy processes at national and subnational levels.
The successful candidate will continually reinforce Policy LINK’s agreed-upon core purpose and principles, and ensure all decision-making is rooted in those purposes and principles. S/he will contribute to fostering a learning environment in which personal and team growth is supported, with a shared understanding that the “team” always comes before the “individual.”

Responsibilities
The Senior Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Manager will be responsible for the following specific tasks:

• Ensure the integration of GESI in various activities including the commemorations of international days in collaboration with local and government partners and Feed the Future (FtF) IPs to promote behavior change while emphasizing Policy LINK's role in bolstering policy actors within the agricultural sector.
• Develop and implement an integration strategy for the Policy LINK Ghana Activity that ensures effective gender and social inclusion in the policymaking process.
• Ensure gender and social inclusion are integrated in the design and implementation of all activities including building capacity of Policy LINK Ghana team on gender and inclusion.
• Design and implement gender and social inclusion-related capacity development activities and coordinate Policy LINK Ghana’s gender and inclusion activities with other development projects.
• Build and manage relationships with partners implementing gender and social inclusion initiatives in policy context at national and subnational levels.
• Work with technical leads to supervise technical gender and social inclusion activities of Policy LINK Ghana’s grant partners.
• Work with the technical leads to design and implement other gender and social inclusion-focused assessments as needed.
• Supervise the work of short-term consultants and grantees engaged to support Policy LINK Ghana’s gender and inclusion activities.
• Advise and provide technical support on the concept notes and scopes of work and coordinate the technical work and deliverables of technical staff, including grantees and short-term consultants.
• Provide high-quality written inputs for project deliverables including annual work plans, quarterly reports, annual reports, communications, and other technical documents as needed.
• Review technical reports and other products developed by Policy LINK Ghana to ensure gender and social inclusion are mainstreamed.
• Support cross-cutting activities, including collaboration with stakeholder institutions as requested to support the project’s overall objectives and demands from project counterparts.
• Lead activity teams, be part of activity teams, and contribute to overall technical implementation across the Activity.
• Support project management, including team meetings, internal learning processes, and reporting.
• Perform other duties as may arise during project implementation based on evolving programmatic needs.

Reporting
The Senior Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Manager will directly report to the Programs Lead with dotted lines to the Country Lead. S/he may supervise short-term consultants hired to support gender and social inclusion functions.

Required Skills or Experience

This position is open to Ghanaian citizens. Qualifications include:

Education and Work Experience

• At minimum, a bachelor’s degree (or its equivalent) in Development Studies, Social Work, Public Policy, agriculture or a similar relevant field.
• A minimum of 10 years of progressive relevant work experience in international NGOs, consulting firms, development organizations, the private sector, or government.
• Significant experience providing technical and managerial support in gender and social inclusion entities and/or advising on how to close gender and social inclusion gaps preferably in agriculture and food system policies.
• Experience working with government, and civil society organizations on policy analysis for gender and social inclusion at national and subnational levels.
• Experience working directly or providing support as a consultant in developing and implementing gender strategies and plans required.
• Demonstrated experience supervising and managing the work of grantees and consultants.
• Experience managing simultaneous relationships with multiple partner organizations and consultants leading to timely delivery of quality products and services.
• Demonstrated familiarity and working knowledge of policy context, processes, socio-cultural factors, and systems in Northern Ghana.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate and work with multiple stakeholders in collaborative models including public & private sector and civil society organizations.
• Demonstrated experience working with, advocating for, and influencing senior government officials.
• Demonstrated experience in the areas of policy development, facilitation, or coordination in
• agriculture, private sector engagement, and related areas is required.
• Experience in building capacity of staff and partner organizations is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience developing, supporting monitoring, and evaluating Gender and Social inclusion indicators preferred.
• Experience working on USAID or other international donor-funded projects preferred.
• Demonstrated familiarity with USAID policy and guidance and global best practices related to gender equity, empowerment of vulnerable groups, and inclusive development.
• Previous experience and competency in gender and social inclusion analysis focusing on agriculture.
• Demonstrated ability to provide leadership and take responsibility for incorporating gender and social inclusion perspectives into programming.

Skills

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Applied Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Excel, OneDrive, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, and/or SharePoint, etc.
• Ability to work in teams and communicate effectively across different cultures, age groups, and disciplinary backgrounds.
• Critical thinker, self-starter, and able to work with minimal supervision and within established deadlines.
• Flexibility and willingness to perform assigned and additional duties and work under unpredictable conditions.