Director, Gender and Youth Associate (GAYA) Award

Location: Washington, DC, Portland OR, US-Remote, UK, or Colombia

Valid unrestricted work authorization in the country in which you will be based is required at the time of application for this position. We may be open to considering candidates based in other locations, depending on work authorization and our registration status.

Position Status: Full Time Regular (2 year position)

Salary: $90,000 - $114,000 for US-Based candidates; minimum of 63,000 GBP for UK-Based candidates, to be benchmarked for candidates based in Colombia

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps alleviates poverty, suffering, and oppression and works to build secure, productive, and just communities in over 40 countries around the world. Our Program Department supports field-led work that delivers measurable impact.

Mercy Corps’ Technical Resources and Quality Unit (TRaQ) is a key part of the Program Department. Mercy Corps’ TRaQ Unit houses subject matter experts whose mission is to help our global teams apply the most effective solutions to the world’s toughest challenges, while building our global reputation and resources to do so. By advancing technical excellence the Unit plays a key role in driving Mercy Corps’ impact, innovation and influence around the world.

The Director Gender and Youth Associate Award is a member of the TRaQ and is a key position for the Gender and Youth Capacity Building, Learning and Small Grants Associate Award (GAYA) under Implementer Led Design, Evidence, Analysis, and Learning (IDEAL) program. GAYA is an $8.8 million dollar program over 5 years designed to provide strategic capacity strengthening to implementing partners of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and other food security stakeholders. GAYA is mid-way through its implementation.

General Position Summary

The Director Gender and Youth Activity will direct and manage the IDEAL Associate Award (AA) on Gender and Youth Capacity Building, Learning and Small Grants. IDEAL works to support BHA’s goal of improving food and nutrition security programming for the most vulnerable by strengthening the technical and operational capacity of implementing partners through promotion of best practices and support for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. The AA seeks to improve the quality of gender and youth programming and integration within food and nutrition security activities. The Director will manage this AA, providing strategic vision, leadership and oversight. The Director/Sr Advisor is the lead technical position and a key personnel role, guiding the team to identify practitioner gaps, test new approaches, expand innovations, build capacities and share learnings and practices that improve food and nutrition security by challenging and shifting the structures that perpetuate inequality and that holistically support and engage young people as positive change agents. The GAYA Director will be joining an established, high functioning and collaborative team.

Essential Job Responsibilities

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP & PROGRAM QUALITY

• Lead Gender and Youth Associate Award technical discussions with USAID representatives in the US, including bringing in program implementer perspective and IDEAL’s sectoral accomplishments into the discussions.
• Ensure quality results and coordinated efforts across all components of the AA and activities.
• Coordinate with BHA, IDEAL and its associated support mechanisms, and gender and age related agencies, fora and communities of practice in the food and nutrition security areas. This includes AAs supporting annual Gender Consultations.
• Use innovative consultative methods and audiences to harvest effective practices and learnings and develop guidance for new programs in humanitarian responses, early recovery, risk reduction and resilience contexts.
• Lead vision and workplan to support and strengthen gender and youth platforms and communities of practice in food and nutrition security programming. This means bringing a strong gender and positive youth development perspective to existing communities of practice and networks. Explore effective ways to bring in global participants for peer to peer learning.
• Ensure that gender and youth analyses are improved and utilized throughout implementation partners’ program cycles. Identify contextual gaps, including but not limited to capacity gaps around analysis design, protocols, linkages to research agendas, methods and sampling, data collection and interpretation of results into actionable program activities or modifications, and develop tools and mechanisms for addressing these gaps.
• Implement a small grants program aimed at identifying and addressing gender and youth knowledge and capacity gaps in food and nutrition security programs. These include research awards, micro-grants and program improvement awards.
• Ensure cross-cutting principles and themes -- adaptive management, resilience and sustainability -- are effectively integrated throughout all AA activities and approaches.
• Develop and maintain an adaptive technical staffing structure that will allow for change in technical emphasis over time, including a database of technical gender and youth experts and organizational expertise.
• Liaise with different stakeholders at HQ level - and at the field level through regional facilitators - to ensure up-to-date knowledge of the global food security policy environment, including USAID policies and strategies, global trends, and barriers and enablers for gender and youth integration in food security and nutrition programming for the most vulnerable.
• Develop and cultivate networks of technical and functional experts who IDEAL can access for long and short-term technical assistance.
• Ensure both implementer perspectives and USAID/BHA’s strategy are reflected in all project results, activities and materials.

