African Development Bank (AfDB) -  the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. 

POSITION: Division Manager, Gender and Women Empowerment

Description
The role of the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department is under the Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten Year Strategy High 5s priority of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”. Furthermore, “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa” will be operationalized with focus on Gender, Women and Civil Society.

The Gender, Women and Civil Society Department is designed to improve coherence and coordination across complexes on gender and Civil Society Organization issues. The department will ensure strategic priorities are reflected in resources allocation, enhance monitoring and management of performance, and strengthen the focus on results.

As part of the Gender, Women and Civil Society Directorate, the manager, Civil Society and Women Empowerment Division will provide leadership on mainstreaming civil society in operations.

The Position

• The objective of Division Manager - Gender and Women Empowerment, the Position is to provide strategic guidance to the Bank’s work in gender and women empowerment.
• The incumbent will build and maintain excellent external relations with development partners and alliances at the global level to advance the gender work.
• He /She will support the Department Director in regional and global advocacy efforts on promoting the gender and women empowerment agenda.

 Responsibilities

Manage and Supervise the Division:

• Set the overall objectives, develop work programs and oversee their execution and ensure that deadlines are met and that the Division’s outputs reach the highest technical standard quality
• Establish a feedback mechanism and workflow management and assignments system in compliance with the Bank’s policies, guidelines and monitoring procedures.
• Plan, organize and coordinate the activities of the Division;

Lead policy developments and monitoring:

• Develop innovative approaches to the implementation of the High5s.
• Provide support to the Bank’s knowledge management work on gender and target high return Economic and Sector Work on gender to strengthen the quality of the bank’s policy dialogues, advisory services and involvement in the gender, women and civil society development debate.
• Advise the Department on emerging matters of strategic, policy and institutional significance, including the formulation/update of the Bank Group’s Gender Policies, Strategies, and Guidelines.
• Lead policy/strategy developments/revisions to enhance mainstreaming, gender, civil society participation and Sustainable Development Goals;
• Regularly inform bank staff on status of African countries in achieving Gender Sustainable Development Goal and coordinate annual reporting on gender disaggregated results.

Enhance Gender Mainstreaming into Bank operations:

• Enhance gender responsiveness of the Bank’s quality assurance and results frameworks within the operations manual and guidelines
• Lead the development and application of mainstreaming tools for Country Strategic Papers, project design & supervision;
• Active involvement in the Bank’s review process country and regional team meetings;
• Operational support for project design, monitoring and evaluation;
• Lead internal gender mainstreaming efforts that strengthen the readiness review process to ensure quality at entry of projects (collection of gender data, statistics analysis, impact evaluation, and capacity building for Monitoring and Evaluation);
• In collaboration with relevant Bank Departments, help to design a monitoring and evaluation system for gender mainstreaming in the Bank at the operational, policy and corporate level.
• Strengthen Bank institutional capacity through training and other means;

Strengthen External Engagement and Partnerships:

• Assist the Director in providing support to the Bank-wide Gender Oversight Committee with membership across sectors and regions to ensure full integration of gender across all projects.
• Coordinate the Department’s relationship with other Multilateral Development Banks, International Organizations, bilateral agencies, research organizations etc., to monitor and analyze developments, and share and learn best practices on gender in Africa and the world.
• Strengthen partnerships with key multi and bi-lateral organizations, United Nations agencies, the Private Sector,  Civil Society Organizations and others and enhance collaboration and networking; and
• In collaboration with gender experts in operations, represent the bank in key regional and international events relevant to the work of the division;
• Lead the organization of events (major conferences and seminars) in key sector-related thematic areas to inform operations, and share knowledge and good practices;

Selection Criteria

• A Master's degree in Gender Studies, Sociology, and Anthropology, Economics or closely related disciplines.
• 8 years of relevant professional experience; of which three (3) years should be at the managerial level in the formulation and implementation of policies, strategies, programs and projects.
• Knowledge of operational policies, rules, procedures and practices of the Bank or comparable institution: major bilateral and multilateral partner development agencies in African countries or other developing countries
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, with a working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.
• Demonstrated skills to combine strategic thinking with a good understanding on how to translate ideas into products in a participatory manner, navigating the shortest institutional way possible;
• Proven leadership and team building skills in a diverse regional workforce; results oriented and ability to work in a multicultural environment
• Good listener with demonstrated ability to make ideas work and make effective and timely decisions
• Experience of coordinating or leading corporate assignments across institutional boundaries.
• Ability to network and build partnerships with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of regional social issues