Technical Specialist (Gender and Advocacy)

The Technical Specialist(Gender and Advocacy) is a senior leadership role responsible for shaping and driving the gender equality and advocacy agenda for a multi-country grant. The role will lead the development of gender-transformative and evidence-based advocacy strategies, support policy reform and systems strengthening, and ensure that gender equality, social inclusion, and human rights are integrated across programmes, partnerships, and institutional priorities for the grant.

The role requires a strong combination of technical expertise, policy acumen, government engagement experience, and the ability to work across multiple countries and stakeholders. The successful candidate will represent the organization in high-level forums, strengthen partnerships and coalitions, guide country and regional teams, and support the translation of evidence into action.

• Technical Work Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership – Provide overall leadership for the grant gender and advocacy strategy across public health, health systems, and social policy programming. Identify emerging policy opportunities, risks, and trends related to gender equality, Marginalized populations, adolescent health, social norms, and rights-based approaches. Advise senior leadership on strategic positioning, external engagement, and organizational priorities in gender and advocacy.?

• Policy and Advocacy – Lead the design and implementation of advocacy strategies, policy engagement plans, and influencing approaches that advance gender-responsive health and social policies. Produce and oversee high-quality policy briefs, position papers, talking points, and strategic analysis for internal and external audiences. Translate research and programme evidence into persuasive advocacy messages and policy recommendations for decision-makers and partners.

• Government Engagement – Build and maintain strong, credible relationships with government institutions, including ministries of health, gender, key populations’ affairs, planning and related bodies. Support policy dialogue, reform processes, technical working groups, implementation planning, and accountability mechanisms. Ensure the grant’s advocacy efforts are responsive to governmental structures, policy cycles, and public sector realities.

• Gender Mainstreaming and Technical Support – Ensure gender equality and social inclusion are integrated across programme design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Provide technical guidance to programme teams on gender analysis, rights-based approaches, and equitable public health programming. Support the use of sex-, age-, and other disaggregated data to strengthen programme quality and policy influence.

• Partnerships and Representation – Represent the grant in national, regional, and global technical forums, coalitions, and interagency platforms. Build strategic relationships with civil society organizations, women-led and youth-led groups, KP civil society structures, donors, academic institutions, UN agencies, and other stakeholders. Strengthen coalition-based advocacy and foster collaboration that amplifies impact across countries and sectors.

• Multi-Country Coordination – Provide strategic and technical support across multi-country programmes and regional portfolios, ensuring consistency in quality while adapting approaches to diverse political, legal, and sociocultural contexts. Promote cross-country learning, documentation of promising practice, and coordinated advocacy where regional opportunities exist.

• Capacity Strengthening and Team Leadership – Lead and support capacity-building initiatives for staff, partners, and government stakeholders on gender-responsive programming, policy advocacy, and rights-based public health approaches. Supervise relevant staff and consultants where applicable. Develop gender and advocacy educational content, conduct regional training and facilitate webinars and learning platforms across the grant countries.

• Knowledge Management and Resource Mobilization – Oversee the development of technical resources, learning products, and evidence summaries to support programmes and advocacy priorities. Contribute to business development, donor engagement, and proposal design related to gender, health equity, systems strengthening, and social policy.

Education

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies, Public Health, or Public Policy
• A PhD is advantageous

Experience

• Applicants must have at least 10 years of progressive professional experience in public health, public policy, gender equality, advocacy, or a related field
• Over 5 years demonstrated experience in senior technical leadership, policy influence, stakeholder engagement, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Experience in health systems strengthening, SRHR, GBV prevention and response, KP/adolescent health, social norm change, social protection, or health financing will be an advantage.
• Prior experience in humanitarian, fragile, or low-resource settings is also desirable
• Familiarity with regional and global policy platforms, donor ecosystems, and interagency coordination mechanisms will be beneficial.

Requirements

• Strong experience in gender equality and rights-based programming, especially in the context of public health or social policy.
• Proven experience engaging with government institutions and a clear understanding of governmental systems, policy processes and accountability mechanisms.?
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement advocacy strategies and produce evidence-based policy and advocacy materials.
• Experience building coalitions and partnerships and influencing senior decision-makers.
• Experience supporting programme teams across multiple technical areas and translating evidence into practical policy recommendations.?
• Experience working across multiple countries or regions is highly desirable, particularly in international development, donor-funded, NGO, multilateral, or public sector contexts.?

Competencies

• Strategic thinking and sound political judgment?
• Stakeholder engagement and coalition-building?
• Strong communication, negotiation, and influencing skills?
• Excellent analytical, writing, and presentation skills?
• Collaborative leadership style and cross-cultural effectiveness?