Location:Washington D.C.

The IDB Group is a community of diverse, versatile, and passionate people who come together on a journey to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our people find purpose and do what they love in an inclusive, collaborative, agile, and rewarding environment.

About this position

IDB and World Economic Forum (WEF) partnered in 2016 to promote Gender Parity Initiatives (IPGs for their acronym in Spanish) in the region, under a public-private collaboration model, which seeks to: (i) increase women’s labor force participation; (ii) close the gender pay gap; and (iii) promote the participation of women in leadership positions in both the public and private sectors. In 2019, the French Development Agency (AFD) joined this effort.

The IPGs develop and implement action plans with concrete measures to reduce the barriers that prevent women and men from having equal access to employment opportunities. They are conceived as a three-year project after which actions are implemented for its sustainability. The added value of the IPGs comes from identifying collectively the most important barriers to women’s economic empowerment and the design of public policies and business practices that generate more and better economic opportunities for women. Nine IPGs have been developed in the LAC region: Chile, Argentina, Panama, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, and Mexico.

The IPGs have given visibility and promoted public policy changes such as the extension of the childcare program from 16 to 19 hours in Chile; the adhesion of 180 companies to the IPG in Chile, of which two-thirds have already analyzed their gaps and one-third have action plans to close the gender gap; the creation of the National Council for Gender Parity in Panama with the adoption of the IPG action plan as its mandate; the regulation of Law 4 on Equal Opportunities in Panama, which established the framework to reduce wage gaps between women and men, and Law 56, which establishes the participation of women on the boards of directors of state-owned and mixed capital companies; and finally the creation of a gender certification by the Ministry of Production and Labor of Argentina for private sector companies and government entities, among other examples.

Among the main lessons learned from the successful implementation of the IPGs in the region are: (i) It is important to achieve the commitment and support of the high authorities and recognized leaders to give visibility and promote the IPG through the creation of a Leadership Group; (ii) effective coordination between the private and public sector must be achieved through a governance structure within the IPG, including a Technical Secretariat; (iii) it is necessary to ensure that all stakeholders are aligned around the same strategic priorities through an action plan for the implementation of the IPG with concrete and measurable targets as early as possible in the process and; (iv) it becomes important to give visibility to the IPG’s actions through a communications plan aimed at building a broad network of IPG members at the country level and encouraging each member to work collectively to close the most prevalent economic gender gaps.

We are looking for a professional, proactive, leader, and manager with excellent oral and written communication skills in both Spanish and English to coordinate Gender Parity Initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. As Regional Coordinator, you will be responsible for providing strategic and technical work to support the development and implementation of Gender Parity Initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean.

You will work in the Gender and Diversity Division (GDI) part of the Social Sector (SCL). The team mission is to promote: (a) gender equality and empowerment, (b) development with identity of indigenous peoples, and (c) the inclusion of African descendants, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals. It supports Bank operations, provides policy and strategic guidance, and carries out technical assistance and training.

What you’ll do

The selected candidate will perform the following activities:

1. Technical support for the design, implementation, and monitoring of IPGs’ Action Plans.

– Lead meetings with public sector counterparts and private sector entities in different countries.

– Participate in the design of action plans for the IPGs of Honduras, Mexico, and other countries with potential interest in this model.

– Coordinate the work of the national technical teams of the IPGs, the meetings of Technical Groups, Leadership Groups, Strategic Allies Groups, and IPG Announcement and Launching events in the countries.

– Oversee and support the implementation of existing IPG action plans taking into consideration changes in the country’s socio-economic contexts such as government transitions.

– Coordinate the design and oversee the implementation of pilot interventions derived from IPG action plans to close economic gender gaps.

– Lead weekly meetings in each of the countries and report progress and action items and support requirements to each country from the regional coordination.

– Prepare progress and results reports for IDB partners in the IPGs, such as the French Development Agency (AFD) and the World Economic Forum (WEF), and participate in meetings with their representatives.

– Oversee the creation and updating of a repository of all information and documents produced by the IPGs at the national level.

2. Knowledge generation, dissemination of IPGs Methodology at the regional level, and management of resources.

– Design and implement a Regional IPGs Coordination strategy.

– Support the dissemination of good practices of the IPGs and promote the exchange of knowledge on the regional IPG methodology through the coordination of events and workshops for the exchange of good IPG practices.

– Coordinate the updating of statistical information and the generation of technical notes and toolkits on actions to accelerate the closing of economic gender gaps.

– Coordinate the design and implementation of a communication strategy and tools, in direct relation with the IDB Communication team.

– Maintain an updated database of companies that adhered to the IPG according to the records provided by the different countries where the IPG is implemented, including their corresponding actions and activities, which are part of the IPG.

– Design and coordinate the workshops and events of the Regional Network of the IPGs.

– Coordinate the systematization of the model and experience of the IPGs.

– Coordinate the work of the IPGs within the IDB Group, including but not limited to colleagues in the social sector, country representations, the IDB Invest Gender and Diversity team, the communications and knowledge team, and the institutional relations team.

– Prepare annual project reports, including key indicators and lessons learned, including financial and results reports for donors.

– Coordinate the administrative management of the regional technical partnerships that fund the IPGs and follow up on the hiring and reporting of individuals or consulting firms contracted under the IPGs.

– Respond to internal requests for information within the Bank’s gender and diversity division.

– Coordinate and support collaboration/articulation with other development and UN system agencies to identify and implement policies and programs that contribute to the reduction of economic gender gaps.