Gender Equality Specialist - Gender Mainstreaming (Homebased Retainer)

UNOPS East & Southern Africa:

UNOPS East & Southern Africa Multi-Country Office (ESAMCO) has an established operation centre in Nairobi, Kenya, which manages a portfolio of engagements in multiple countries in East and South Africa. These countries include: Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Somalia, and Eritrea. ESAMCO focuses on Infrastructure, Procurement, Project Management, HR, Transactional Services, and Fund Management services in those countries. Our goal is to support countries, help people in need and enable our partners through  delivering on our mandate of infrastructure, procurement and project management in the countries of East and Southern Africa.

Project Information:

Biodiversity conservation, sustainable land management and enhanced water security in Lake Tanganyika basin project is a project aimed at strengthening the collaborative partnerships between the Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA) and the contracting States (Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia). Lake Tanganyika Authority (LTA) was established by the contracting States on 12 June 2003 when the contracting States adopted what they call “Convention on the Sustainable Management of Lake Tanganyika.”

The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). UNOPS is the project executing agency, and is accountable to UNEP for the overall implementation of the project. UNOPS established a trans-boundary Project Coordination Unit (PCU) in Bujumbura, Burundi to coordinate the day-to-day administration and operations of the project across the four riparian countries (Burundi, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia).

The project has 4 components:

(i) Addressing identified transboundary threats to fish biodiversity.

(ii) Protection of core conservation zones in protected areas.

(iii) Sustainable natural resource use in protected areas and their buffer zones.

(iv) Transboundary coordination, information management and M&E.

Job Specific Information:

Home-based with potential occasional travel in the project region, the Gender Equality Specialist reports to the Senior Project Manager who provides broad supervision and guidance. The role is responsible for supporting the Senior Project Manager with the gender inputs and activities towards delivering the project on time and within budget. The successful candidate must be able to perform their roles with a high degree of autonomy, establish strong collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders and may be required to supervise, coordinate, or guide the work of other team members.

This is a retainer position and the Gender Equality Specialist is expected to work the equivalent of two months per year for three years.

The Gender Equality Specialist will be responsible for the following functions:

• Oversee, develop and coordinate the implementation of all gender–related work.

• Develop the Gender Action Plan and review it annually, update and revise it as necessary.

• Ensure that project reporting, monitoring and evaluation fully addresses the gender issues of the project.

• Ensure that gender sensitization modules are included in all training activities supported by the project, and support the development of these modules.

• Verify that project training materials and activities are aligned with local family realities, promote positive actions towards the role and involvement of women in family income generating activities and family finances, respect communities’ ethnicity, women's time availability, cultural practices, etc.

• Ensure that guidelines, protocols, procedures, standards and incentives developed by the project include gender dimensions.

• Ensure that women actively participate in, and benefit from, all project-related activities.

• Support the collection of sex-disaggregated and gender specific data by the responsible partner institutions.

• Ensure that the project also supports women groups interested in project-supported livelihoods development activities.

• Conduct a Gender Assessment of project impact as part of the Mid-Term Review (MTR). Based on the results of the Gender Assessment and other recommendations coming out of the MTR, make recommendations on how the project can further improve its gender related interventions

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent proficiency) in gender studies or any other related field is required.
• A Bachelor’s degree in any of the above-mentioned fields or related in combination with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted instead of an advanced university degree.

• At least 5 years of experience in gender in development projects, with a specific focus on working with women in African rural communities is required.
• At least 5 years of experience working in one or more of the Lake Tanganyika riparian countries (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia) is required.
• Experience with addressing gender-based violence issues in rural communities is an asset.
• Gender-based working experience with UN agencies and/or multilateral agencies is an asset.
• A functional knowledge of gender policies, legislation and strategies in the Lake Tanganyika riparian countries is an asset.

• Full working knowledge of English is required.
• Intermediate working knowledge of French language is required

Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA) Retainer - Homebased Retainer
Contract level: International Individual Contractor Agreement, IICA2 (ICS-10)
Contract duration: 3 years (with an equivalent of 2 months of work expected within each year)

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience requirements outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to considering all candidates in a fair and transparent manner, and we value diverse perspectives and experiences, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.



• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• This is a homebased position, where the incumbent may occasionally travel to the project region.

Terms and Conditions 

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 

• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses ( they take around 4 hours to complete)  in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

• It may be the responsibility of the selected candidate to make arrangements, to a standard deemed acceptable by UNOPS, for a secure internet connection, laptop and or equipment necessary for work(as defined by UNOPS).