Senior Health & Gender Project Officer - CARE International in Timor Leste

JOB ADVERTISEMENT
Internally & Externally
CARE International in Timor-Leste - CITL 

Department/Project	Hatutan
Position Title	Senior Health & Gender Project Officer
Supervisor	Field Office Deputy Manager; technical supervision from Gender Specialist
Position Grade	Grade 5
Salary	From  USD 750 Plus Benefit
Location of work	Ermera
Contract Period	1 Year
Areas of experience required	This position will provide support to all technical teams to mainstream gender following CARE’s gender transformative approach, provide Social Behaviour Change (SBC) messaging and training to school administrators, teachers, PTA members, Community Development Agents (CDA), Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) groups and other community members on topics of health, hygiene/sanitation, nutrition, and gender equality.
Applications required by	23rd of July 2021
Application should include	CV and Application letter only
Application should be sent to	Manuela.dasilva@careint.org

INTRODUCTION:
CARE is a leading humanitarian and development organisation dedicated to fighting global poverty and social injustice with special emphasis on human rights, gender equality and women and girls’ rights. As a non-religious and non-political organisation, CARE works with communities to help overcome poverty by supporting development efforts and providing emergency assistance. We believe supporting women and girls is one of the most effective ways to create sustainable outcomes in poor communities.

CARE International in Timor-Leste (CITL), Mercy Corps and WaterAid implements a 5-year United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded program called HATUTAN , to build a partnership between schools and their communities to improve literacy, learning, health and nutrition for children and adults in the municipalities of Ainaro, Ermera, Liquica and Manatuto. The program partners with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports as the lead Ministry and works with the Ministries of Health, State Administration and Agriculture and Fisheries to strengthen pre-school and primary school performance in literacy, health and nutrition and support the full implementation of the government school feeding program.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:
Senior Health and Gender Officer: Based in Ermera, this position will provide support to all technical teams to mainstream gender following CARE’s gender transformative approach, provide Social Behaviour Change (SBC) messaging and training to school administrators, teachers, PTA members, Community Development Agents (CDA), Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) groups and other community members on topics of health, hygiene/sanitation, nutrition, and gender equality. The Field Office Deputy Manager (FODM) is the point of contact with the municipal level government and other stakeholders in the municipality. The Senior Health and Gender Officer will receive technical guidance from the Gender Specialist (Dili), the Health and Nutrition Manager (Dili) and will be directly/administratively supervised by the Field Office Deputy Manager. The position directly supervises two Health and Gender Officers, to cover the assigned schools; and one Social Analysis and Action Sessions Facilitator-Project Officer.

The role requires a high level of professionalism, good leadership and vision, excellent organisational and planning skills, good training and facilitation skills and an ability to work confidentially and appropriately with others across a diverse team.

This position is based in Ermera, with frequent travel required to project locations within the municipality and some travel to the Dili office. During weeks, schools have classes, the regular work schedule will include Saturdays to cover activities at the schools. The work schedule for field staff, including the Senior Health and Gender Officer, may shift to Tuesday through Saturday work week and/or use compensatory time off.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:
Planning and Training:

• Assist the Gender Specialist to implement HATUTAN’s Gender and Power Analysis and follow on Gender Strategy and Action Plan Development;
• Contribute to the design and field adaptation of trainings on maternal and child health and nutrition; diet diversification through cooking demonstrations; reproductive health; hygiene/sanitation (including menstrual hygiene); gender equality, and the prevention of sexual/domestic /school/gender-based violence;
• Deliver training to school personnel, local leaders, PTA, parents, farmers and school meal providers using Tetum or in the relevant local language;
• Contribute to staff training sessions on gender equality, and the prevention of sexual/domestic/gender-based violence;
  

Implementation and Application of Learning:

