Women Economic Empowerment/GEDSI Specialist – Ninewa

JOB OPPORTUNITY

Women Economic Empowerment/GEDSI Specialist – Ninewa

World Vision International is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision – Iraq Office is looking for a highly qualified and motivated person for the position of Women Economic Empowerment/GEDSI Specialist – Ninewa. 

Employee Contract Type:

Local – Fixed Term Employee (Fixed Term)

Job Description:

PURPOSE OF POSITION:

The Women Economic Empowerment/GEDSI Specialist will lead the project strategy and activities to advance Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) across the “Sustainable and Resilient Future-Ninewa” project cycle. Using an inclusive Market Systems Development (iMSD) lens in value chain development (VCD/MSD), the Specialist will mainstream GEDSI and deliver targeted gender-transformative and social behaviour change (SBC) approaches to address barriers facing women and persons with disabilities in market participation, finance, entrepreneurship, and decent work. The role provides technical backstopping, ensures do‑no‑harm and conflict sensitivity, aligns with World Vision WEE/Livelihoods frameworks and PQAS, and strengthens collaboration with livelihood staff, saving groups, women-led organizations, OPDs, private sector, and financial institutions/MFIs to achieve measurable, sustainable outcomes in Ninewa.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

GEDSI and WEE Technical Leadership

• Provide technical leadership to the Sustainable and Resilient Future–Ninewa project on GEDSI/WEE within VCD/MSD (iMSD).
• Develop and operationalize the GEDSI & WEE strategy and workplan (twin-track mainstreaming + targeted actions); refine Theory of Change and review M&E plans and indicators (sex- and disability-disaggregated);
• Lead the integration of GEDSI and WEE principles across project components, including agriculture, market systems, climate resilience, WASH and livelihoods.
• Ensure project strategies align with WVI gender and inclusion standards and ANCP GEDSI requirements.
• Provide technical guidance on women’s economic empowerment approaches, including access to assets, skills, income, markets, and decision-making.
• Design and adapt tools for gender‑responsive market and GEDSI assessments; support integration with saving groups and access to inclusive finance.

Gender and Social Inclusion Analysis

• Lead or support gender, disability, and social inclusion analyses to identify barriers, risks, and opportunities.
• Ensure findings inform activity design, targeting, and implementation strategies.
• Support conflict- and context-sensitive approaches that address power dynamics at household and community levels.

Program Design and Implementation Support

• Support the design of inclusive livelihood and economic activities that are safe and appropriate for women and marginalized groups.
• Promote approaches such as household dialogue, men’s engagement, and community norm change to support women’s economic participation.
• Ensure accessibility and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities.

Capacity Building and Change Facilitation

• Build capacity of project staff, partners, and community actors on GEDSI, safeguarding, and WEE concepts.
• Develop and deliver training materials, tools, and guidelines.
• Mentor partners to implement GEDSI-responsive and transformative approaches.
• Provide training/coaching/mentoring to livelihood staff and field teams on GEDSI/WEE (assessments, approaches, private‑sector engagement, safeguarding, iMSD).
• Assess capacity gaps and recommend external learning; conduct FGDs/responsive fact‑finding and advise on course corrections
• Identify challenges/opportunities and formulate concepts/proposals for donors cantered on GEDSI/WEE
• Contribute to proposal development with quality data/evidence

Safeguarding, Protection, and Risk Mitigation

• Identify and mitigate risks related to gender-based violence (GBV), exploitation, abuse, and backlash linked to women’s economic participation.
• Work closely with safeguarding and protection teams to ensure safe programming.
• Ensure referral pathways and survivor-centered approaches are in place and functional.

