Gender Equity Specialist

We are searching for an experienced Gender Equity Specialist at our Apia facility. 

Primary Duties and Responsibilities: 

Duration: Full Time FXTE until 15 November 2025 (with possibility of a 2-year extension to November 2027)
Location: Apia, Samoa
Application deadline: 31 August 2025

About Palladium
Palladium is a global leader in the design, development, and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social, climate and economic value.  We work with governments, businesses, and investors to help solve the world's most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 4,000 employees operating in 90-plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies, the environment, and, most importantly, people's lives.The Samoa Tautua – Human Development for All Program assists in the delivery of Australia’s human development commitments in support of Samoa’

The Programs development priorities. The program is supporting the human development foundations required for Samoa’s health security, economic recovery, and continued stability thereafter. Tautua prioritises five interconnected pillars of human development: Education, Health, Gender Equality, Disability and Social Protection. Guided by the Government of Samoa, Tautua is creating transformative change in human development by addressing complex development needs though multi-sectoral, innovative approaches that identify and focus on the underlying issues. Simultaneously, Tautua intends to be able to respond to emergency, short-term needs, build capacity and through research, monitoring and evaluation apply lessons learned and evidence-based decision making to continuously improve delivery. The goal for Tautua is 'improved health, education, gender equality and social outcomes, and social harmony for all Samoans'.

The Role
The Gender Equity Specialist will be engaged by Palladium to support the Tautua Program and its government and civil society partners by providing advice, capacity building and guidance on all aspects of current best practice relating to addressing gender inequality. The Tautua Program uses a twin-track approach to achieving change with respect to gender inequality: mainstreaming and targeted initiatives. Tautua requires support to ensure gender equality operational and programmatic mainstreaming remains a key consideration and to ensure that targeted gender equality activities are a significant part of the program under all four critical social issues (CSI), not just the two CSIs in the Community Development Sector. An intersectional lens is expected to be applied across all CSIs, consistent with international best practice.

Key responsibilities include:

Collaborate with the Disability Inclusion Specialist to develop and update the GEDSI Strategy, