Gender Expert Consultant (12 months contract)

ABOUT MASTERCARD FOUNDATION

Mastercard Foundation seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. Through its Young Africa Works strategy and Canadian EleV program, the Foundation works with partners to ensure that millions of young people, especially young women, access quality education, financial services, and dignified work. Mastercard Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. The Foundation is independent with its own Board of Directors and CEO.

THE WORK AT THE FOUNDATION

We are currently in an exciting period at the Mastercard Foundation as we intensify the implementation of the Young Africa Works strategy, aiming to empower 30 million young people throughout Africa to access dignified and fulfilling employment.

To ensure the Foundation’s accessibility to our partners and program participants, we have established offices in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Uganda. These offices provide strong in-country support for the implementation of Young Africa Works. We collaborate with governments, the private sector, educators, and other funders to enhance the quality of education and vocational training, equip young individuals with the necessary skills for the workforce, expand access to financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and facilitate connections between job seekers and meaningful employment opportunities.

Our values serve as our guiding principles, transcending and surpassing all other considerations. We wholeheartedly encourage you to bring your bold ideas, curiosity, and expertise to your work.

If you’re an experienced Gender Professional looking to increase your impact, read on!

THE OPPORTUNITY 

Reporting to the Lead, Gender, the Consultant will be responsible for building an impactful country program by setting direction and engaging partners throughout program design and implementation, focused on the Foundation’s commitment to enable dignified and fulfilling work for young women and people. S/he will facilitate the understanding of gender dynamics and how they influence various opportunities and support programmatic interventions that are responsive to the realities at the country level. This role is the subject matter expert on gender as it relates (but is not limited to) to education, skills, employment readiness, access to finance and the market.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE 

• Provide gender expertise to review proposals, shape diagnostics, strategic priorities/outcomes, and develop impactful interventions.
• Collaborate to co-design young women-centric interventions and integrate gender across the Country Strategy and programs to advance the country’s overall gender outcomes.
• Lead concept and proposal iterations, partner reports and review of strategic outcomes, programs, and interventions to ensure strategies, approaches, interventions, and impact measures are aligned with the Foundation’s gender strategy and ambition.
• Develop means of monitoring, measurement, and evaluation in consultation with colleagues in Impact.
• Identify collaboration opportunities among partners and in the ecosystem and facilitate collaboration.
• Develop and/or adapt gender analysis tools for the Foundation and provide technical and strategic guidance to various partners/programs in the country.
• Lead a needs assessment and design a detailed support plan to strengthen women-centric design, implementation, monitoring, and adaptation for colleagues and partners in the country.
• Develop and implement innovative approaches to organically integrate young women-centric design, ignite productive discussions on gender, and promote working and lasting interventions within the Foundation partnership network in the country.
• Identify and contribute to relevant learning networks or communities of practice and represent the Foundation at gender-related events and coordination mechanisms in the country.

WHO YOU ARE

• A master’s degree or equivalent experience in social sciences, including gender/women’s/youth studies, education, or a relevant discipline.
• Relevant professional qualification and a member of a relevant professional body.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience supporting young people, institutions, employers, and communities, with at least five years at a leadership level.
• Knowledge of and experience with the landscape of local, national, regional, and pan-African women’s and youth-serving organizations and networks, as well as the country-specific social, economic, and political contexts.
• Experience in partnership management, including capacity building, coordination and networking for effective gender mainstreaming and youth empowerment.
• Experience planning and delivering gender training for multiple audiences and translating knowledge, including synthesizing data and articulating key insights.
• Experience and knowledge of the landscape of regional and national women’s and youth-serving organizations and networks, as well as knowledge of country-specific social, economic, and political contexts.
• Experience and astute ability to provide expert technical advice to program leads and implementers.
• Ability to capture trends, progress, and lessons and communicate them to colleagues, partners, and stakeholders in a simple and digestible approach to induce action.
• Experience working with the private sector.
• Experience working with or in programs supporting refugee youth and people with disability.
• Expertise in developing and applying gender analysis design tools in multi-sectoral programs.
• Excellent analytical skills and the ability to think strategically.
• Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate information to various constituents within the country.
• Excellent prioritization and time management skills with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to travel regularly within and outside the country of focus.
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute various job duties and changing priorities.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to various constituents across cultures.
• Professional maturity, sensitivity to different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• You have a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.

Deadline for Applications is May 22, 2024.

Mastercard Foundation (the “Foundation”) values and respects your privacy. By submitting an application for this opportunity, you hereby agree to the Foundation’s collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy (available at https://mastercardfdn.org/privacy/). Please note that the Foundation may share your personal information with third-party agencies that support the Foundation’s recruitment activities, and such third-party agencies may contact you directly regarding this opportunity. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Foundation’s Privacy Officer at the address indicated in its Privacy Policy.

The Mastercard Foundation values the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the organization and we are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone.

Completion of satisfactory business references and background checks are essential conditions of employment.

For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit http://www.mastercardfdn.org/
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