Senior Gender Advisers for the IASC GenCap project

Are you striving to catalyse positive change for gender equality in humanitarian action? Are you a senior professional with programming expertise and the political acumen to facilitate inter-agency processes and consensus?

The Inter-Agency Standby Committee (IASC) Gender Capacity Stand-by Project (GenCap), a long-standing collaborative partnership between the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), envisions a world in which humanitarian action prioritizes gender equality. To help ensure the centrality of gender in humanitarian response, the project works to strengthen inter-agency leadership, programmes and localization strategies by providing direct support to field operations through the deployment of Senior Gender Advisers who work closely with Resident and Humanitarian Coordinators (RC/HCs), Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTSs), and other stakeholders, including national partners.

Operating in highly complex settings, GenCap Senior Gender Advisers (SGAs) are skilled and experienced professionals, representing an independent, inter-agency resource for the collective response. GenCap SGAs are positioned to: 

• Serve as a catalyst for positive change in humanitarian action. 
• Provide senior-level expertise and leadership on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
• Participate in the collective effort to support humanitarian partners in upholding commitments and responding to current challenges related to gender in humanitarian action.
• Deploy on short notice to a country or mission as determined by GenCap management. 

GenCap SGAs are contracted by NRC and remain employees of the Norwegian Refugee Council whilst deployed to the United Nations. Although they are not regarded as United Nations staff members, GenCap SGAs perform their duties under the authority and in full compliance with the regulations of the hosting United Nations agency/agencies.

Duties and responsibilities

GenCap Senior Gender Advisers will be expected to consistently uphold and promote humanitarian values and principled actions and decisions, in line with NORCAP values and the United Nations Charter. She/he will be responsible for catalysing efforts around a shared vision on gender issues in the country of deployment. More particularly she/he will:

• Work at strategic level with a wide range of humanitarian actors, including at senior decision-making level and in an inter-agency capacity.
• Make practical advice and interagency guidance available to ensure gender mainstreaming and gender equality programming as part of the response.
• Negotiate and strategically influence change in order to reach mutually benefiting and lasting commitments through team / coalition building and advocacy (including at a senior level, within humanitarian country teams, inter-cluster and/ or sector setting).  
• Engage individuals and organisations/agencies on all levels to achieve common goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (GEEWG).
• Build support for the project and the collective goals and commitments on GEEWG, successfully navigating the humanitarian architecture and inter-agency mechanisms, as well as stakeholder’s mandates, frameworks and tools to achieve objectives.  
• Support gender analysis is available for decision making at all levels, including provide advice to address gaps in programming and contribute to progress in ensuring gender equality is at the center of humanitarian, development and/or peace practice.

We are looking for Senior Gender Advisers with extensive technical expertise, strong negotiation, facilitation and influencing skills to work as committed and resilient change agents. Relevant experience would be in one or more of the following areas:

• Leading and facilitating stakeholders in the development of country-specific roadmaps for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

• Elaborating/technically advising operation-wide gender equality strategies and action plans for complex environments, advising at senior level on the integration of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC), United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), and other planning processes as necessary.
• Assessing capacity development needs of multiple types of stakeholders, and developing and implementing, monitoring and evaluating capacity development activities.
• Leading advocacy strategies and processes with a variety of stakeholders (UN leadership, diplomatic representations, donors, Government representatives, INGOs, NGOs, local organizations, etc.) in complex contexts  

Qualifications and skills

• A master’s degree in gender studies, social or international studies, or related field 
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant and progressively responsible humanitarian and/ or development experience is required.
• A minimum of 5 years of international field experience is required.
• Proven senior coordination and operational leadership experience and/ or inter-agency experience in humanitarian settings is highly regarded.
• Strong advocacy skills and experience working with high-ranking officials ranging from national, regional and local authorities, to diplomats, donors, and INGOs and/or UN senior officials.
• Ability to navigate the humanitarian architecture, coupled with a solid understanding of UN agencies’ mandates.
• Ability to influence a variety of stakeholders and bring them together around a common vision and purpose.
• Ability to reach out to relevant, and diverse, stakeholders from a variety of sectors to build partnerships for sustainable results and impact.
• Experience in applying main humanitarian frameworks and tools. 
• Experience in designing and implementing capacity building initiatives targeting different audiences on the application of global tools including the IASC Gender Handbook, IASC Guidelines for GBV, IASC Gender with Age Marker (GAM) toolkit, and Gender Equality Measures (GEMs).  
• Fluency in English and in addition working proficiency in at least one of the following languages. Candidates with French and/or Arabic language skills are also highly desirable. Spanish may be required for specific duty stations.
• Excellent IT skills.

Behavioural requirements:

• Understanding and allegiance to gender equality and GBV principles.
• Sensitivity to cultural diversity, discrimination, and accountability to affected populations.
• Ability to navigate complex reporting lines.
• Ability to delegate.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with empathy, respect, and tact.
• Able to prioritise and achieve results through collaboration.
• Innovative, flexible and quickly adapting to new situations.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in highly stressful situations. 

GenCap offers

• An opportunity to influence humanitarian leadership by driving change around gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Opportunities to work as part of a community of Gender and Protection Advisors, supported by technical experts.
• Possibility to benefit of tailored induction, mentoring and coaching as well as bespoke training such as the Gender in Humanitarian Action Training (GiHA). 
• Opportunity to work with humanitarian leadership toward achieving of gender equality in humanitarian action
• Competitive package offered by NRC

In place of a cover letter / application letter, please respond to these two questions in maximum 1 page in total: 

1.  Describe a time you have influenced the system towards gender inclusive policy and or programming response.  (This should be in an inter-agency setting or working directly with management / heads of organisations at a global or regional level).  

2.  Please give a concrete example of a time when you trained others in applying global tools.  Describe your specific training methodology, tools (for example IASC Gender Handbook, GBV guidelines, Gender in Humanitarian Action package, Gender with Age Marker toolkit and/or Gender Equality Measures and guidance) and audience.

Please note that candidates must respond to these two questions to be considered and that previous applicants who have applied within the past 12 months are not eligible to apply.

Learn more about the IASC GenCap Gender Stanby Capacity Project here: https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/gender-standby-capacity-project-gencap

About Us

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. We work in crises across 31 countries, providing emergencies and long-term assistance to millions of people every year. We stand up for people forced to flee, advocating their rights. NORCAP, our global provider of expertise, helps improve international and local ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from crises. NRC also runs the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva, a global leader in reporting on and advocating for people displaced within their own country.

Employment with NRC may lead to employment in or deployment to Regions, Countries, Areas or Offices that may be host to considerable health, safety and security risks. NRC takes this very seriously and we have procedures in place to reduce known risks, but will never be able to take away all risks.

About the Team

NORCAP solves key challenges in the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding sectors, in order to better protect vulnerable people’s lives and rights. We build partnerships and projects with national and international organisations and stakeholders. Skilled NORCAP experts contribute to developing partners’ capacity – to identify and address challenges, improve collaboration and encourage new and innovative approaches. NORCAP is part of the Norwegian Refugee Council.