Coordination and Integration

• Coordinate closely with Agriculture, Market Systems, Climate Resilience, MEAL, GAM, and Operations teams.
• Identify, profile, and build strategic linkages with women‑led organizations, OPDs, private sector, financial institutions/MFIs, NGOs, and local authorities; map and connect smallholder producers and saving groups to key market players to increase productivity/profitability;
• Engage with local women-led organizations, DPOs, community leaders, and relevant authorities.
• Support partner selection and assessment from a GEDSI perspective.
• Develop/contribute training materials and manuals for inclusive management of agricultural/non‑agricultural enterprises (including collection centers and value chain improvement);
• Increase project visibility; promote cross‑learning; represent the project in forums/workshops/conferences; lead private sector engagement and advocacy to remove barriers and expand market access for women and PWD.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)

• Work with MEAL to monitor GEDSI/WEE outcomes using sex- and disability-disaggregated data;
• Develop data collection tools/techniques to monitor interventions, including volume and value of marketed products (collection centers/cooperatives);
• Conduct follow‑up visits to assess progress vs. objectives and provide technical support;
• Support the Project Manager/MEAL in timely, accurate, high‑quality donor reports; use innovative approaches to evaluate performance/effectiveness/impact; support baseline and endline studies and targeted research on sustainable livelihoods and economic development; produce case studies demonstrating social transformation and sustainable outcomes.
• Contribute to GEDSI and WEE indicators aligned with ANCP and WVI standards.
• Support collection and analysis of sex-, age-, and disability-disaggregated data.
• Document lessons learned, good practices, and evidence of transformative change.

Reporting and Compliance

• Contribute to high-quality donor reports, GEDSI analyses, and learning products.
• Ensure compliance with ANCP GEDSI policies, WVI safeguarding standards, and ethical data collection requirements.
• Support evaluations, audits, and learning events as required.
• Perform other duties as required

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Required Education, training, license, registration, and/or
Certification

• A Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (international development, business administration, social sciences, women studies or another similar discipline).
• A Bachelor’s degree with at least 7 years of relevant experience may be considered in place of a Master’s.

Required Professional Experience

• Minimum of 7 years of experience and At least 3 years working in the area of Women Empowerment & Youth Sustainable livelihoods projects.
• Degree in development studies, Gender studies, or any other related field with a minimum of 7 years of experience.
• Experience in Project Management in a complex, international organization preferably in an NGO context will be an added advantage.
• Knowledge in M&E and gender mainstreaming and associated indicators and outcome areas with funded projects from various donors.
• Knowledge and understanding of World Vision operations would be an added advantage,
• Experience in project design, implementation, monitoring, report writing, and publishing project materials.
• Must have excellent communication, interpersonal, decision making, conflict management,
• Ability to work in a cross-cultural environment, and must be a mature Christian.
• Computer literate in statistical packages including Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.
• Capacity to function well in a team and contribute effectively to team efforts

Required Language(s):

• Fluency in Arabic (spoken and written).
• Proficiency in English (spoken and written).

Position’s physical requirements

•  Ability to conduct field visits in rural/agricultural settings, which may involve walking on uneven terrain and exposure to outdoor conditions.
  •    Capacity to carry training materials and equipment as needed.
  •    No specific physical limitations, but reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Required travel and/or work environment accommodations

• The position is based in Ninewa-Mosul.
• Willingness to travel frequently within Ninewa Governorate, including rural and field locations. (Up to 80% of the time)
• Ability to work in a multicultural and occasionally high-pressure environment.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing project needs and field conditions.

Preferred Experience, Knowledge and/or other Qualifications

•  Experience in designing and delivering Training of Trainers (ToT) programs.
  •    Familiarity with climate-smart agriculture, sustainable land management, and water conservation techniques.
  •    Strong facilitation, coaching, and mentoring skills.
  •    Knowledge of local agricultural systems, market dynamics, and value chains in Iraq.
  •    Experience with donor-funded projects, particularly those funded by UN agencies or international NGOs.

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local Applicants Only

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Mode of Application:

If you are interested in this position, to apply, please register at: https://worldvision.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WorldVisionInternational/details/Women-Economic-Empowerment-GEDSI-Specialist—Ninewa_JR47102

No information inquiries will be handled over the phone. Only short-listed candidates will be notified for the interview. The deadline for application is January 06, 2026.

As a Child focused organization, World Vision is committed to the protection of children and does not employ staff whose background is not suitable for working with children. All employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of all applicable background checks