Private Sector Gender Specialist (Consultant) at International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Job Description

• Gender is an important strategic theme for IFC. Central to IFC’s gender strategy implementation is helping clients build robust business performance by making them aware of, and invest in, the value women can bring either as a defined consumer segment, as employees, as business leaders or as entrepreneurs and suppliers. IFC’s commitment to advancing gender equality is anchored in the business case and client demand for “gender-smart” solutions. IFC continues to stimulate and respond to market demand by expanding women’s access to credit, saving, housing, and insurance products, by advising companies on their workforce and talent management, and by building the capacity of women in supply chains and as entrepreneurs through SME financing and a new entrepreneurship training curriculum as well as through preventing and reducing gender based violence.
• IFC’s Gender Secretariat supports staff and clients in implementing gender-smart solutions. It sets the strategic agenda, develops common targets, improves knowledge, develops practical gender approaches, measures results, and forges key partnerships that strengthen the private sector’s contribution to integrated development solutions. The team is now seeking a passionate, energetic and experienced private sector gender expert based in either Ghana or Nigeria who works as part of the team to close gaps between men and women in the private sector with IFC’s clients.
• The Private Sector Gender Specialist will report to and work with the Senior Operations Officer for Gender in SSA in providing direct client services in this area. For this work, the Private Sector Gender Specialist will support business development, project design and support day-to-day delivery of advisory services to clients as well as knowledge management, communications and research. In addition, the specialist will serve as a resource for various project teams in the West/Central Africa region, with flexibility to travel across the region.

Duties and Responsibilities
Specific duties and accountabilities include, but are not limited to:
Program design and delivery:

• Design and delivery of women’s employment diagnostics, supply chain gender analysis, financial and insurance market diagnostics and
• Draft recommendation for clients on closing gender gaps based on those diagnostics;
• Design of gender advisory services in closing gaps for women in jobs and assets- finance, insurance and digital;
• Serve as a technical expert and resource to investment and advisory teams where gender opportunities can be defined early on in project design;
• Support business development with clients through research and proposal development especially in PSW countries as defined by IFC;
• Develop key project documents including preparatory research work, pre-read briefs and any preparatory documents needed ahead of or for scoping missions
• Developing advisory support to fund managers;
• Develop key project documents including preparatory research work, pre-read briefs etc, needed for scoping missions related to the area of women’s employment and gender-inclusive agricultural value chains;
• Closely collaborate with IFC colleagues (i.e. client relationship managers, project/country teams, global specialists and the results measurement team);
• Customize gender approaches to fragile contexts i.e. including mental health approaches, different dimensions of gender based violence etc.

Communications and Reporting:

• Draft company case studies on gender, contribute to research and strategy documents including country SCDs/CPFs among others;
• Draft project communications and stakeholder engagement strategies as well as project reports as required by IFC, clients and development partners according to IFC standards and guidelines;
• Support the organization of major events and conferences;
• Develop tools such as blogs, events, partnerships etc. for raising the profile of IFC’s gender work in the region in collaborations with communications colleagues;
• Work with Senior Operations Officer to build a “Gender in SSA” page, regularly update, identify and upload reports, data and information (in doing that, work closely with KM and Communication officers in the region);
• Solicit opportunities to externally profile IFC’s gender work in SSA.

Knowledge Management:

• Conceptualize and implement research projects with specific deliverable of bridging private sector specific gender data gaps in Africa;
• Develop specific reference, learning materials, case studies and training initiatives in response to internal/external demand;
• Systematically consolidate and analyze lessons learned from project implementation experience and share with team members and colleagues across the region;
• Design and implementation of dissemination plan for the SSA Case Studies (including organizing of knowledge events).

Budget and Financial Management:

• Procurement and contracting of consulting firm(s) to deliver gender advisory services and/or research projects. Supervision of consultants in delivering advisory work;
• Contribute to fundraising efforts in the region and donor reporting

Results measurement:

• Support the Senior Operations Officer in monitoring, measuring and reporting on gender aspects of advisory and investment projects.

Selection Criteria

• Master's Degree in Economics, Finance, Business or other relevant discipline required;
• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in fields relevant to private sector development; experience working with gender and private sector necessary;
• Work experience in an emerging market environment strongly preferred, experience in SSA especially Anglophone and Francophone West Africa desired;
• Proven ability to conceptualize, design and implement client engagements and to produce comprehensive analytical reports for clients;
• Strong project management skills with proven ability to support execution of projects, management of resources and delivery against timelines;
• Fluent in English and French;
• Excellent team building and relationship management skills across different stakeholders
• Thorough understanding of international development frameworks such as Sustainable Development Goals etc. desirable.
• The consultant is expected to work no more than 150 man-days per fiscal year, travel as necessary to countries within the region; and undertake ad-hoc tasks as assigned by the Senior Operations Officer.