Terms of Reference: Gender Officer and Helpdesk Officer

Background

Somaliland Community Action Network (SCAN) is recruiting a Gender Officer, who also runs the community helpdesk, for November 2026 to March 2027.

SCAN implements and develops projects with cooperatives, VSLA groups and community members, including the KOICA-funded Climate-Resilient Food Systems Project, the proposed BMZ-funded market-readiness project for 17 cooperatives, and the Deyr 2026 climate microinsurance pilot for 450 households in nine villages, where SCAN is master policyholder.

Duty station: Hargeisa, with field travel to project locations as needed.

Period: November 2026 to March 2027.

 Reports to: Project Manager

Scope. The post is organization wide. The Gender Officer works across all SCAN projects

Purpose. The post makes sure gender equality and social inclusion are built into all of SCAN's activities, from design to reporting, and runs the helpdesk where communities and project participants raise questions and complaints. The helpdesk is SCAN's community feedback mechanism.

Gender responsibilities across all activities

•     Review SCAN activities and project plans from a gender point of view, and advise project teams on how women and men can take part and benefit equally.

•     Support project teams to make activities workable for women: timing, venue, women facilitators where needed, and separate women's sessions where that works better.

•     Help teams collect participation data, questions and complaints by sex, and check that the figures are used in monitoring.

•     Brief SCAN staff, partners and community leaders on gender, protection and the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA).

•     Support gender-focused activities in SCAN projects, such as literacy and numeracy for cooperative members and women in VSLA groups, and flag barriers such as childcare, timing and safety.

Proposal development

•     Take part in developing new proposals and concept notes, and write or review the gender analysis, gender-responsive activities, budget lines and indicators.

•     Check proposals and logframes for sex-disaggregated indicators and for donor gender and protection requirements, and propose changes where needed.

Reporting

•     Prepare reports on gender-specific issues: participation by sex, barriers faced by women and other groups, protection concerns and lessons learned.

•     Give the gender section for project progress and final reports, and share gender findings with project teams and management.

Helpdesk

•     Run the helpdesk by phone, WhatsApp and in person from Hargeisa, and keep the helpdesk hours known in project locations.

•     Log every question and complaint in the referral log: date, project, village, sex of the person, topic, action taken and status.

•     Answer simple questions from approved information, and refer the rest to the responsible SCAN project team or partner (for the insurance pilot: WFP, KMD or Tamini Insurance) within an agreed time.

•     Handle sensitive complaints, including protection and SEA concerns, confidentially and pass them on through the agreed channel the same day.

•     Report helpdesk cases monthly, and share lessons from beneficiary feedback with project teams and donors.

Qualifications

•     University degree in gender studies, social sciences, development studies or a related field.

•     At least five years of experience in gender, protection or community engagement with NGOs or UN programmes, preferably in Somaliland.

•     Experience developing or reviewing proposals from a gender perspective, and writing gender reports.

•     Experience running a complaints or feedback mechanism, and handling sensitive cases confidentially.

•     Excellent Somali and good English, written and spoken. Strong data recording and reporting skills.

•     Preferred: knowledge of VSLAs, cooperatives, livelihoods or insurance. Women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Terms of engagement

Contract.  contract from November 2026 to March 2027, subject to satisfactory performance and continued funding. Remuneration follows SCAN's pay scale, to be confirmed before advertising.

Boundaries of the role. Staff in these posts do not design the insurance product, set premiums, decide who is eligible, or make payout decisions. Those decisions stay with WFP, Tamini Insurance and the index-monitoring partners. Staff refer questions on them and never promise a payout.

Conduct. All staff sign SCAN's code of conduct and safeguarding policy, including the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. They keep personal information about households confidential and report any protection concern at once.

How to apply. Send a CV, a cover letter naming the position and duty station, and the contact details of two referees to the SCAN address given in the advertisement. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed in Hargeisa

Applications must be submitted

 Application procedures:

Applications to be sent to [email protected]

Only short-listed candidates shall be contacted.

This position offers a significant opportunity to make a meaningful impact on water management and conservation in Somaliland.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.