Mena Gender And Advocacy Manager

OXFAM PURPOSE: To work with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering.    TEAM PURPOSE: To work with Oxfam country offices and partners across the Middle East and North Africa Region on gender justice (GJ) delivering excellent gender advocacy and programming, working with civil society, facilitating platforms and supporting women to create change at a national, regional and global level.   JOB PURPOSE: Oxfam is committed to tackling gender discrimination in all its forms and promoting women’s rights. The crux of this role is to provide thought leadership on gender justice and advocacy on gender in the region, building networks and alliances and ensuring Oxfam can recognise and address gender inequality to ensure that women are able to participate in public life, taking into account the different impacts of conflict on women and men across all our programme areas in the Middle East and North Africa. The Gender & Advocacy Manager will manage a Gender and Influence team under the Regional Gender Justice Programme (RGJP), ensuring that the RGJP develop and implement sound gender and influencing work through project management and knowledge brokering while coordinating with the MECIS Gender Justice coordinator to ensure that it is aligned to GJ work implemented by country offices in Middle East and North Africa as well as to Oxfam’s GJ MENA Strategy. REPORTING LINES: Post holder reports to:  Regional Gender Justice Lead Staff reporting to this post: Advocacy and Communications Officer; Project Coordinator. DIMENSIONS: The position of Gender & Advocacy Manager  has five key dimensions: Team management Strategic planning of GJ programme & influencing work Advisory and technical support on GJ programming, influencing and strategic partnerships Knowledge brokering of RGJP learning (programming and influencing) Financial oversight / financial management of project of the gender & influencing team The Gender & Advocacy Manager will be expected to: Lead on the conceptualisation and development of stand-alone and programme-related regional gender justice influencing and advocacy initiatives, in collaboration with country teams Provide strategic guidance and specialist technical advice on gender justice advocacy for new and ongoing projects and policy development Support the development of a digital focus for Oxfam’s gender justice work in MENA, in collaboration with country teams and in alignment with Oxfam’s MENA Regional GJ Strategy Support the MENA Regional GJ Lead to identify, establish and nurture strategic partnerships that align with Oxfam’s MENA Regional GJ Strategy Lead on implementing the findings/recommendations of Oxfam’s MENA regional GJ power analysis through collaboration with country and regional teams Support Oxfam to increase the profile of its gender justice work in MENA by identifying, creating, and participating in strategic visibility opportunities Representation and participation in key regional and global fora relevant to Oxfam’s regional GJ priorities Provide technical inputs to the development of new proposals Support the development of a regional gender justice research agenda, in close collaboration with country teams Foster positive, productive working relationships with country gender focal points and policy/advocacy leads Manage a small team to deliver high quality project management and influencing on gender in the region. Manage tasks that are complex and non-routine within their specialist unit or function Work with a high level of independence and decision-making, as a key team member of the Regional Gender Justice Programme team   KEY RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER EACH DIMENSION:   I.                    Team management Effectively manage the Gender & Influencing team Ensure the learning and development of the Gender & Influencing team   II.                  Strategic planning of GJ programme & influencing work Support policy work on gender and women’s rights in the response and on the inclusion of clear gender messages by working closely with programme and policy leads Contribute to gender programme design (including proposals) and efforts to build programme quality across all areas of Oxfam’s regional GJ thematic focus areas  Regularly liaise with gender advisers and gender focal points in other agencies and organizations (including UNW, governments, INGOs, local NGOs and women’s groups), and within Oxfam globally. Develop sound influencing work on gender justice with a focus on digital campaigning and advocacy.   III.                Advisory and technical support  on GJ programming, influencing and strategic partnerships Develop strategic partnerships with Women Rights Organisations (WROs) and relevant stakeholders to develop sound gender justice multi-country programming and influencing work at the regional level. Strengthen RGJP’s staff and partners capacities on gender and influencing through regular capacity building activities. Promote the integration of gender analysis and development of relevant recommendations in all assessments, surveys and research carried out by the RGJP and provides support to partners to implement quality gender mainstreaming. Advise Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Manager (PMEAL)and programme staff on gendered MEAL tools to measure programme impact (including collection of sex and age disaggregated data) and gender analysis as well as MEAL for influencing work on gender justice and women’s rights. Provide proactive and reactive technical programmatic support and coaching on gender issues to RGJP partners and staff. Develop baseline gender analysis across the programme, where it is missing, and support staff to develop skills to be able to conduct good gender analysis in the future.   IV.               Knowledge brokering of RGJP learning (programming and influencing)        Support knowledge brokering on gender justice and women’s rights through researches and case studies documenting programmes’ learning and results. Develop research and case studies on gender justice and women’s rights in MENA and ensure wider Oxfam learning is captured from gender approaches is developed. Promote and support cross-learning between country teams and RGJP’s partners in the region Collaborate with the Programme Quality Manager to document programme learning and identify good practices and lessons learned   V.                 Financial oversight / financial management of project of the gender & influencing team Ensure that donor contracts are effectively managed, including regular communication with donors and programme’s compliance with donor’s requirements (alignment with procurements guidelines as per funding agreements). Ensure management and coordination of the different projects implemented by the Gender & Influencing team.  Ensure effective budget management, including monitoring and review of operational budgets covering all aspects of the project on a monthly basis and delivering high quality and timely donor’s reports.   SKILLS AND COMPETENCE: ESSENTIAL: At least a Masters-level degree in gender, development, political science or related subject Proven experience of building alliances and partnerships around gender justice issues and delivering impactful influencing on women’s rights Demonstrated existing relationships, networks and partnerships with influential women’s rights organisations and feminists in the MENA region Excellent influencing skills and ability to explain gender equity and relevance to good programming, persuasively and effectively Proven experience in managing people and key relationships Proven experience in programme management and coordination, including budget and donor contracts Solid knowledge and understanding of global frameworks such as CEDAW and UNCSR 1325 and how to operationalise these for women in the Middle East Proven experience of providing expertise on gender mainstreaming and gender justice, including development and/or humanitarian programmes Proven experience in designing and implementing advocacy strategies and campaigns on gender justice and women’s rights Genuine commitment to and passion for gender equity as a whole and especially for effective humanitarian programming. Ability to communicate ideas in a culturally-sensitive manner and conducive to their practical application especially in regional context Fluent in Arabic and English; strong English writing and communication skills Holds working rights in Lebanon Experienced in working in the Middle East and North Africa region   DESIRABLE: Familiar with inter-agency coordination systems Knowledge of training tools and methods and proven experience delivering training on gender-responsive programmes and advocacy Strong leadership skills Willingness to be part of Oxfam working groups on Transformative Leadership for Women, among others Familiarity with Oxfam   OTHER:  Willingness to travel regularly within the Middle East and North Africa Region at short notice and for up to 8 weeks.