View Vacancy - Social Development Advisor

The British Embassy in Amman is seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual for the position of Social Development Advisor - DFID, Grade – C5 (L).

Purpose of the job:

Jordan is critical to UK national security objectives as both a platform and an ally in tackling regional instability, extremism and terrorism. 

The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) teams in Jordan are seeking a shared full time Social Development and Gender Adviser from July. The adviser would be expected to work towards DFID A2L accreditation within the DFID social development cadre. This is critical role within the Embassy. You will be Embassy’s dedicated expert on gender, inclusion, youth, child protection, disability and safeguarding issues in Jordan providing detailed gender analysis, and programmatic advice to influence the direction of our programmes

This is an exciting opportunity to work for the British Embassy Amman as it responds rapidly to the COVID-19 crisis, and looks to programme both short and long-term work in support of the UK-Jordan partnership.  This partnership has the UK as a leading and trusted partner to Jordan, rallying and coordinating international donors in support of Jordan’s long-term stability.  Jordan remains to be one of the lowest 10 countries in the Gender Gap Index. While the full effects of COVID-19 remain yet unclear, evidence of higher levels of gender-based violence, abuse and exploitation of children, as well as severe economic impacts on the informal sector where many women work indicate that recent social development progress might be reversed by the crisis.  The UK, through the CSSF, is the primary donor to the Jordanian National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security.

The post requires commitment to work with others but also independently demonstrating leadership and influencing skills. The jobholder will report to the head of Social Protection in the DFID team but also be an integral member of the cross cutting advisory group who work with the CSSF programme, with counter signing reporting to the lead adviser in that team.

Main Responsibilities:

The objectives for this job are to:

• Lead the work on gender, disability, youth and inclusion in both DFID and the CSSF, advising on best practice, applying frameworks and evidence and seeking opportunities to increase the realisation of gender goals within policy and programming.
• Lead the work on safeguarding and child protection with programmes and downstream delivery partners, reducing the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse, and other forms of harm or exclusion.
• Provide timely social, poverty, social exclusion and inclusion analysis to programme leads, policy teams and the board in British Embassy Amman to cover important development themes such as gender, disability, inclusion, safeguarding, Women, Peace and Security, Violence Against Women and Girls and migration.
• Develop the capacity of programme managers and SROs to increasingly lead on gender and social development issues with advisory back up.
• Work closely with Programme Managers and SROs to apply DFID and CSSF gender and inclusion policy to their programmes and ensure programming complies with the UK’s Gender Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty and CSSF Gender Marker requirements.
• Inform and influence important national processes and frameworks including the overall DFID Jordan Strategy and business plans; delivering commitments to the SDGs, key national and economic strategies, social policy and multi- donor and national gender equality and youth development plans. Feed into global consultations across the network when the opportunity arises. 
• Apply UK safeguarding standards to programmes and work with implementing partners to ensure they are aware and able to fully comply with the UK’s requirements.
• Commission or deliver analysis to programming and policy teams on social, poverty and gender trends in Jordan – communicating the significance of the findings and using them to craft new programming and policy positions.
• Work closely with colleagues in the Political Section of the British Embassy to contribute to their reporting on the gendered dimensions of the social and political context in Jordan.
• Contribute to donor coordination on gender focussed programming, including on the Jordanian National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security;
• Represent the UK Government with the authorities, UN, NGOs and the donor and diplomatic community on gender and inclusion issues and support wider embassy colleagues to advocate on these issues.
• Build a network of civil society and INGO contacts working on social development and gender issues and engage them in consultation on BE Amman priority issues for influencing wider change and impact, as well as communicate back their lessons and recommendations to stakeholders within the Embassy.
• Provide high quality and timely input into parliamentary and ministerial deliverables and support high-level visits as required.

Key Competencies and Required Skills:

• Making Effective Decisions - Effectiveness in being objective; using sound judgement, evidence and knowledge to provide accurate, expert and professional advice.
• Collaborating and partnering - People skilled in this area create and maintain positive, professional and trusting working relationships with a wide range of people within and outside the Civil Service to help get business done.
• Leading and Communicating - Effectiveness in this area is about leading from the front and communicating with clarity, conviction and enthusiasm.
• Building Capability for All - Effectiveness in this area is having a strong focus on continuous learning for oneself, others and the organisation.

Technical competencies required for the job:

You are also expected to demonstrate the following technical competencies:

Social Development Technical Competencies

SD1: Social Policy (social analysis and inclusion): Undertake robust Social Analysis examining the social, cultural, political and economic structures, dynamics, norms and power relations that include or exclude people, and drive or constrain poverty reduction. Apply social policy to influence policies and strategies, lead or quality assure programme design and implementation and build capability of others to do-no-harm, benefit poor and excluded people and deliver transformational change.

SD2: Poverty and vulnerability analysis and monitoring: Analyse the different concepts and measures on wellbeing, poverty and vulnerability, and the strengths and limitations of each; the range of poverty analysis approaches and tools; and, the evidence base on what causes poverty or drives poverty reduction. Influence, lead, quality assure or build the capability of others in analysis, application and monitoring of poverty and wellbeing.

SD3: Gender equality and the rights and empowerment of women and girls: Analyse key concepts, frameworks, and the evidence base on policies and programmes that work to achieve gender equality and the rights and empowerment of women and girls. Influence, lead, quality assure and build capability of others to design, manage, monitor and evaluate a range of evidence-based action for gender equality and the rights and empowerment of women and girls, including multi-sectoral strategies and structural and transformative change.

SD4: Empowerment and Accountability: Applying your understanding of and ability to analyse key concepts and frameworks and the evidence base on policies and programmes that work to achieve empowerment and accountability. This will enable advisers to influence, lead, quality assure and build capability of others to design, manage, monitor and evaluate a range of evidence-based action to enhance citizen empowerment and accountability of public, private and traditional institutions.

SD5: Social Protection: Analyse key concepts, frameworks, and the evidence base on social protection policies and programmes. Influence, lead, quality assure and build capability of others to design, implement, monitor and evaluate policy, programme and system approaches for social protection.

The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills as well as being a strong team player with partnering skills with a diverse range of customers.  This is a high-paced role and you will need to be resilient in order to deliver high standards of service in a challenging but rewarding environment.  We are looking for someone that can demonstrate: 

• Integrity
• Honesty
• Objectivity
• Impartiality

Essential:

• Fluent communication skills in English language (both written and spoken).
• Minimum 8 years of experience working on gender, inclusion and programming with NGOs, donors or multilateral organisations, including on Women, Peace and Security/UNSCR 1325.
• Bachelors or Master’s degree in a relevant subject (including, but not limited to sociology, political science, social/development policy and planning)
• The successful candidate will need to demonstrate practical examples of using their technical and behavioural competencies in the development or humanitarian aid field.
• The candidate should have a strong network in Jordan within the development community but also with key stakeholders in government.
• Experience of child protection sector and adult safeguarding in Jordan
• Resilience and ability to work under pressure in a busy and sometimes challenging environment.
• Excellent IT skills (standard Microsoft applications).