Gender Lead at Pan-Atlantic University

ROLE OVERVIEW

• The Gender Lead ensures that the NiWEMA programme is designed, delivered, and evaluated through a robust gender lens across its full scope, 750,000 participants over five years, reached through both an online LMS cohort model and physical training, and engaging participants as individuals and through sector-based clusters in fashion, food, agriculture, and other industries. The role holder leads gender mainstreaming across all workstreams, conducts contextual gender analysis for each delivery environment and participation model, and ensures that the specific barriers facing young women entrepreneurs aged 18–35 in Nigeria are systematically addressed throughout the programme.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the development and implementation of NiWEMA's gender strategy, ensuring gender equality principles are embedded across all workstreams, curriculum, market access, quality assurance, safeguarding, and impact reporting, for both online and physical delivery.
• Conduct and maintain a gender analysis of the programme's target population, with specific attention to how gender barriers differ across delivery modalities (online versus in-person) and participation models (individual versus cluster-based).
• Analyse gender dynamics within sector-based clusters, particularly in fashion, food, and agriculture, identifying whether cluster structures are genuinely accessible to young women and whether power dynamics within clusters create inclusion risks.
• Provide technical guidance to project staff, facilitators, physical trainers, and implementing partners on gender-responsive design and delivery.
• Review all programme content, tools, training materials, and LMS modules to ensure they are gender-sensitive, inclusive, and free from harmful stereotypes.
• Design and deliver gender training and sensitisation for all project staff, facilitators, trainers, and implementing partners, across both online and physical delivery contexts.
• Assess and address the specific gender safety considerations of physical training delivery including venue selection, trainer conduct, travel safety for participants, and community dynamics in field locations.
• Monitor and report on gender-disaggregated programme data, tracking outcomes by delivery modality, participation model, sector, age, and geographic location.
• Develop gender-related sections of programme reports, case studies, and funder submissions.
• Collaborate closely with the Safeguarding Lead to ensure gender and safeguarding approaches are integrated and mutually reinforcing across both delivery modalities.
• Represent NiWEMA at external gender-focused forums and engage with the women's economic empowerment ecosystem in Nigeria.
• Any other related task on the engagement.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or a related field. Master's degree is an added advantage.
• Minimum of 6 years' experience in gender programming or women's economic empowerment, with demonstrable experience in both digital and field-based programme delivery contexts.
• Experience conducting gender analysis of sector-based value chains or cluster structures is an advantage.
• Strong knowledge of gender dynamics in the Nigerian context, including the specific challenges facing young women entrepreneurs in target sectors.
• Experience integrating gender into large-scale programmes with multiple delivery channels and implementing partners.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Gender analysis across diverse delivery contexts
• Sector and cluster gender mainstreaming
• Technical advisory and capacity building
• Cross-functional collaboration and influence
• Stakeholder engagement and advocacy