Gender Equality & Social Inclusion (GESI) Specialist at Rhizome Consulting

Rhizome Consulting - Our primary objective is to meet both the needs of our client and to exceed their expectations. We offer a broad range of services, tailored to our client specification with full confidentiality.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Gender Equality & Social Inclusion (GESI) Specialist

Location: Abuja
Employment Type: Full Time

Summary

• The GESI Specialist will provide technical leadership to integrate gender equality and social inclusion across all programmes and projects.
• The role will ensure that interventions address systemic barriers, promote inclusive participation, and deliver transformative outcomes for women, girls, persons with disabilities, youth, and other marginalised groups.
• The Specialist will contribute to programme design, policy advocacy, capacity strengthening, and knowledge generation.
• They will also support donor engagement and proposal development to ensure programmes are gender-responsive and socially inclusive.

Job Responsibilities
Programme & Project Development:

• Provide technical guidance and resources for mainstreaming gender and inclusion in programme design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Conduct gender and social analyses to identify gaps and barriers and propose strategies to address them.
• Develop and adapt frameworks, tools, and indicators for GESI integration across projects.
• Support proposal development by ensuring inclusion is embedded in project design, log frames, and donor reporting.

Capacity Strengthening:

• Design and deliver training, workshops, and mentoring to strengthen staff and partner capacity on gender and inclusion.
• Develop and disseminate technical guides, briefs, and practical resources for programme teams.
• Provide ongoing technical backstopping to ensure field teams apply GESI principles in day-to-day activities.

Policy, Advocacy & Sector Engagement:

• Engage with policymakers, government agencies, civil society, and donors to advocate for gender-transformative and inclusive programming.
• Represent the organisation in national and sectoral forums, working groups, and networks on GESI.
• Support cross-sectoral linkages between gender equality, inclusion, WASH, climate resilience, health, and governance.

Learning, Evidence & Knowledge Sharing:

• Lead documentation of best practices, innovations, and case studies related to GESI.
• Develop gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess programme impact.
• Contribute to organisational learning by generating evidence, lessons learned, and knowledge products on gender equality and inclusion.

Planning & Budgeting:

• Ensure financial and human resources are effectively allocated for GESI components in programme budgets.
• Track budgets and expenditures on gender and inclusion activities, ensuring donor compliance.
• Contribute to fundraising by aligning donor priorities with GESI strategies and approaches.

Safeguarding & Accountability:

• Promote safeguarding standards and inclusive practices in all activities.
• Ensure that interventions uphold organisational values of respect, accountability, courage, collaboration, integrity, and innovation.
• Uphold a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, harassment, and exploitation.

Educational Requirements

• Master’s Degree in Gender Studies, Sociology, Development Studies, Social Policy, or a related field.

Essential:
Knowledge, Skills & Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years’ experience in gender equality, social inclusion, or related fields in Nigeria or West Africa.
• Demonstrated expertise in embedding gender and inclusion within programmes, policies, and systems.
• Strong understanding of intersectional issues such as disability, youth, and marginalised populations.
• Proven track record in donor-funded programming (USAID, FCDO, EU, or equivalent).
• Strong technical writing and communication skills, including experience developing reports, proposals, and policy briefs.
• Skilled facilitator with experience in training, mentoring, and organisational capacity development.
• Effective stakeholder engagement and advocacy skills with government, CSOs, and donors.
• Experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning of GESI interventions.

Desirable:

• Experience linking gender equality and inclusion to WASH, health, climate resilience, or governance.
• Understanding of gender-sensitive budgeting and resource planning.
• Demonstrated ability to influence policy and contribute to sector reforms.
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative gender research.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications to: vacancies@rhizomeng.com using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.