Gender & Protection Programme Manager

Oxfam is a global movement of people working together to end the injustice of poverty.

That means we tackle the inequality that keeps people poor. Together we save, protect and rebuild lives. When disaster strikes, we help people build better lives for themselves, and for others. We take on issues like saving lives, governance and peace building, education, land rights and discrimination against women. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can enjoy life free from poverty.

We are an international confederation of 19 organizations (affiliates) working together with partners and local communities in the areas of humanitarian, development and campaigning, in more than 90 countries.

All our work is led by three core values: Empowerment, Accountability, Inclusiveness. To read more about our values please click here

Job Purpose To manage Oxfam’s programme in a specific area of South Sudan.

Position: Gender & Protection Programme Manager

Location: Juba

Grade & Level: C Zone 1 Global

Contract Type: Fixed Term (06 Months with possibility of extension subject to Funding)

Number of post reporting:

Key Areas of Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Due to the extremely fluid context in South Sudan, the responsibilities and working locations for this role are subject to change based on evolving needs. The post-holder must, therefore, maintain flexibility and be prepared to travel widely across South Sudan, as security and access permit.

1. Technical Programme Quality & Design

• Provide Specialist Advice & Technical Support: Serve as the technical expert on Gender Justice and Protection for all Oxfam’s humanitarian and development programming in South Sudan, ensuring adherence to international standards (e.g., IASC Guidelines, Core Humanitarian Standards).
• Lead Protection Analysis: Conduct and oversee ongoing strategic gender/protection analysis and context monitoring based on internal and external data, using the lessons learned to inform Programme development, implementation, and policy.
• Drive Safe Programming: Lead the institutionalization, implementation, and monitoring of safe programming standards across all sectors (e.g., WASH, EFSVL), working with SMT and technical leads to ensure Oxfam’s work does not expose beneficiaries to further harm or risk.
• Programme Development and Coherence: Identify opportunities to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate specific gender and protection activities or projects, ensuring coherence and effective linking with Oxfam’s Strategic Goals.
• MEAL Integration: Work with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) team to develop, pilot, and roll out effective gender- and protection-sensitive monitoring tools and indicators and to gather lessons relating to these areas.
• Field Staff Coordination: Provide management, coordination and direct technical guidance to field-based gender and protection staff, including support for technical visits, proposal writing, and report writing processes.

2. Strategy and Resource Mobilization

• Strategy Leadership and Review: Lead the development, periodic review, and operationalization of the country’s Gender Strategy, Gender Action Plan, and Protection Strategy, ensuring alignment with the Oxfam Country Strategy (OCS), current funding pipeline, and Oxfam’s Global Strategies and feminist principles.
• Lead and advocate for resource mobilization for Gender Justice and Protection by providing high-quality technical inputs for all new programme design, including theories of change, proposals, and budgets.
• Coordinate gender justice and protection initiatives within the country and participating in regional discussions contributing to multi-country gender justice and protection iscussions and identifying opportunities for knowledge exchange and learning.
• Actively contribute technical input to Oxfam’s response strategy and wider OCS development processes.
• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with government ministries, technical departments, and local authorities. Lead the development of MoUs and collaborative agreements that support program quality, coordination, and scale-up.

3. Capacity Building, Coordination, and Advocacy

• strengthening internal and external capacity and influencing policy change.
• Lead and implement capacity building initiatives on gender and protection for Oxfam staff and partners, including designing and delivering tailored training, on-the-job accompaniment, coaching, and mentoring.
• Actively represent Oxfam externally by developing alliances with agencies working in gender and protection (including local women’s rights organizations) and ensuring active participation in relevant coordination mechanisms (e.g., Protection Cluster, GBV Sub-Cluster etc).
• Support advocacy and campaigning on gender and protection issues by generating evidence-based policy and advocacy products that highlight concerns and promote women’s leadership and access to justice.
• Champion Oxfam’s feminist principles, values, and safeguarding policies to ensure a respectful and inclusive working environment. Participate in Oxfam’s internal Peer Groups and contribute to Oxfam’s global strategic thinking on gender justice and protection.
• Other responsibilities as required.

1. Management Responsibilities

• Provide direct management of Gender and Protection projects and overall oversight of the Gender and Protection programme portfolio to ensure coherence, quality, and effective delivery across humanitarian and development interventions
• Lead by Example and Demonstrate Oxfam’s values and management style by empowering and developing Gender and protection staff, promoting inclusive decision-making, and maintaining accountability to the team, partners, and communities we serve.
• Regularly review and adapt the Gender and Protection team structure to evolving programme needs, ensuring clear roles, succession planning, and effective use of technical capacities. In line with Oxfam’s performance management procedures, provide management to Gender and Protection Team, ensuring effective performance management systems are in place and actively are used.
• Foster a strong team spirit and shared vision. Ensure team members are engaged in discussions about the Oxfam country strategy, project implementation strategies, and detailed implementation plans—and that these are well understood and executed.

Required Technical Skills, Experience & Knowledge

SKILLS AND COMPETENCE:

Essential

• A minimum of 5 years involvement in humanitarian gender and protection response work, preferably in field-based gender and protection work in conflict or insecure environments.
• Masters’ qualification in social work, development studies, law, international relations, or other relevant area; or equivalent experience
• Strong conceptual and practical understanding of gender and protection issues and approaches in humanitarian contexts, including the constraints, sensitivities and risks associated with such work
• Strong understanding of gender and protection standards, key sectoral issues and processes including advocacy
• Proven analytical and conceptual thinking, high level research, project management knowledge and skills and experience using participatory tools and methodologies for assessment, programme identification, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Understanding of the relevant Cluster and other coordination mechanisms and the roles and mandates of key gender and protection actors.
• Strong conceptual and practical understanding of gender mainstreaming in emergencies, gender justice, and protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and relationship to protection
• Proven experience in the provision of technical advice and support to field programs, and skills in staff and partner development, mentoring, and training
• Demonstrable understanding of the gender dynamics of humanitarian work and ability to implement activities with an emphasis on the gendered aspects of conflict, violence, and abuse

Desirable

• Excellent personal management and communication skills, in written and verbal English, with high impact influencing and persuasive skills and able to use different approaches to achieve followership.
• Behavioural competencies (based on Oxfam’s Leadership Model)
• Excellent influencing, negotiation, and networking skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including high-level interpersonal, influencing, negotiation and representational capabilities. Fluency in written and spoken English essential
• Able to live and work in remote, insecure, and logistically challenging operations and in a multi-cultural environment, with a high level of self-reliance, adaptability and initiative
• Ability to advise and get support remotely.
• Initiative, drive to achieve results, working with others, organisational awareness, respect for others and self-awareness.

Knowledge of and experience in the South Sudan context

How to apply

NB: Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Only short-listed candidate will be contacted.

Deadline for submission of applications is 23 November 2025. Interested Applicants should send soft copies of their CVs and Cover letters and copies of academic certificates responding to the Required Technical Skills, Experience & Knowledge to our External Oxfam Link on https://jobs.oxfam.org.uk/jobs/vacancy/gender–protection-programme-manager-int11317/24141/description/ And to our Internal Oxfam Link on https://jobs.oxfam.org.uk/internal/vacancy/gender–protection-programme-manager-int11317/24141/description/

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and beneficiaries with whom Oxfam GB engages. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

Oxfam is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those that are suitable to work within our values are recruited to work for us. This post is subject to a range of screening checks.