Lead - Gender Centre of Excellence at Phillips Consulting

It seeks to recruit a Gender Centre of Excellence Lead that supports the Nigerian financial inclusion ecosystem to design, implement, and sustain gender-responsive policies, products, and services that serve the needs of the unbanked or underbanked populations, particularly low-income women.

Job Objectives

• Drive increased access to and use of affordable, relevant formal financial services by women, through effective implementation of the Framework for Women’s Financial Inclusion in Nigeria and increased deployment of relevant solutions to women.
• Re-establish the Centre of Excellence for gender-related work in Nigeria – i.e., an adequately resourced and networked team, led by a gender expert, that will provide support to stakeholders in the DFS ecosystem looking to mainstream gender into policies, regulations, research etc. and develop gender intentional products and services.

Job Responsibilities

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Develop and implement the firm’s approach to driving increased access to and use of affordable, relevant formal financial services by women, through effective implementation of the Framework for Women’s Financial Inclusion in Nigeria and increased deployment of relevant solutions to women.
• Participate in strategy and business plan development for the firm, contributing insights and expertise in women's financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
• Serve as the main point of contact for the firm’s gender-oriented activities and programmes, and provide gender-related technical expertise to support all our client’s work.
• Serve as the primary point of contact in the company for the FSD Network’s Advancing Gender Inclusive Finance in Africa initiative.
• Track emerging global evidence related to women’s financial inclusion and incorporate it into the firm’s strategic approach.
• Disseminate learning from gender-related work conducted in Nigeria to various partners, including government and private sector stakeholders in Nigeria, the FSD Network, our client’s donors, and other partners.
• Conduct stakeholder analysis to identify suitable implementing partners for gender equity interventions and initiate as well as build relevant relationships.
• Participate in the company’s Management Committee, which includes the responsibility to deliberate and take decisions on the effective and efficient management of the performance of operational and strategic matters within the company.
• Contribute to communication about the firm’s gender-intentional activities (e.g., developing content for written materials/website, participating in campaigns, etc).
• Represent the company in public forums and networking opportunities at all times, behaving in a manner consistent with our brand and values.

Regulatory Support & Stakeholder Engagement

• Support regulators/government stakeholders in creating or strengthening implementation plans and M&E systems for the Women’s Financial Inclusion Framework and tracking progress towards its implementation.
• Coordinate with stakeholders in supporting the effective implementation of the Women’s Financial Inclusion Framework, engaging stakeholders to identify and address challenges to implementation when encountered.
• Work with the Financial Inclusion Delivery Unit of the Central Bank of Nigeria and other regulators to fine-tune the Women’s Financial Inclusion Framework as needed.
• Lead the firm’s participation in the National Financial Inclusion Special Interventions Working Group (the focus of which includes youth, women, and persons living with disabilities).
• Monitor the development of potential new policies/regulations, initiatives or entities that are relevant to women’s financial inclusion in Nigeria (including policies/regulations that are not gender-specific but may have a positive or negative impact on women’s financial inclusion), supporting the firm in making appropriate recommendations to stakeholders.
• Provide actionable inputs for making Nigeria's regulatory environment conducive to expanding digital financial services (DFS) into rural/remote areas and promote solutions that are key to enabling a pro-poor DFS ecosystem using the gender lens.
• Facilitate and provide training and capacity building support for regulators and Government officials, public institutions on gender issues.

Private Sector Support

• Support the firm and her partners in developing relevant, useful, and affordable solutions for Nigerian women, including low-income women. This may include actions such as:
•  Conducting a gender assessment at the outset of new projects and advising on project design based on that assessment.
•  Supporting the company in developing monitoring and evaluation approaches that a) help the company understand the gender-related impact of projects and b) contribute to the company’s learning agenda related to gender
• Based on learnings, assess the potential for expanded support that may include making support available to additional Nigerian financial service providers; design and oversee implementation of products or programmes, if necessary. This may include:
•  Developing a process for interested providers to access available support based on established criteria rapidly
•  Expanding capacity to enable the company to provide advisory support to more partners through recruiting additional staff and/or contracting external support
• Building a High-Performing Team
• Build the capacity of the Gender Manager to provide local gender expertise to the Nigerian market, through focused coaching, Learning & Development plans, identifying opportunities for growth such as stretch projects, etc.
• Should the company identify the need to recruit any additional positions in the Gender Team, support recruitment and coaching for those additional team members.
• The FSD Network Advancing Gender Inclusive Finance in Africa initiative will include support to build the capacity of FSDs, including the firm. Serve as a local counterpoint for this work, supporting efforts to build the firm’s capacity to deliver gender-relevant work
• - Monitor, manage and report on the performance of direct report(s), including setting performance objectives and timelines, and conducting performance reviews and annual performance appraisals
• Other Responsibilities
• Develop and manage progress against work plans and budgets for work overseen by the company's Gender Centre of Excellence Team.
• Support the good management of the Gender Centre of Excellence by ensuring value-for-money procurements and timely development of quality reports.
• Develop reports for the company's donors, Board of Directors and external stakeholders, as required.
• Lead on reporting progress against firm’s initiatives focused on women’s inclusion.
• Perform any other duties as required by the Chief Executive Officer.
• Candidate Attributes

Qualifications and Education

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject (e.g. Gender, Finance, Development Studies) from a recognised learning institution.
• Master’s degree from a recognised learning institution in gender studies, sociology, social studies, International Development or a related field.
• Relevant further degrees or professional qualifications are an advantage.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Strong theoretical basis and expertise in gender concepts; significant experience (5+ years) applying this understanding to implement solutions that contribute to women’s empowerment.
• Knowledge and experience in inclusive finance and economic empowerment for women.
• Practical field-based development/non-profit sector experience.
• Significant experience in establishing and maintaining collaborative and trusted relationships with stakeholders such as implementing partners, donors, private sector players and government counterparts.
• Demonstrated ability to convene stakeholders, including policymakers, to develop and implement recommendations.
• Demonstrated track record of rigorous project management skills and achievement of results.
• Demonstrated skills in managing budgets, managing risk, and ensuring value for money.
• Experience working in Africa (experience working in Nigeria desired).
• Fluency in written and spoken English.

Desired Skills & Experience

• Experience implementing a Market Systems Development approach.
• Strong understanding of Nigerian context.
• Existing knowledge of and relationships with stakeholders in Nigeria’s financial sector, including financial service providers and regulators.