Gender Expert

Job Description

Title: Gender Expert

Company Name: CARE Bangladesh

Vacancy: --

Age: Na

Job Location: Anywhere in Bangladesh

Salary: --

Experience:

• At least 10 years
• The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): NGO, Development Agency

• Master of Development Studies (MDS)

• Master’s degree in Sociology, Social Work, Anthropology, Gender/Women’s Studies, Development Studies, or related field.

• At least 10 years
• The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): NGO, Development Agency

• Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience in mainstreaming gender within development programs, particularly in skills development, employment, or social protection.

• Proven expertise in gender and youth analyses, gender program integration, and development of GESI guidelines.

• Experience in GBV prevention and response, including SEA/SH safeguarding, grievance redress, and referral mechanisms.

• Strong skills in participatory training, facilitation, and capacity building.

• Experience in designing monitoring strategies, tools, and reporting frameworks.

• Excellent analytical, documentation, and report-writing skills.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with fluency in Bangla and English.

• Proficiency in MS Office applications.

• Candidates need to be highly motivated and committed to CARE Bangladesh’s vision, mission, and long-term development work to significantly improve the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalized people. Candidates must be capable of displaying great learning agility, support and encourage knowledge sharing across projects, for the ultimate benefit of all of CARE’s mission wide initiatives.

Project name: Economic Acceleration and Resilience for Neet Project (EARN)_SNSA

Location: Anywhere in Bangladesh

Duration: Duration of the contract will be 30 months from the date of joining.

I. Job Summary:

Who are we?

As a global leader, CARE is shaping the future of the humanitarian and development sector. Each year, we deliver support and services to millions of people in over a hundred countries. We do this by focusing on our mission and living the values that drive our organization. A career at CARE is an opportunity to be part of a movement that brings communities together to solve complex problems and foster lasting change throughout the world. We seek individuals who are passionate about humanitarian and development work, collaborate well with others, embrace learning and innovation, and deliver results.

What it’s like to work at CARE?

CARE is a mission-driven international humanitarian aid and development organization that offers an opportunity to work with people across the world. Not a day will go by that you won’t learn something profound, meet an expert, or write a sentence that can change a life. We are committed to an environment where everyone can succeed.

Bangladesh has made impressive strides in its social and economic development, achieving lower middle-income status in 2015 through stable macroeconomic conditions and substantial poverty reduction. The nation adeptly navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining positive real GDP growth through prudent macroeconomic policies and effective stimulus measures. However, challenges persist, particularly for its youth population. With an overall unemployment rate of 8.9% among those aged 15-29, around 27% of this group is labeled as NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Notably, this NEET issue is predominantly a gender concern as approximately 90% of NEET youth are female. Social norms emphasizing women's household roles and movement restrictions contribute to these disparities which is evident in the significantly lower female labor force participation.

The EARN Project in Bangladesh aims at economic engagement of the NEET youth, especially women, in rural and semi-urban areas of the country. The project offers education and skills development with a focus on women-centric facilities, employment and enterprise development support, enhanced employability through creating employer linkages and upskilling of Socio-Emotional Behavior (SEB) and Entrepreneur Development (ED) skill, incubation support for employment and entrepreneurship. In order to ensure participation of women and other underserved segment, the project will promote an enabling environment, especially for the women, through targeted awareness raising and communication programs, family-based planning, counseling and involving the communities and families in planning and monitoring of implementation.

EARN project takes a comprehensive approach to tackle the barriers for NEET female through activities such as communication campaigns that address constraining social norms, establishing childcare facilities so that female beneficiaries with children can feel encourage to actively part in the training program. As most of beneficiaries are women there is a possibility of SEA/SH/GBV risk considering the negative social norms.

The project will undertake climate resilience programs and enhance institutional capacity to improve the understanding of the responsiveness to disruptions from climate change and geophysical hazards. All skills development training will incorporate climate sensitization courses that will include adaptation and mitigation measures. The proposed competitive innovation funds will also be used to customize the new climate responsive awareness among the beneficiaries.

Department of Youth Development (DYD) is the implementing agency of the project under the supervision and guidance of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS). The project is implemented by a dedicated Project Management Unit (PMU) under DYD. The PMU is led by a Project Director (PD). The project will be implemented through GO-NGO-Private Sector collaboration.

The Gender/GBV Expert will provide strategic and technical guidance to ensure gender equality and social inclusion are fully integrated across all aspects of the EARN project. This role will focus on incorporating gender perspectives into program design, implementation, and monitoring, ensuring the needs of women, youth, and marginalized groups are effectively addressed. The Expert will lead the development of GESI guidelines, conduct gender and youth analyses, and oversee the quality of gender-focused interventions. Additionally, the role will strengthen GBV prevention and response systems, including safeguarding against SEA/SH, managing grievance mechanisms, establishing referral pathways, and building partnerships with service providers to ensure robust support for affected individuals. The position also requires expertise in gender mainstreaming, climate adaptation, and stakeholder engagement, with strong communication, networking, and negotiation skills to work effectively across all levels of the organization and with external partners

