**Contingent upon Donor Funding**
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Position Status: Full-time, Exempt or Non-exempt, Regular
Risk Level: X Level 3 ☐Level 2 ☐Level 1
(Level 3: Frequent contact with participants, direct contact with children, access to sensitive data, and/or high level of accountability.
Level 2: Some contact with participants; unplanned non-direct contact with children.
Level 1: Likely to have no contact with participants or sensitive data)
Now, and for the future. Mercy Corps is transitioning to Prosper Global. Learn more here. As the transition is being implemented by location, you may see the Mercy Corps and Prosper Global names used concurrently during this period. This is an administrative transition, and our teams, programs and commitments continue without interruption.
The Program / Department / Team
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, and its influence spreads across the continent. Yet, inequality and insecurity have consistently undermined Nigeria's development. Mercy Corps Nigeria was established in 2012 to respond to these challenges. The Nigeria team is headquartered in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and has programs across 16 states. Mercy Corps works with communities to build economic opportunities, enhance water security, drive peace and good governance, and ensure food security. Our activities aim to build resilience through an integrated approach, helping communities and the most marginalized within them cope, adapt, and thrive in the context of numerous shocks and stresses. With a strong and growing team, Mercy Corps works to achieve the vision of a Nigeria in which all people are empowered, engaged, resilient, and secure.
The Position
The Gender, Social and Inclusion Director will provide strategic leadership and technical oversight for gender equality, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and safeguarding across program activities. The Director will ensure that inclusive, equitable, and participant-centered approaches are integrated throughout the program lifecycle and embedded within implementation, learning, adaptation, and partner engagement.
S/he will be responsible for leading the implementation of gender integration strategies aimed at ensuring that program activities result in positive outcomes for male and female participants of different age groups. S/he will have overall responsibility for building team members’ and partners’ capacity to integrate a GESI perspective into activities, and raising awareness of the importance of GESI integration. The Gender, Social and Inclusion Director will work closely with other team members to ensure the effective and timely execution of activities related to gender and age-based access to opportunities. GESI Director will conduct a gender analysis to inform and guide program implementation and to ensure that men, women, girls and boys have equitable opportunities to engage in and benefit from program activities. S/he will promote innovative initiatives for inclusiveness in conformity with the donor and Mercy Corps’ gender policy.
STRATEGY & PLANNING
REPRESENTATION
SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Safeguarding Responsibilities
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.
Reports Directly To: Chief of Party / Program Director
Works Directly With: Program leadership team, technical leads, MEL team, finance and operations teams, partner organizations, regional teams, and HQ technical advisors
Success Factors
The successful candidate will be a strategic and collaborative leader with a strong commitment to gender equality, social inclusion, safeguarding, and participant-centered programming. They will possess strong technical expertise and the ability to influence diverse stakeholders to ensure that inclusive and equitable approaches are integrated across all aspects of program implementation.
The ideal candidate will demonstrate excellent relationship-building, communication, and facilitation skills and be capable of working effectively with communities, government institutions, private sector actors, donors, and implementing partners. They will foster a culture of accountability, learning, and continuous improvement while ensuring that safeguarding, inclusion, and participant well-being remain central to program design, implementation, monitoring, and decision-making.
They will be an effective mentor and capacity builder, strengthening the ability of teams and partners to deliver high-quality, inclusive programming that contributes to sustainable and meaningful outcomes for participants and communities.
The GESI Director will be based in Abuja Nigeria. This position requires at least 40% of time traveling by flight or road to field offices in areas with varying degrees of insecurity.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs, and Mercy Corps’ policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.
We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary-General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves professionally, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).