Gender and Equalities Capability Lead

Sightsavers is looking for an experienced Gender and Equalities Capability Lead to be seconded into FCDO’s Gender and Equalities Department.

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Sightsavers is looking for an experienced Gender and Equalities Capability Lead to be seconded into FCDO’s Gender and Equalities Department.

Job Title: Gender and Equalities Capability Lead – Strategy and Coherence Unit (SCU).

Job Location: UK – The post will be based in an FCDO office in the UK (London or East Kilbride). Flexible working patterns, locations and working arrangements within the UK may be considered with an expectation of 40-60% of the pro-rata time in the office.

Contract: 3 year and 3-month contract secondment position from Sightsavers to FCDO (with potential to extend subject to budget)

Salary: £53,000 – £62,358 per annum, dependent upon experience

Sightsavers’ programming in disability and broader social inclusion is growing, including with a number of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) funded programmes. FCDO has raised its global ambition on women and girls and wider equalities, as outlined in the International Development Strategy (IDS), Women and Girls Strategy, and Integrated Review Refresh. To meet this strategic ambition, a focus on unlocking the potential of women and girls and other left behind groups must be embedded across the full scope of diplomacy and development policy, activities and programming. This requires a scaling up of their approach globally which cannot be done without building capabilities across the organisation.

As a result of our collaboration with FCDO, we seek a Gender and Equalities Capability Lead to be seconded into FCDO’s Gender and Equalities Department.

The work of the postholder will be administrated and overseen by Sightsavers, but their time and inputs related to FCDO will be overseen by the Deputy Team Leader, Strategy and Coherence Unit, Gender and Equality Department.

This role is part of the Promoting Equalities Programme which aims to build capabilities on gender and equalities through scaling up provision of practical advice, technical expertise, and support to posts and regions. The programme will strengthen the bridges between posts and the various central teams that work on gender and equalities topics. This involves sharing evidence, lessons and best practice. By bringing together UK influence, investment, expertise and evidence, this programme will strengthen progress on gender and wider equalities and bring about broader organisational benefits through investing in people and in capabilities.

The overall objective of this post is to support the Promoting Equalities Programme, to deliver strategic capability building initiatives and senior advisory support across the FCDO’s policy teams. The secondee will be responsible for a specific set of objectives and deliverables, agreed in partnership with the Gender and Equalities Department and Sightsavers. They will provide high quality advice and technical support to teams across the FCDO.

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Principle accountabilities will include:

Developing and delivering a strategic plan to improve gender and equalities capability internally
Drafting and / or commissioning high-quality and accessible learning and development content, such as How To Notes, guidance pages and case studies, to engage teams across the FCDO with gender and equalities policy areas
Commissioning and managing the content for the Equalities Gateway (a set of internal intranet pages)
Developing and leading the delivery of an internal communications plan to reach new colleagues across the organisation
Synthesising and sharing external research
Designing and convening new interactive workshops for policy teams in the UK and overseas to help them consider equalities issues as part of their business and strategy planning
Liaising with the FCDO’s International Academy (the central learning and development function) and Development Faculty
Strengthening the knowledge base and community of Regional Gender and Equalities Advisers
Supporting the programme component lead for the new external gender and equalities resource hub website
Partnering with the Employee Experience Team in FCDO’s Human Resources Directorate to promote synergies between internal (corporate) and external equalities work

This is a varied role. Please read the full job description for further detail. This is an exciting time to join the FCDO’s Gender and Equalities Department as part of the Promoting Equalities Programme which aims to build capabilities on gender and equalities through scaling up the provision of practical advice, technical expertise, and support to posts and regions. We have an important job to do, with lots of exciting opportunities to deliver progress on gender and wider equalities and bring about broader organisational benefits through investing in people and in capabilities.

To succeed in this role, you will need:

Significant practical experience in at least one relevant equalities field (gender equality; social inclusion; disability inclusion, LGBT+ rights, etc).
Extensive knowledge of current issues and best practice in international gender and equalities policymaking and international development.
Experience of developing learning and development resources that are accessible, engaging and easy-to-follow for a range of experience levels.
Experience in collating, synthesising and disseminating best practice guidance, research and programme learning.
Experience of developing strategies and leading workstreams to deliver against key performance indicators.
Experience influencing policy at senior levels and passion for collaborative policy making.
Experience and confidence in leading or chairing seminars and workshops.
Excellent oral and written skills in English.
Ability to build strong working relationships across different departments and work collaboratively and flexibly as a member of teams.
Leadership and networking skills and good communication and influencing abilities.

As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people living with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.

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To apply for this exciting new opportunity, please complete an application via the Sightsavers recruitment portal. We are particularly interested in learning of your motivations for applying. Please note that there will be an expectation that you can spend 40-60% of the working week in one of the FCDO’s offices.

Remote interviews will take place w/c 18 and 25 September and the interview will include a presentation to be prepared in advance. You will be asked to present for a maximum of five minutes during the interview on an aspect of the role.

Closing date: 11 September 2023

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