UNDP Project MEL, Gender and Safeguards Specialist (Tonga Coastal Resilience Project-Nuku’alofa) || Apply Now |

The Project MEL, Gender, and Safeguards Specialist combines responsibilities for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL), gender and social development, and environmental and social safeguards to ensure that the project is evidence-driven, inclusive, and sustainable.

Key Responsibilities of Project MEL

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)

• Design, implement, and refine comprehensive MEL frameworks, systems, and tools in line with UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP), corporate standards, and donor requirements.
• Lead development of the project Theory of Change and Results-Based Management (RBM) frameworks to monitor outcomes, outputs, and impacts.
• Ensure timely collection, analysis, and dissemination of data, including gender-disaggregated data, for evidence-based decision-making and reporting.
• Oversee preparation of donor reports, project progress reports, and impact assessments, ensuring adherence to established timelines and quality standards.
• Conduct regular monitoring and evaluation of project activities, outputs, and outcomes, ensuring the integration of gender equality, disability inclusion, and Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principles.
• Provide technical guidance on the design and implementation of mid-term reviews, impact evaluations, and third-party monitoring, ensuring robust methodologies and adherence to UNDP evaluation standards.
• Ensure integration of evaluation findings into project improvement strategies and decision-making processes.

Gender and Social Development

• Update and refine the project Gender Strategy and Action Plan, incorporating lessons learned, national laws and policies, and UNDP’s Gender Equality Strategy.
• Analyze gender and social inequality issues within project activities and propose strategies to address barriers to the participation of women, girls, and other vulnerable groups.
• Facilitate gender-sensitive and socially inclusive stakeholder consultations, ensuring active participation from women’s groups, NGOs, government agencies, and local communities.
• Implement and monitor gender-related initiatives, including awareness-raising campaigns, capacity-building sessions, and gender equality advocacy, ensuring alignment with project goals and timelines.
• Provide technical support to project teams and contractors in mainstreaming gender considerations, including developing gender-sensitive indicators and action plans.
• Lead the development of training materials and organize training sessions on gender mainstreaming, disability inclusion, and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse for stakeholders, contractors, and community members.

Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS)

• Oversee implementation of the project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), including monitoring of proposed social safeguards.
• Identify and address additional environmental and social safeguard risks emerging during project implementation, ensuring compliance with UNDP standards and donor requirements.
• Ensure safe and inclusive working environments, especially for women, and strengthen grievance redress mechanisms (GRM) to address community and stakeholder concerns effectively.
• Support contractors and implementing partners to adhere to safeguards policies and embed gender-sensitive principles into planning and implementation processes.

Capacity Building and Knowledge Management

•  Assess capacity gaps among project staff, partners, and stakeholders, and design tailored capacity-building initiatives on MEL, gender mainstreaming, and social safeguards.
• Develop and share knowledge products, including policy briefs, thematic reviews, lessons learned, and best practices, to inform project improvement and future programming.
• Organize and lead workshops, training, and awareness sessions on MEL systems, gender equality, and safeguards for diverse stakeholders.
• Actively participate in and contribute to local and global networks, communities of practice, and knowledge-sharing platforms to promote innovative and effective practices in MEL, gender, and safeguards.

Advocacy and Communication

• Lead gender and social inclusion advocacy efforts, including organizing campaigns, leveraging media platforms, and supporting events such as International Women’s Day.
• Develop and disseminate communication materials, visuals, and digital media content to highlight gender equality and social inclusion achievements.
• Collaborate with communication teams to showcase project outcomes related to gender, social development, and environmental safeguards.

Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination

• Foster partnerships and maintain a strong network with UNDP colleagues, government officials, donors, civil society organizations, contractors, and communities.
• Coordinate with other UN agencies to ensure alignment and complementarity of monitoring, reporting, and evaluation efforts, especially in the context of the UNSDCF.
• Facilitate participatory planning and decision-making processes, ensuring that stakeholder inputs are integrated into project design and implementation.

Check : UNDP Washington Internship 2025 in United States

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Development Studies, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, or related field is required; or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas mentioned above in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years (with master’s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience in MEL, gender mainstreaming, and safeguards implementation in development projects and working with quality assurance instruments, result-based management models, and multiple stakeholders.
• Skilled in using office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), web-based management systems, and advanced data management tools or database packages.
• Experience in designing, implementing, and managing assessments or applied research projects, with the ability to synthesize findings into actionable recommendations.
• Experience in drafting standard operating procedures (SOPs), legal/strategic frameworks, and policy-level analysis related to gender and safeguards.
• Proven ability/ Experience to organize and lead knowledge-sharing initiatives and advocacy campaigns on gender equality, GBV, and social safeguards.
• Familiarity with working on projects funded by the UN and Government agencies is an added advantage.

Required languages:

• Fluency in English and Tongan is required.

Join us on Telegram for more opportunities !