FSD Africa is a financial sector development programme based in Nairobi, funded by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). It aims to reduce poverty across sub-Saharan Africa by building financial markets that are efficient, robust, and inclusive. The Manager, Gender Programmes serves as the gender lead embedded in AFIYA's product development workstreams, working directly alongside insurtechs, insurers, and reinsurer partners to design and refine agricultural insurance solutions for young women smallholder farmers and agri-preneurs.
Key Responsibilities
Gender-Intentional Product Design (Develop)
- Serve as the gender lead in AFIYA's product development workstreams.
- Support in defining gender-intentional product design criteria for AFIYA insurance solutions, interrogating how structures like premium payments and claims processes include or exclude young women.
- Conduct gender analysis of agricultural insurance product prototypes to identify structural barriers relating to land tenure, income seasonality, and mobile money access.
- Work with country teams to ensure the integration of gender considerations into program design and implementation.
- Ensure gender considerations are embedded in reinsurance and lending partners' programmes.
Adoption and Capacity Building (Adopt)
- Lead the gender dimensions of AFIYA's adoption and capacity-building strategy.
- Design targeting frameworks and segmentation approaches to identify and reach young women smallholder farmers and agri-SME owners.
- Support the development of financial literacy and capability-building curricula grounded in how young women in agrifood systems make financial decisions.
- Equip implementing partners and country teams with practical tools for gender-intentional product distribution and client engagement.
- Oversee the integration of social norm change approaches into client-facing programming.
- Monitor and report on adoption rates and product utilization disaggregated by gender.
Evidence Generation and Regulatory Engagement (Enable)
- Design the gender data architecture across AFIYA's monitoring and results measurement system.
- Manage research and learning activities, including rapid gender assessments and barrier studies.
- Translate programme-level gender evidence into policy-relevant outputs (briefs, regulatory submissions, data insights).
- Support R3Lab's engagement with policymakers and regulators to advocate for gender-intentional regulatory frameworks.
- Establish a learning loop between the Enable, Develop, and Adopt workstreams.
Programme Integration and Stakeholder Management
- Build relationships and ensure effective collaboration with all project stakeholders and FSD Africa colleagues.
- Maintain embedded working relationships with programme leads as an integrated contributor.
- Foster collaboration across organizational pillars to identify synergies.
- Organize targeted capacity-building events or knowledge dissemination.
- Manage consultants and teams through motivational leadership.
Risks & Resources Management
- Develop project plans, budgets, and forecasts to ensure optimal resource utilization.
- Ensure rigorous due diligence and risk assessments are conducted.
- Liaise internally to manage financial resources effectively and ensure compliance with donor (Mastercard) regulations.
- Regularly analyze portfolio performance for value-for-money.
Requirements
- Education: Master’s degree with at least 6 years of experience or a Bachelor’s degree with 8 years of experience. Relevant postgraduate qualifications preferred.
- Experience: At least 6 years of progressively senior experience in gender programming, with significant exposure to financial inclusion, insurance markets, or financial product design.
- Language: Excellent skills in written and spoken English.
- Knowledge: Substantive understanding of insurance markets, lending facilities, and regulatory frameworks in sub-Saharan African contexts.
- Competency: Demonstrated ability to integrate gender analysis into financial sector interventions.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should apply online via the FSD Africa recruitment portal at fsdafrica.seamlesshiring.com. Alternatively, you can access the application link through this portal.