Gender Advisor

Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty.

About Oxfam

Oxfam is a global community who believe poverty isn’t inevitable. It’s an injustice that can be overcome. We are shop volunteers, women’s right activists, marathon runners, aid workers, coffee farmers, street fundraisers, goat herders, policy experts, campaigners, water engineers and more. And we won’t stop until everyone can live life without poverty for good.

Oxfam GB is a member of the international confederation Oxfam.

Our Team

Oxfam’s vision in Lebanon is that marginalised women and men (Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian populations including refugees) are protected and empowered to enjoy their basic rights and access services enabling them to live in dignity within a more equitable society. The Oxfam team in Lebanon implements integrated humanitarian, development and policy interventions in line with Oxfam’s country strategy for Lebanon as relevant to the Bekaa and north Lebanon areas, including protection & governance; cash safety net/social protection and economic development/livelihoods; WASH/water governance with a focus on partnerships.

Job Purpose

The Gender Advisor provides technical advice, support and technical leadership to ensure that gender justice and women’s rights are at the heart of Oxfam’s delivery on its country strategy, including in our humanitarian response strategy, and in our long-term economic justice and active citizenship and good governance work. S/he will ensure that international standards on gender and GBV are incorporated when designing, planning, and responding to the needs of men, women, boys and girls. S/he will inspire, mentor and support programme staff in Lebanon to understand the different needs of women, men, boys and girls, promote safe programming, and have long-term impact on gender justice in Oxfam’s work in Lebanon.

Core Details

Location: Beirut, Lebanon

Contract Type: Full Time

This Role Reports To: Deputy Country Director - Programmes

Staff Reporting To This Post: None.

Annual Budget For The Post: None.

Key Relationships/Interactions: Project Managers In Humanitarian, Economic Justice And Active Citizenship/Good Governance Pillar, Humanitarian Coordinator, Economic Justice Coordinator, Active Citizenship And Good Governance Advisor, Funding Coordinator, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability And Learning Coordinator, Policy Lead, Protection Policy And Research Advisor, Deputy Country Director (Programmes), Regional Gender Justice Advisor And Team.

Screening Checks: All Successful Candidates Will Be Screened Through Refinitiv World-Check One To Comply With Counter Terrorism And Financial Sanctions Regulations.

Key Responsibilities

Gender mainstreaming within programming

• Provide direct technical support and advice to Coordinators and Project Managers on mainstreaming gender throughout the project cycle (in design, management, monitoring and evaluation of programmes);
• Advise on quality implementation of projects in line with organizational standards (e.g. Oxfam’s gender in emergencies standards) and global standards and international frameworks on gender and women’s rights;
• Provide technical advice to ensure that women’s rights are at the heart of Oxfam’s humanitarian response strategy and our resilience and long-term development work and that Oxfam’s our interventions contribute to advancing gender equality within Lebanon;

Program design and strategy

• Develop a gender profile for each pillar of Oxfam’s work in Lebanon, including analysis of main gender justice issues at play, main actors and dynamics;
• Support Coordinators with project and program design to ensure that gender justice is well mainstreamed within concept notes and proposals;
• Lead on gender specific assessments and contribute to sectoral and needs assessments from a gender perspective – as a gender specialist;
• Support in the identification of local partners and stakeholders (including women’s rights organizations) best placed to support/partner with Oxfam in the design and implementation of gender-sensitive projects and field activities;
• Participate in country planning, strategy development and reviews.

Influencing, advocacy and capacity building  

• Provide strategic gender analysis for programming and advocacy on an on-going basis
• Support the policy unit to in terms of providing advice and technical leadership on mainstreaming gender in Oxfam’s policy analysis and research products;
• Support policy work on women’s rights in the humanitarian response and on the inclusion of clear gender messages by working closely with gender and policy leads;
• Facilitates documentation, knowledge capture and the exchange of learning on gender, supporting Oxfam to learn about if and how programming in crisis affected contexts can be used as opportunities to address gender power imbalances and transformative change.;
• Provide continuous coaching and capacity building (training) for Oxfam staff and partner organisations on gender, e.g. main concepts, gender in emergencies minimum standards, mainstreaming gender within development interventions, conducting gender analysis, among others.

Your commitment to Oxfam

• Required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values as well as the promotion of gender justice and women's rights
• Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles

Person specification     

Note to candidates: Shortlisted candidates will be assessed on our organisational values and attributes at the interview stage. The successful candidate(s) will be expected to adhere to our code of conduct. We encourage candidates to read and understand our code of conduct here.

Key Organisational Attributes                                          

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities.
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work.
• Commitment to undertake Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adherence of relevant policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible

Organisational Values                                                                                                               

• Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions
• Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen
• Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences

Oxfam Leadership Competencies

• Influencing: We have the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders in a way that leads to increased impact for the organization We spot opportunities to influence effectively and where there are no opportunities we have the ability to create them in a respectful and impactful manner.                                                                                                                                     
• Relationship Building: We understand the importance of building relationship, within and outside the organization. We have the ability to engage with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders in ways that lead to increased impact for the organization.                                                      
• Self-Awareness: We are able to develop a high degree of self-awareness around our own strengths and weaknesses and our impact on others. Our self-awareness enables us to moderate and self-regulate our behaviors to control and channel our impulses for good purposes.                           
• Listening: We are good listeners who can see where deeper levels of thoughts and tacit assumptions differ. Our messages to others are clear, and consider different preferences.

Essential - Experience, Knowledge, Qualifications & Competencies

• At least 3 years of experience in a gender justice role (in programming or in a gender advisory capacity) with women’s rights organizations or INGOs in Lebanon or in MENA;
• Highly developed analytical ability, and demonstrated ability to apply gender/power analysis to programme design and management, with experience of designing and implementing gender programmes that address the position of women in society in complex settings.
• Understanding of the main gender justice issues in Lebanon and the actors and dynamics in the Lebanon landscape;                                                                                     
• Knowledge of the international frameworks governing the advancement of women’s rights at global levels and Lebanon’s position and progress on them;
• Experience with relevant tools for gender mainstreaming such as gender & age markers, IASC guidelines and Oxfam’s Minimum Standards for Gender in Emergencies;            
• Excellent level of spoken and written English and Arabic

Desirable                                                                                                   

• Experience working on concept notes and proposals incorporating a strong gender justice perspective;                                                                                                              
• Understanding of gender issues in Wash, protection, cash programming, employment programs, support to small and medium sized enterprises, and citizenship and governance;          
• Experience in training and/or coaching staff and/or partners on gender issues