• Deliver SBC campaigns at the municipal and community-levels;
• Implement Social Analysis and Action (SAA) reflective sessions supporting communities to identify constraints to wellbeing that are embedded in social-cultural norms, and to decide and plan how to address these barriers;
• Identify and work with existing networks of mother and father support groups for SBC and inclusion in VSLAs such as Mercy Corps’ groups and CITL’s HAMORIS or other programs;
• Create partnerships with MOH volunteer network of Family Health Promotors (Promotor Saúde Familiár - PSF) through liaison with MOH Community Health Centers, training of PSFs on gender, nutrition and hygiene topics and overseeing the delivery of community level health information sharing and SBC campaigns;
• Deliver institutional capacity strengthening activities at the target schools, providing guidance and training for the adoption of gender-responsive policies and actions in health, nutrition, WASH and immediate reduction of gender-based violence;
• Support schools to implement activities to strengthen girls’ leadership skills, student monitoring of health improvements and student clubs as platforms for dialogues on health, nutrition, WASH and addressing school-related gender- based violence;
• Oversee the Hygiene Nudging activities in Ermera together with FODM and education team including the direct supervision of the mobile teams of Painter/Promotors implementing installations at schools to promote handwashing, quality control of the installations, adherence to schedule, sharing information across hygiene nudging teams, and promoting follow up activities to encourage habit formation of good hygiene practices at the school;
• Work with existing Water User Groups (WUG) to revitalize their membership and mission, encouraging the inclusion of women and students in their leadership structure;
• Facilitate the development of guidelines for WUGs that are action-oriented, with specific activities at the school and community level work;
• Explore with the WUGs innovative alternatives to improved hand hygiene and sanitation when resources such as soap, water or toilets are not available, helping to create demand for building and maintain WASH facilities at schools;
• Together with other field staff and FODM, assist the target schools to improve and maintain WASH infrastructure;
• Assist Municipal Health, Education and Water and Sanitation Services to implement the school health program at schools ;
  

Reporting:

• Prepare the field health and gender program activity reports and submit to the respective FODM and to the Gender Specialist;
• Share field activity reports with the FODM and Senior MEL Officer with complete information on beneficiaries or training participants.
  

HR Management and Team Building:

• Assist the FODM to coordinate HATUTAN activities with Municipal Health Services and ensure HATUTAN staff compliance with public health mandates, especially for the control of COVID-19;
• Supervise the Health and Gender Officers, the Social Analysis and Action Sessions Facilitator-Project Officer and the hygiene nudging teams;
• Assist to implement staff capacity development to understand gender power dynamics;
• Contribute in developing a supportive and inclusive environment for all staff, with the objective of achieving gender balance in the staff;
  

Other tasks:

• Be proactive in identifying risks of fraud on the part of staff, partners or beneficiaries and supporting spot-checks and investigations as needed;
• Accomplish any other job as and when required as assigned by supervisor.
  

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Minimum Bachelors’ degree in Social Science, gender studies or equivalent with minimum 3 years’ relevant work experience, and/or University Diploma with minimum 4 years’ relevant work experience;
2. Experience working in health or gender mainstreaming programs and experience working in schools and advantage;
3. Experience providing training or coaching, leading teams and directly supervising other staff;
4. Experience in facilitation required and experience with social accountability tools an advantage;
5. Ability to promote collaboration with CITL staff, Government, Local authority, and other partners;
6. Excellent communication skills in Tetum and intermediate (very good) in English;
7. Ability to communicate in one or more of the local language(s) such as Mambae or Kemak, is an advantage;
8. Demonstrated strong leadership, decision making, problem solving and planning;
9. Demonstrated ability to take direction and to work as part of a team;
10. A willingness to implement CARE’s gender transformative approach in all activities, especially gender equality and women’s empowerment activities;
11. Intermediate (very good) in Microsoft Office with knowledge in Microsoft Word and Excel, good numeric skills;
12. Ability to drive a motorbike in remote location and with a valid license an advantage
    

In return of your commitment you will benefit from ongoing professional development fostered within an innovative and forward thinking environment, plus a comprehensive benefits package.

To apply to this position, please email or submit your application letter and Curriculum Vitae with three references (Please DO NOT attached the other documents) to Manuela.dasilva@careint.org OR to HR Unit, CARE International Timor-Leste, Bairo Pitte, Dili, OR CARE Ermera Office 2A Glenu, Rua Kuluhun, Suku Talimoro before or by date deadline on 23rd of July 2021. Only successful candidates will be contacted for the interview.

CARE is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse workplace. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

CARE International Timor-Leste is committed to protecting the rights of children in all areas we work. CARE International Timor-Leste reserves the right to conduct screening procedure to ensure a child-safe environment.