Project Coordinator, Gender, Inclusion and Safeguarding at Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with governments, businesses and civil society, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver healthier diets for all people, especially the most vulnerable. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, GAIN has offices in countries with high levels of malnutrition: Bangladesh, Benin, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. To support work in those countries, we have representative offices in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Project Coordinator, Gender, Inclusion and Safeguarding

Location: Abuja
Classification: Grade 4
Travel required: 40 %

Overall Purpose

• The Project Coordinator - Gender, Inclusion and Safeguarding will ensure that the programme’s interventions consider and meet the needs of young women, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
• This position is responsible for integrating inclusion and safeguarding into all steps of the programme (project design, implementation and monitoring), across all value chain components.
• The coordinator will strengthen staff and partner capability on intersectionality and will ensure compliance with GAIN and donor gender, inclusion and safeguarding policies.
• By mainstreaming gender-responsive budgeting and promoting equitable access to land, finance, and leadership opportunities, the coordinator ensures inclusive participation and accountability.
• The appointed candidate will also provide technical support to the project team ensuring that the programme reaches vulnerable groups; they will ensure a gender-lens is applied and gender considerations are integrated into activities as appropriate and based on current programmatic evidence.
• Working closely with the programme team and country HR colleagues, and in close collaboration with GAIN’s Global Employee Relations & Safeguarding Lead, the Coordinator will support consistent safeguarding practice, contribute to organisational learning, and feed field insights into continuous improvement of GAIN’s global safeguarding systems and training.

Tasks and Responsibilities
Project Coordination, Planning and Implementation:

• Coordinate the integration of gender equality, social inclusion, and safeguarding principles across all the programme components and workstreams.
• Develop and implement gender action plans, safeguarding frameworks, and inclusion strategies aligned with GAIN and donor policies.
• Conduct gender and inclusion analyses to identify barriers affecting women, PWDs, and IDPs in agrifood value chains. translating findings into practical programme adjustments
• Ensure activities, budgets, and indicators are gender-responsive and inclusive.
• Support the development and roll-out of tools for gender-sensitive data collection, safeguarding, risk assessment, and reporting.
• Provide technical input during design of training materials, capacity-building sessions, and community outreach initiatives to promote inclusion and safety.
• Coordinate case management and referral mechanisms for protection and safeguarding incidents in compliance with organizational protocols, ensuring confidentiality, sensitivity, and survivor-centered practice.
• Escalate safeguarding concerns and cases promptly through the agreed organisational channels, working with country HR and the Global Employee Relations & Safeguarding Lead as required for advice, oversight, and consistency of approach.
• Maintain accurate, secure case documentation and programme incident logs (as applicable to the role) in line with organisational standards and data protection requirements.

Capacity Strengthening and Compliance:

• Coordinate and deliver training for project staff in Nigeria, implementing partners, and cooperatives on gender equality, inclusion, and safeguarding principles; contribute to relevant training for other GAIN staff as needed.
• Conduct routine audits and spot checks to assess compliance with safeguarding standards and gender integration benchmarks, escalating trends, risks or gaps through the programme governance structure and to the Global Employee Relations & Safeguarding Lead where appropriate.
• Support establishment and maintenance of confidential reporting feedback, and complaints mechanisms accessible to women, PWDs and IDPs.
• Guide field teams on ethical conduct, and inclusive communication.
• Collaborate with the global HR team to strengthen adherence to GAIN’s Code of Conduct, Child Protection, and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) frameworks and to identify improvements to GAIN’s global safeguarding policy and practice

Stakeholder and Partnership Management:

• Build partnerships with women’s groups, disability networks, protection actors, humanitarian 
• organisations, and local NGOs to promote inclusive service delivery.
• Liaise with government agencies (e.g., Ministry of Women Affairs, National Commission for Persons with Disabilities) to align programme with national gender and inclusion frameworks.
• Represent the programme in gender and safeguarding coordination forums, networks, and donor meetings.
• Collaborate with other programme Coordinators (Inputs, Processing, Marketing, Finance) to ensure that  inclusion and safeguarding principles are integrated across value chains.

Monitoring, Learning, and Quality Assurance:

• Work with the Programme Monitoring and Improvement team, and Programme Quality teams to develop and track gender and inclusion indicators.
• Conduct participatory assessments and feedback sessions with women, PWDs, IDPs, and youth to inform adaptive management.
• Document success stories, case studies, and lessons learned to showcase transformative inclusion and protection outcomes.
• Contribute to internal learning briefs and policy recommendations to strengthen GAIN’s inclusive programming approach.

Resource and Financial Management:

• Support gender-responsive programme budgeting and ensure allocation of resources to inclusion and safeguarding activities.
• Review partner budgets and proposals to confirm gender, inclusion and safeguarding considerations are adequately integrated.
• Provide technical inputs for donor reports and project proposals related to inclusion, gender, and safeguarding outcomes.

People and Team Management:

• Supervise and support programme gender and safeguarding officers, ensuring quality delivery of tasks and professional development.
• Foster a culture of respect, inclusion, accountability, and continuous learning within the programme team.

Key Organisational Relationships

• Reports to the Technical Integration Manager.
• Dotted-line reporting to the ER Safeguarding Lead
• Support and mentor Gender and Safeguarding Field Officers
• Close collaboration with the other projects and operational staff.
• Liaises regularly with GAIN Programme and Knowledge Leadership teams.
• External stakeholders: Ministries of Women Affairs and Humanitarian Affairs, NCPWD, local NGOs, protection actors, women and youth associations, donor agencies.

Job Requirements
Educational Qualification:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Gender Studies, Sociology, Development Studies, Social Work, or related discipline or equivalent experience.
• Postgraduate qualification in Gender and Development, Human Rights, or Social Inclusion (desirable).

Experience:

• Experience in gender mainstreaming, safeguarding, or protection programming within development or humanitarian contexts, with preference for youth centered and/or nutrition programming.
• Proven record in training, compliance monitoring, and partnership management related to gender and safeguarding.
• Experience working with youth, women, PWDs, IDPs, or marginalized populations in agriculture, food systems, livelihoods, or enterprise development.
• Familiarity with donor-funded project implementation and reporting.
• Experience managing safeguarding incidents and referrals in line with ethical standards.

Competencies:

• Strong technical knowledge in gender equality, social inclusion, safeguarding, and protection
• mainstreaming.
• Proven ability to design and operationalize inclusion and safeguarding frameworks in multi-sectoral programmes.
• Excellent facilitation, training, and coaching skills.
• Ability to conduct gender and protection analyses and translate findings into actionable strategies.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills.
• Commitment to people-centered, ethical, and confidential safeguarding practices.
• Ability to integrate gender and inclusion in PMI, budgeting, and implementation systems.
• High emotional intelligence, discretion, and cultural sensitivity.

What GAIN Offers

• A competitive renumeration package
• Flexible working hours through hybrid working opportunities
• Friendly working environment
• Professional development opportunities
• The chance to make a lasting contribution to reducing global malnutrition

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note: Please note that job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, and the post-holder may be required to undertake other duties, which are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.