LEARNING AND IMPACT

• With the team, track and monitor progress across all workstreams. Review indicators on a regular basis and convene regular reflection workshops to: review progress; identify challenges, barriers and gaps, discuss new and emerging opportunities for learning and skills development; and adapt workplans as needed.
• Collect, analyze and use on-going feedback from implementing partners on the status of their knowledge, skills and capacity around gender and youth integration, as well as feedback from participants of food and nutrition security programming to improve activities under the AA.
• Work with the AA Team to ensure high quality, coordinated, and demand driven learning, knowledge management and capacity strengthening activities. Work with AA Team to complete high quality deliverables in a timely manner.
• Coordinate with IDEAL consortium members’ technical teams and programs to enable IDEAL members’ technical capacity to inform IDEAL implementation and ensure members understand and benefit from IDEAL and this AA’s activities.
• Develop and maintain effective knowledge management systems to capture and apply programmatic priorities and learning at a regional and country level, as well as technical information on what is working and what is not with IDEAL and other learning awards, provide directions and strategic technical priorities for regional and country support.

REPRESENTATION

• Contribute to knowledge management through participation in larger food security networks to facilitate the dissemination of products and project learning around effective gender and positive youth development integration into development and emergency programming.
• Lead on representing and fostering relationships with implementing partners with BHA funding.
• Leverage relationships with other global food security knowledge management mechanisms—for example, KDAD, FEWSNET, BEAM -- to leverage and share effective learning and utilization strategies around gender and youth integration.
• Participate in the development and implementation of a knowledge management and program learning strategy for both development and emergency BHA food and nutrition security programs.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one on ones and performance reviews.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Hire, orient and lead team members as necessary.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options

Supervisory Responsibility

The GAYA Director line manages the Mercy Corps Technical Advisor for Research and Learning, Gender Advisor, and Program Officer and has matrix management responsibilities with the Save the Children Youth Advisor, Communications Advisor, and small grants team.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Sr. Director, Social Inclusion / Technical Resources and Quality Unit

Works Directly With: IDEAL Team, Members of Mercy Corps’ Technical Resource and Quality Unit; and technical focal points of IDEAL’s members, BHA Implementing Partners

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills

• Per USAID requirements, an advanced degree at Masters level or above (M.A., M.S., MPP, MPA, MBA, or Ph.D.) is required to be considered.
• USAID requires that candidates have at least 10 years of experience managing gender and age issues, food and nutrition security programming and org learning in a variety of contexts.
• At least five years experience directly supporting gender and/or age activities. Strong knowledge and experience with integrating gender equality and the Positive Youth Development approach and framework into programming.
• Experience with food and nutrition security programming, notably those of BHA and its requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to liaise with donor agencies, and USAID in particular at senior levels
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically in difficult environments, and negotiate solutions
• Demonstrated ability to function productively within a consortium.
• Demonstrated ability to provide capacity building within teams and/or with government partners, such as ministries and NGOs so that the team is better able to achieve results.
• Strong existing network within the Gender and/or Youth community.
• French and/or Spanish fluency preferred.

Success Factors

The successful Director will combine technical skills in gender and youth inclusion with knowledge of food and nutrition security. Must be flexible, creative, curious and enthusiastic about improving food security and resilience outcomes for the most vulnerable segments of populations, with a commitment to unpacking different vulnerabilities and embracing diversity and intersectionality of gender and youth issues. A self-starter who works well in a non-hierarchical environment, and who is able to prioritize competing priorities, learn quickly, take initiative and be accountable for results will be necessary for this position. They will be dedicated to the principle of doing no harm to the beneficiaries, knowledgeable on how gender dynamics relate to food security, open to working with all actors across the spectrum, and balance sectoral goals depending on needs and context. The Director will be confident in providing support and advice, while understanding that communities themselves can often identify the best strategies for success. They will demonstrate a strong understanding of how to work effectively in varying cultural, political and religious environments.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position will be based in Washington, D.C. and requires at least 30% travel both within the US and internationally. The Director may travel to field sites that may lack amenities or be in volatile environments where security protocols will need to be followed.