Consultant Level 3 – Senior Lead Gender Expert

UNESCO is inviting applications for the position of Consultant Level 3 – Senior Lead Gender Expert in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The consultant will provide senior-level technical leadership for the gender component of the “Closing the Digital Divide: Ensuring Gender-Transformative Digital Skills Education for Women and Girls” project. The initiative is being implemented by UNESCO in partnership with Beijing Normal University and in collaboration with the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania.

The assignment focuses on strengthening the participation of women and girls in digital education, ICT, STEM, mentorship, and technology-driven opportunities. The successful consultant will provide strategic oversight, coordinate gender specialists, support implementation across 20 schools, and ensure that gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches are consistently applied throughout the project.

About UNESCO

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, an international organization focused on advancing education, science, culture, communication and information. Through partnerships with governments and development organizations, UNESCO supports programmes designed to promote inclusive education, equality, skills development and sustainable development.

For this assignment, UNESCO is working to address systemic barriers that limit women’s and girls’ meaningful participation in digital learning, ICT and STEM opportunities. The Senior Lead Gender Expert will therefore play an important role in ensuring that the project delivers meaningful and sustainable gender outcomes.

Responsibilities

The Senior Lead Gender Expert will be responsible for:

• Providing overall technical leadership, strategic guidance and quality assurance for gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches across school-based ICT Clubs and related extracurricular activities.

• Co-designing project methodologies, ICT Club activities, mentorship engagements, Innovation Bootcamp activities, training materials, facilitation guides, implementation tools and capacity-building approaches.

• Mobilizing, coordinating, supervising and providing technical guidance to three Supporting Gender Specialists.

• Strengthening the capacity of technical implementing partners, teachers, mentors, school focal persons and other relevant stakeholders.

• Providing strategic technical leadership and monitoring during ICT Clubs, mentorship programmes, ICT and STEM clinics, Innovation Bootcamps, STEM hackathons and other project activities.

• Identifying and preparing appropriate female ICT and STEM role models and mentors.

• Co-designing mentorship and career exposure activities for girls and young women.

• Leading the monitoring, documentation, consolidation and reporting of the gender component.

• Providing overall technical leadership, coordination and quality assurance for the gender technical team working across 20 schools.

• Maintaining direct technical responsibility for five assigned schools, including technical support, monitoring, follow-up, documentation and reporting.

• Ensuring consistent application of agreed gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches, methodologies and quality standards across all 20 schools.

• Consolidating and quality-assuring technical inputs, monitoring findings, achievements, lessons learned, good practices, challenges and recommendations.

• Serving as the principal technical focal point for the gender technical team.

• Ensuring the quality, consistency, completeness and timely delivery of all technical outputs to UNESCO.

Qualification Requirements

Applicants should have:

• An advanced university degree in Gender Studies, Education, Social Sciences, Development Studies or a related field.

• A PhD is desirable.

• More than 10 years of professional experience in gender equality, girls’ empowerment and gender-transformative programming, preferably within the education sector.

• Expertise in integrating gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches into education, digital skills, ICT, STEM, youth development or related programmes.

• Proven experience providing technical leadership and coordinating multi-stakeholder programmes.

• Experience supervising multidisciplinary technical teams.

• Experience designing and delivering capacity-building initiatives and technical advisory services.

• Experience producing high-quality analytical and technical reports.

• Experience working with government institutions, development partners and international organizations.

• UN experience is an advantage.

• Excellent facilitation skills.

• Excellent communication skills.

• Excellent analytical skills.

• Excellent coordination skills.

• Excellent mentoring skills.

• Excellent report-writing skills.

• Excellent knowledge of English.

• Excellent knowledge of Kiswahili.

Who Can Apply

This consultancy is primarily suited to senior gender, education, development or social-sector professionals with extensive experience in gender equality and girls’ empowerment programmes. Candidates should be able to demonstrate substantial experience leading complex programmes, coordinating technical teams and working with government and development partners.

Applicants with experience connecting gender equality with digital education, ICT, STEM, youth development or education programmes will be particularly relevant to the assignment. The position is therefore not intended for entry-level applicants; the requirement of more than 10 years of relevant experience makes this a senior consultancy opportunity.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply through the UNESCO Careers website and complete the online application process.

After submitting the online application, applicants should also:

• Prepare an updated CV demonstrating relevant experience in line with the Terms of Reference.

• Prepare assignment-related costs, clearly showing professional fees and travel costs.

• Send the updated CV and budget by email to [email protected].

• Use the email subject: APPLICATION FOR A SENIOR LEAD GENDER EXPERT.

• Complete the application before 22 August 2026.

Application link: UNESCO Careers – Senior Lead Gender Expert

The Consultant Level 3 – Senior Lead Gender Expert position offers an opportunity for an experienced gender and development professional to contribute to a major initiative addressing the digital gender divide in Tanzania. With responsibility for technical leadership across 20 schools, coordination of gender specialists and quality assurance of project interventions, the assignment is particularly suitable for professionals with strong leadership, programme management, gender-transformative programming and education-sector experience.