II. Responsibilities and Tasks: % of Time

• Responsibility # 1: Provide technical leadership on gender integration 30%
• Ensure alignment with the project framework by developing and carrying out GESI guidelines specifically for EARN project activities, such as community youth engagement, employer connections, entrepreneurship support, and vocational training.
• Conduct comprehensive gender and youth analyses to identify barriers faced by women and NEET youth, such as restrictive social norms, mobility constraints, and limited access to resources, and use these findings to guide program design and adaptation.
• Ensure that women, particularly those from marginalized groups, and NEET youth are meaningfully included in all stages of project planning, implementation, and monitoring.
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to project staff, implementing partners, and community-level actors to strengthen their capacity in applying gender-responsive approaches.
• Integrate gender and youth perspectives across project activities by ensuring equal access to training, employment opportunities, entrepreneurship support, and decision-making processes.
• Collaborate with the Social Norms Expert and other technical specialists to harmonize gender integration with broader strategies on social norm change, climate responsiveness, and safeguarding.
• Document and share lessons learned, success stories, and good practices to strengthen the evidence base for gender and youth integration within the EARN project.
• Responsibility # 2: GBV prevention and response 25%
• Conduct comprehensive mapping of GBV service providers across all EARN project locations, with a particular focus on rural and semi-urban areas where service gaps are most pronounced.
• Establish and maintain functional referral pathways to ensure survivors of GBV have timely access to appropriate, quality, and confidential support services.
• Design and operationalize a grievance redress mechanism for Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (SEA/SH), ensuring it is survivor-centered, safe, accessible, and confidential.
• Provide ongoing technical support to the Project Management Unit (PMU), Department of Youth Development (DYD) officials, and service partners to strengthen GBV prevention and response capacity.
• Ensure GBV risk mitigation and SEA/SH safeguarding measures are systematically integrated into all project interventions, including vocational training, employer linkages, and community engagement activities.
• Support awareness-raising initiatives and community sensitization efforts to reduce stigma, promote survivor rights, and encourage reporting of SEA/SH incidents.
• Collaborate with local institutions, civil society actors, and government agencies to strengthen coordination and sustainability of GBV response services.
• Contribute to documentation of good practices, challenges, and lessons learned in GBV prevention and response to inform project adaptation and advocacy.
• Responsibility # 3: Guiding/developing technical materials (training guidelines, manual, etc.) 25%
• Develop technical guidelines, modules and guide project staff to implement the project related strategies and activities that meet quality standards and enable consistent implementation of quality standards
• Provide thematic and mentoring support to field-based teams and technical coordinators of TP project in developing gender-transformative community mobilization and support strategies for adoption within the project with quality standards.
• Ensure all guidelines and training manuals are developed aligning with EARN design
• Guide project team (both CARE and Partner) in designing and organizing different national/international days including Girl Child Day, 16 days activism, international women day, etc.
• Responsibility # 4: Develop and Implement Capacity Building strategy for CARE-Bangladesh and Partner Staff 10%
• Develop a comprehensive capacity-building strategy to prevent GBV for the EARN project and design a year-round plan for providing training and skill development to EARN project staff.
• Facilitate ongoing capacity-building initiatives for field-based staff, ensuring training on women’s empowerment, gender equality, and EARN-specific approaches, to strengthen project implementation and outcomes.
• Support the field implementation team in identifying mechanisms that enable adolescent girls and young women to take on empowerment and gender-sensitive responsibilities in their own work.
• Provide regular technical assistance and feedback to partner NGOs (PNGOs) and CARE staff to identify gaps and opportunities for enhancing women-responsive interventions.
• Offer technical support to integrate project manuals with monitoring tools, frameworks, or evaluations (as relevant in EARN) and enhance understanding of these approaches among CARE Bangladesh and partner staff.
• Provide regular recommendations and guidance on capacity development and staff competency enhancement to ensure effective project delivery.
• Responsibility # 5 Risk Management and Safeguards 10%
• Establish and supervise a robust GBV/SEA/SH Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) with adequate coverage across all project areas.
• Conduct mapping of GBV service providers and build referral pathways with local and national actors.
• Ensure development and enforcement of Codes of Conduct (CoC) for project staff, trainers, and partners.
• Organize awareness-raising sessions in communities on SEA/SH prevention and reporting mechanisms.
• Build the capacity of DYD, MoYS, SPs, and partners to manage SEA/SH risks and respond to incidents effectively.
• General Responsibilities on Safety and Security, and Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults
• As part of this role, the job holder must adhere to and support CARE Bangladesh’s Safety and Security policy and systems as part of their day-to-day duties and comply with safety & security protocols and directives, including reporting. Staff must maintain situational and self–awareness and be aware of the safety – security-related consequences of their actions upon themselves, their team, and the organization.

CARE is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct, and expects staff to promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults always. CARE expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our Code of Conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate this commitment are recruited to work with us.

All CARE staff must uphold ethical standards, following codes of conduct to prevent abuse, including sexual harassment, exploitation, and neglect. Regular monitoring ensures accountability to uphold these principles and support our mission of social justice and poverty alleviation.

III. Reporting to:

Team Leader

IV. Working Condition:

To be declared

• Attractive remuneration package will be offered to the deserving candidates. In addition, CARE offers Provident Fund, Gratuity, Festival Bonus, Leave Encashment, Life and Health Insurance, Working Mother Benefits and Day Care Facilities etc.