Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Officer

In Latin America and the Caribbean, UNOPS operates across 23 countries, delivering high-impact solutions that drive sustainable development. UNOPS focuses on building and improving resilient infrastructure—including roads, bridges, public facilities, sanitation systems, and housing—to enhance quality of life and foster inclusive growth. UNOPS also supports public health by procuring essential medicines and medical equipment, ensuring broader access to healthcare services. By strengthening institutional capacities, UNOPS promotes transparent, efficient, and equitable public management. As a trusted partner to governments and development stakeholders, UNOPS aligns its interventions with national priorities, helping countries advance the Sustainable Development Goals through practical, results-driven support.

The Barbados Country Office (CO) functions as a strategic hub to support Caribbean nations in implementing the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), helping regional leaders advance a global agenda on climate justice and financing.  The primary mandate of the Barbados Country Office is to Speed Up and Scale Up engagements across 17 Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), ensuring that partner expectations are met with agility and precision. Through dedicated operational presence, UNOPS Barbados Country Office streamlines complex regional logistics and fosters stronger collaboration with sovereign governments and financial institutions in the Caribbean. The office focuses on delivering high-value solutions aligned with the region’s priorities, including the economy, nature and climate, human capital, infrastructure and capacity development.

The Caribbean Resilient Infrastructure Implementation and Skills Exchange (RIISE) Facility is established as a regional mechanism designed to support governments in implementing climate-resilient infrastructure. The Facility provides demand-driven technical assistance, strengthens institutional capacity, and facilitates knowledge and skills exchange across countries in the region. 

The Facility is envisioned as a five-year initiative, initially serving countries in the Eastern Caribbean eligible for Official Development Assistance, namely Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. 

Through a growing number of short‑ and medium‑term technical assistance assignments and surge deployments, the Facility is expected to strengthen the capacity of ministries, project implementation units, and utilities responsible for delivering climate‑resilient infrastructure in these countries. 

The Facility will be implemented through a United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Hosted Entity Partnership, which will provide the institutional platform required for the Facility’s establishment and early operations.

Gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) are cross-cutting considerations for RIISE. Their integration is intended to support inclusive, context-responsive and sustainable project preparation and implementation, while meeting applicable commitments under the RIISE engagement and related project frameworks.

The assignment will focus on supporting the Secretariat in translating applicable GESI commitments into practical project-management actions, documentation, evidence, monitoring processes and reporting inputs. The Officer will work closely with the RIISE Secretariat and relevant technical specialists to strengthen consistency between project implementation and the commitments reflected in RIISE's governing and operational documentation.

While the contract modality for this Vacancy Announcement is an ICA retainer contract on a project or assignment basis, UNOPS may offer, on a need basis, full-time employment for a specified consecutive period of time (up to one year maximum, with possible extensions), with the possibility to move between the two contract modalities subject to operational needs and the incumbent’s acceptance of the proposed assignments.

Specific assignments may include technical reviews, written recommendations, analyses, inputs to project documentation, monitoring products, capacity-building materials, guidance notes, participation in consultations, and other GESI-related advisory services.

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the RIISE Secretariat and designated Supervisor, the GESI  Officer will:

• Support the RIISE Secretariat in identifying, organizing and tracking GESI-related commitments, requirements, indicators and reporting responsibilities arising from the engagement with Canada and related RIISE project documents.
• Provide technical inputs to RIISE work plans, implementation plans, operational guidance, annual or periodic reports, results reporting and other documentation required under the engagement.
• Support the Secretariat in translating GESI commitments into practical actions, responsibilities, milestones, evidence requirements and monitoring arrangements.
• Review relevant RIISE documents and processes to assess consistency with applicable GESI commitments and recommend practical adjustments where needed.
• Support the definition, refinement and monitoring of GESI indicators, targets, data requirements and means of verification applicable to RIISE.
• Contribute GESI inputs to project-level risk management, safeguards, stakeholder engagement, monitoring and evaluation, learning and knowledge-management processes.
• Support the preparation and maintenance of evidence demonstrating implementation of GESI commitments, including records of activities, analyses, consultations, technical reviews, capacity-building actions and results.
• Provide GESI inputs for responses to technical comments, information requests or follow-up actions related to RIISE reporting and accountability requirements.
• Support coordination across the RIISE Secretariat to ensure that GESI responsibilities are understood and appropriately reflected in relevant project functions and workstreams.
• Develop or adapt practical checklists, templates, guidance notes and internal tools that facilitate consistent implementation and documentation of RIISE GESI commitments.
• Support capacity-building and awareness activities for RIISE personnel and consultants on applicable GESI commitments, requirements and operational expectations.
• Support periodic review of progress against GESI commitments and identify lessons learned, implementation gaps and practical follow-up actions.
• Participate, as requested, in meetings with Canada, UNOPS teams, partners or other stakeholders where GESI implementation, results or reporting are discussed.
• Perform other related advisory functions required to support RIISE compliance, accountability and reporting in relation to gender equality and social inclusion.
• Provide technical support to the RIISE Secretariat in reviewing technical assistance requests submitted by beneficiary governments from a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) perspective, identifying relevant considerations, risks, gaps and opportunities, and recommending appropriate measures for their integration into the design and implementation of the assistance. The GESI Officer will also support the documentation of relevant lessons learned and good practices arising from RIISE technical assistance assignments to inform continuous improvement and future support to beneficiary governments.

Travel 

• Official travels may be required during the assignment;
• The BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
• The GESI Officer is responsible for ensuring they have all required vaccinations/inoculations when traveling to certain countries, as designated by local authorities. 
• The GESI Officer is required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under: https://dss.un.org/dssweb/

This recruitment aims to fill a retainer position. Depending on actual needs, the hiring unit may decide to recruit endorsed qualified professionals for contracts with different working conditions (short/long term, part/full-time, retainer, regular or ongoing positions). 

Required

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Sociology, Development Studies, International Development, Human Rights, Public Policy, Social Work, Psychology, or another relevant field in combination with 2 years of relevant experience is required  OR 
• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in any of the above related fields in combination with 4 years of relevant experience. 

Required

• Relevant work experience is defined as experience in gender equality, gender mainstreaming, social inclusion, GESI, diversity and inclusion, or related areas is required, subject to the applicable academic qualification requirements.
• Experience providing technical advice or contributing to the design, implementation, monitoring or reporting of development projects or programmes is required.

Desired

• Experience conducting or reviewing gender and/or social inclusion analyses and translating findings into practical project recommendations is desirable.
• Experience integrating gender equality and social inclusion considerations into infrastructure, climate resilience, procurement, public investment, institutional strengthening or technical assistance assignments is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of Canada’s gender equality framework and related international assistance policies, including Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy, is desirable.
• Experience developing tools, guidance, methodologies or capacity-building activities related to gender equality and social inclusion is desirable.
• Experience working with governments, international organizations or development partners is desirable.
• Experience in the Caribbean or Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is considered an asset.

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.