Gender Manager - Prosper Cashew at TechnoServe

TechnoServe works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. We are a non-profit organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital, and markets. Our work is rooted in the idea that given the opportunity, hardworking men and women in even the poorest places can generate income, jobs, and wealth for their families and communities. With more than four decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.

We are recruiting to fill the position position below:

Job Title: Gender Manager - Prosper Cashew

Requisition Number: GENDE004376
Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full-Time
Project: Prosper Cashew Project in Nigeria
Reporting Unit/Supervisor: The Deputy Chief of Party, Prosper Cashew

Job Summary

• The Gender Manager will work closely with all components of the Proper Cashew team in Nigeria, in coordination with the Global Gender Practice, to support the delivery of gender integration activities in the Prosper Cashew Project.
• This will include technical support to program staff, staff capacity development, direct management of gender integration activities, monitoring, reporting, and knowledge management activities, participation in the Gender Champions Network, and overall support to advance TechnoServe’s Gender Equality Policy.

Program / Practice / Department Overview

• The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service through its Food for Progress (FFPr) program is anticipating funding a regional value chain improvement program for cashew production and processing in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria for the period of 2021-2026.
• West Africa is responsible for 45% of the global cashew production, yet the majority of those yields are exported for processing.
• The project will complement other USDA investments and programs in this sector to address market barriers through technical assistance (TA) and financing solutions along the West Africa cashew value chain to improve sector productivity, increase incomes, and create jobs.

Specifically, the Prosper Cashew project seeks:

• Increased value added to the cashew sector in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria, primarily through increased processing into kernels and cashew byproducts
• Increased mobilization of capital for the cashew sector
• Increased capacity of key stakeholder institutions
• Improved policy and legal/regulatory enabling environment
• Increased competitiveness and integration of the cashew sector into global markets
• Inclusive net job creation, particularly in the expanded processing and byproduct sector.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities

• Provide technical oversight and technical assistance on gender integration across the Prosper Cashew Project
• Provide technical oversight and technical assistance on gender integration
• Identify, develop, and support the deployment of gender-responsive activities to meet the needs of clients
• Lead the building of local capacity among processor and project staff for gender integration and facilitate gender-related training for staff
• Lead the development and adoption of gender analysis tools, including gender action plans, which assist with the design and implementation of activities and continuously improve technical excellence
• Conduct assessments and facilitate meetings, as needed, with key stakeholders and clients to identify measures to improve inclusiveness, especially for women within the project scope
• Provide strategic guidance and counsel to program leadership and staff on gender integration approaches, priorities, and compatibility with program aims and resource constraints
• Support monitoring of gender integration in activities and inclusion in program reports
• Contribute to reporting on gender-related topics
• Lead the development of essential knowledge products (e.g., case studies, lessons-learned documents, etc.) that facilitate program development, program implementation, internal knowledge sharing, and the influencing agenda
• Support staff recruitment and hiring processes
• Participate in regular meetings with the Global Gender Practice and the program leadership
• Lead in the identification and implementation of particular gender interventions within the processing firm while showing how it improves overall processors' image and revenue base through such interventions.
• Participate in the Gender Champions Network

Basic Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s Degree with seven years of experience or a Master’s with five years of experience. Degree in Development Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, Gender, or another relevant discipline.
• Demonstrable experience implementing practical approaches to advance gender equality in the private sector. Someone who understand gender mainstreaming within the for profit sector
• Experience in adult learning techniques, excellent in-person and virtual facilitation skills

Preferred Qualifications:
Additional qualifications that would make a candidate more desirable.

• Strong gender experience working in Nigeria.
• Experience working with international donors, especially with US donors.
• Experience working with high-margin agriculture, especially tree crops-related projects.
• Experience implementing approaches to mitigate and reduce gender-based violence in economic growth programs, a plus.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
The candidate should have the following:

• Good communication skills
• Good Communication skills
• Understanding of project management
• keen interest in details
• Ability to work across teams to influence behavior and build capacity.
• Ability to work persuasively and diplomatically in a team-based environment with high complexity and ambiguity.
• Ability to communicate complex gender issues with clarity and precision
• Demonstrated success in leading tasks, activities, or initiatives requiring a combination of strong analytical, writing, social, and management skills
• A deep, demonstrable commitment to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
• Must have high standards of personal integrity and a flexible, laid-back personality with an excellent sense of humor required.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online