GESI, Safeguarding and NEET Inclusion Lead

Programme Background

• The North Central ESO Aggregator Programme is an initiative that seeks to reach 25,000 beneficiaries across 11 tertiary institutions in Nigeria's North Central region Benue, FCT, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau
• with training in general entrepreneurship skills and the digital and creative sectors specifically. The programme will adopt a training, incubation, and acceleration approach through a network of Entrepreneurship Support Organisations ESOs.
• The programme includes the delivery of beneficiary-facing training tracks Foundational, Developmental, and Specialised and close coordination with participating tertiary institutions across the North Central region.

Role Purpose

• The GESI, Safeguarding and NEET Inclusion Lead holds combined responsibility for two closely related but distinct functions:
  • gender, equity and social inclusion GESI strategy, NEET Not in Education, Employment or Training outreach, and safeguarding monitoring across the beneficiary population
  • Environmental and social safeguards compliance, including e-waste management, at the Centre of Excellence level.
• Both functions report to the Team Lead / Project Manager, are part-time or short-term in nature relative to Key Expert roles, and share a common thread of compliance monitoring, reporting and corrective action tracking making them a natural single hire rather than two separate part-time engagements. This role does not include digital systems, application portal administration, or data security responsibilities, which sit with the Digital Systems / Technical Lead.

Key Responsibilities

• GESI Strategy and Inclusion from GESI, Safeguarding and NEET Inclusion scope
• Lead the programme's gender and inclusion strategy, with direct responsibility for supporting achievement of the minimum 40% female participation target across beneficiary cohorts.
• Design and drive NEET Not in Education, Employment or Training outreach efforts to ensure the programme reaches this priority beneficiary group across all 7 states.
• Lead inclusion efforts for persons with disabilities PWD, ensuring programme activities, venues and materials are accessible.
• Advise on inclusive training design, working with the Training and Capacity Development Lead to ensure curricula and delivery formats are gender-sensitive and accessible.
• Safeguarding Monitoring
• Lead safeguarding monitoring across programme activities, with particular attention to beneficiary interactions at training sites, hubs and institutional events.
• Maintain linkage to grievance and reporting mechanisms, ensuring safeguarding concerns raised at the state or institutional level are captured, escalated and tracked through to resolution.
• Produce disaggregated reporting by gender, NEET status, disability and other relevant categories to support quarterly progress reporting and donor compliance requirements.
• Track corrective actions arising from safeguarding or inclusion monitoring, ensuring follow-through to closure.
• Environmental and Social Safeguards from Environmental, Social Safeguards and E-Waste scope
• Develop Environmental and Social Management Plan ESMP measures appropriate to the programme's activities across all 10 Centres of Excellence.
• Develop and maintain an e-waste management plan covering equipment deployed or replaced as part of CoE setup and operation.
• Design and apply safeguards monitoring tools and site inspection templates for use during CoE setup and ongoing operation.
• Produce environmental reporting inputs for quarterly monitoring cycles, in coordination with the M&E Specialist.
• Maintain linkage between environmental/social safeguards monitoring and the programme's broader grievance mechanism, ensuring issues are routed appropriately regardless of which strand they originate from.

Person Specification
Required:

• Demonstrated experience designing or leading GESI strategies within development programmes, including practical experience driving female participation targets.
• Experience with NEET outreach or engagement of out-of-school / out-of-work youth populations.
• Working knowledge of disability inclusion principles and practical accessibility considerations for training and programme delivery.
• Experience with safeguarding monitoring, including grievance handling or referral processes, ideally within an education or development-programme context.
• Experience developing or implementing Environmental and Social Management Plans ESMPs or equivalent safeguards frameworks.
• Comfort producing disaggregated data and reporting against donor compliance requirements.

Preferred:

• Prior experience on donor-funded programmes with explicit GESI or safeguarding compliance requirements
• Familiarity with e-waste management planning, particularly in contexts involving deployment of computers, electronics or digital training equipment.
• Experience designing site inspection tools or safeguards monitoring instruments.
• Familiarity with Nigeria's tertiary education and youth-employment landscape, particularly across the North Central region.