Women Empowerment Specialist

Job Purpose

The Purpose of this position is to: (i) provide specialised support and
expertise to Country Operations Managers, Operational Team Leaders (OTLs),
Project Management Specialists and Executing Agencies (EAs) in in the Regional
Hubs in identifying, mainstreaming and monitoring women empowerment in Bank
operations during the identification, preparation, appraisal, implementation,
and completion stages (throughout project lifecycle); (ii) design and carry
out in close coordination with the regional hubs the specific initiatives,
programs and projects to empower women in the member countries; (iii)
coordinate the operationalization and implementation of operational strategy,
‎5-years action plan IsDB women empowerment policy in cooperation with the
Senior Women Empowerment and Lead Women Empowerment Specialists; (v)
contribute to the application, dissemination, improvement and evaluation of
the relevant thematic policies and operational strategies of the division on
women empowerment; and (vi) contribute to the formulation, development and
effective implementation of IsDB's strategic initiatives relevant to women
empowerment including knowledge products, capacity building activities, and
provide high level advisory, guidance and tools to the Regional Hubs and
Member Countries.
Key Accountabilities

Strategic and Operational Planning and Implementation:
* Contribute to the overall Bank's efforts to support the member countries to empower women.
* Contribute as an expert and participate in project appraisal, design as well as processing and approval process as team member along with relevant regional hubs.
* Contribute to provision of input on women empowerment and ensuring that the Bank's policies, strategies, and interventions are adhering to the women empowerment policy of the Bank.
* Contribute and mainstream Women Empowerment in Member Country Partnership Strategy (MCPS) formulation, country dialogue and engagements with relevant departments at HQ and regional hub.
* Contribute to the development of strategic policies, plans, guidelines, analytics, and other products related to women empowerment and gender issues within the Women and Youth Empowerment division and with other sectors in the Global Practices and Partnerships Complex.
* Contribute to the the design and development of women empowerment initiatives, programs, and projects of the Bank to support the member countries, in close cooperation with the Senior and Lead Women Empowerment Specialists.
* Implement the frameworks, tools, and operational guidelines of the Bank to guide the Bank's staff in supporting the member countries to empower women and address the issue of gender gaps.
* Monitor and assess initiatives related to women empowerment programs and projects.
* Contribute to the selection of the Program / Portfolio which maximize the utilization of resources and concentrate on results-based impact on women empowerment in MCs.
* Closely coordinate with the regional hubs and the global practices to identify projects/programs and interventions that can be specifically designed to support the member countries to reduce gender gaps in different sectors and empower women as per the relevant policies and guidelines under this theme.
* Provide the regional hub staff with the necessary technical guidance and expertise in operationalizing the Women Empowerment Policy.
* Closely work with the Senior and Lead Women Empowerment Specialists to design and update policies, strategies and actions aiming at empowering women in the member countries.
* Provide expert advisory on the delivery of selected global engagement products on women empowerment, and when needed, directly lead and participate in country dialogues and deliverables (such as those related to UN Women etc..), in addition to capacity building workshops in Member Countries.
* Contribute to the monitoring of the implementation of Women Empowerment policy of IsDB projects during implementation.
* Identify opportunities to mainstream women empowerment in the Operations Work Program of the Bank and coordinate with the regional hubs and relevant team as well as the Senior and Lead Women Empowerment Specialists within the division to operationalize such opportunities.
* Build and maintain strategic partnerships with other leading works on women empowerment within the IsDB and Academia, MDBs and other key partners, outside IsDB, on relevant research/analysis, events, and outreach.
* Contribute to the development and implementation of IsDB Women Empowerment Policy.
* Lead the organization of knowledge sharing and dissemination events on of gender and women empowerment of the Bank.
Capacity Development:
* Identify, assess, and monitor overall capacity development needs of regional hubs, sector teams and other relevant units on women empowerment within the Bank. Also conduct similar assessments through the MCPS to identify advocacy, training and capacity development opportunities in the MCs. Contribute to the formulation of training and capacity development initiatives to address the identified gaps and promo.
* Develop and administer as needed technical assistance (TA) and women empowerment grants and other training programs for capacity building.
Strategic Partnerships and Resource Mobilization:
* Contribute to the resource mobilization efforts to increase concessional and grant resources for the Bank to strengthen and promote youth development and empowerment. Continuously search for and identify opportunities to create/formulate/participate in mechanisms for co-financing youth empowerment initiatives of the Bank.
* Liaise with the international, regional and national youth development and empowerment institutions in order to promote and increase the visibility of IsDB's interventions on youth development and empowerment in the member countries.
* Work, in coordination with other relevant units and departments in the Bank, on the leading academic and research-oriented work on youth empowerment and identify opportunities to advocate for the subject in cooperation with recognized academia, research institutions, think-tanks, MDBs and other key partners on the relevant research/ analysis, events and outreach.
* Liaise with the international gender finance institutions, such as MDB Working Group on Gender, UN women, We-FI and other specialized agencies in women empowerment and gender for advocacy, promotion, and resource mobilization efforts.
Knowledge Sharing & Innovation:
* Track external issues and processes relevant to the best practices in addressing gender gaps and empowering women. Keep abreast of external developments and provide technical support to management on engagement in key external processes on these issues. This includes, but not limited to, IsDB partnership with specialized UN agencies, multilateral development banks, bilateral finance institutions.
* Coordinate forums for knowledge generation, exchange and dissemination on issues of women empowerment, gender and development across the bank functions (with relevant GPs and Regional Hubs).
* Coordinate knowledge generation and advisory on women empowerment with external stakeholders of relevance to IsDB's activities, but not limited to, Member Country agencies, IFIs, think tanks and consultants.
* Contribute significantly to activities for advocacy, dissemination and knowledge building relating to IsDB's women empowerment policy.
Reporting & Communication:
* Contribute to the preparation of progress reports on thematic related activities in compliance with the Bank rules and procedures.

Education, Experience & Certification

Academic and Professional Qualifications:
* Bachelor's degree in gender development, social development, economics, business administration, etc.) or any related field - mandatory
* Higher Degree (Master's/PhD) preferred.
* Minimum ‎5 years of relevant experience.
* Demonstrable knowledge and experience of the women empowerment.
* Demonstrable professional experience in gender, women empowerment, civil, society organizations, and mainstreaming women in development programs and projects
* Experience working with IFIs/Development Agencies/Multilateral Development Banks preferred.
Skills & Necessary Knowledge
*
Demonstrable analytical skills to assess institutional and country capacity
and to design/review practical arrangements for implementing complex projects'
women empowerment aspects.
* Demonstrated ability to contribute to high-level analytical work and policy dialogue in IsDB Member Countries.
* Planning & organizing/project management skills
* Analytical thinking
* Problem solving
* Sound knowledge of gender finance.
* Report Writing skills
* Presentation Skills
* MS Office skills