Gender and Youth Specialist

Gender and Youth Specialist

Overview:

ACDI/VOCA is implementing the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food for Progress Jamaica Spices (JaSPICE) Project. This five-year program will support Jamaica’s goal of revitalizing the spice sector. JaSPICE will support 7,500 agricultural sector actors (including women and youth) to increase Jamaica’s yields of turmeric, ginger, and pimento on 2,750 hectares by 50 percent, resulting in $20 million in sales and $13.5 million in annual export sales. To achieve this, ACDI/VOCA will incorporate market systems strengthening strategies alongside climate-resilient and nature-positive production practices to increase the productivity, trade, and environmental resilience of spice crops.

Pursuant to its mission, ACDI/VOCA is seeking experienced and talented professionals for the Gender and Youth Specialist position. The position will be based in Kingston and reports to the Chief of Party. The Gender and Youth Specialist will oversee gender, youth, and social inclusion integration efforts across the project, including ensuring that gender and youth-based approaches are central in the project activities, in accordance with the program design and the intended outcomes of the award. The Gender and Youth Specialist will lead the process of identifying and addressing gender- and age-specific constraints across the project that limit social and economic empowerment, such as social stigma, household decision-making, and access to markets and productive resources. The Gender and Youth Specialist will lead the development of an evidence-based gender, youth, and social inclusion strategy in collaboration with key technical staff, which will provide overarching project guidance and include specific recommendations for the award. This strategy will also include inclusion-focused capacity building activities for key institutional and organizational partners (e.g., JAMPRO, JACRA, RADA, etc.) as well as project staff.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the development, with the support and collaboration of key staff in the project and home office, of an evidence-based, overarching Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion (GYSI) strategy and action plan, which includes specific guidance and recommendations for the award objectives.
• Work with the technical staff to ensure activities are designed and implemented in accordance with the program’s GYSI strategy and action plan and address youth- and gender-specific considerations, needs, and gaps.
• Work closely with the program team to ensure gender equity, female empowerment, and positive youth development approaches are central to program design and subsequent project activities. Lead the analysis of available desk research and support field assessments, as appropriate, to identify gender- and age-specific challenges, opportunities, and risks, particularly related to social and economic empowerment in the project sectors.
• Collaborate with the technical team leads to identify and develop gender- and youth-specific project opportunities, particularly to promote equitable household decision-making, women’s and youth’s engagement in on- and off-farm economic opportunities, market access, control over income, and leadership.
• Lead the development and promotion of context-sensitive, culturally appropriate female empowerment, male engagement, and gender-transformative approaches.
• Work with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Team Leader to ensure that gender and youth outcomes and impacts are tracked, monitored, analyzed, and reported. This includes both sex- and age-disaggregated data as well as gender and youth-specific performance indicators. 
• Contribute to annual work plans, working with technical staff to develop and write gender and youth focused activities and ensuring these considerations are integrated in the overall design.
• Contribute to semi- and annual reports, summarizing gender and youth results and learning as well as progress and evidence of transformative approaches.
• Identify and address capacity building and resource needs for project staff and partners, including training, mentoring, and other technical support to ensure staff and partners have the requisite knowledge, skills, and support for effective gender, youth, and social inclusion mainstreaming.
• Represent ACDI/VOCA’s thought leadership and learning on gender, youth, and social inclusion in agriculture in Jamaica at relevant workshops and events.
• Actively participate in ACDI/VOCA’s Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion Community of Practice by sharing learning and successes from the project GYSI strategies with other GYSI specialists and advisors, and by participating in webinars and accessing resources, templates, and networks.
• Prepare required and ad hoc reports for government, donor, and home office, and write success stories about successful GYSI interventions that highlight impact and learning regarding women’s empowerment, gender equity, and positive youth development.
• Participate in Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) activities initiated by the project, including portfolio reviews, Pause & Reflect sessions, etc. to gather gender, youth, and social inclusion learning. Apply this learning to improve project performance related to GYSI through use of adaptive management approaches. Further desired CLA competencies are listed below:

Collaboration:

• Internal collaboration with team members, including the ability to develop positive working relationships with the team, share and seek constructive feedback, and show respect for others through treatment, attitude, and punctuality.
• External collaboration with partners and project participants, including the ability to design technical interventions through participatory methods, consult with key and strategic stakeholders, and integrate diverse perspectives within their technical scope.
• Show inclusive treatment in all professional interactions and relationships.

Learning:

• Propose ways to experiment and test ideas to tackle entrenched GYSI gaps, develop technical approaches that address those gaps, and observe and document short- and long-term results of those approaches.
  • Encourage discussions with partners that come up with new ways of documenting results and applying learning related to GYSI
  • Develop knowledge and personal skills to improve one’s performance and contributions to the project team

Adapting:

• Recommend adjustments to interventions, partnerships, and/or strategies based on learning
• Demonstrate a flexible attitude to change
• Be able to present GYSI-focused ideas, concepts, and perspectives and negotiate them successfully
• Practice a facilitation attitude, being a change agent who positively influences others

Minimum Qualification Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree is required, with a degree or focus in sociology, gender studies, or youth development preferred.
• Minimum 7 years of prior work experience in international development or related field, including at least five years of work experience in gender and youth integration. Must have highly developed project coordination and strategy development skills, as well as experience supporting both gender and youth across the project(s).
• Demonstrated knowledge of and proven successful ability to conduct gender and youth analyses and assessments, including translating learning from these studies into practical application for GYSI integration in projects.
• Knowledge of gender and youth challenges in Jamaica is required.
• Proven ability to successfully design and conduct participatory training and workshops on GYSI-related topics.
• Experience identifying GYSI-related risks for projects and helping project teams develop risk mitigation plans preferred.
• Strong written communication skills, including demonstrated ability to write required documents in a clear, concise, well-organized manner.

To Apply:

If you are interested please apply no later than January 27, 2023. Due to the high volume of applications, we are not able to respond to inquiries via phone. Only those candidates considered for an interview will be contacted. ACDI/VOCA is an equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities and people from diverse groups are encouraged to apply.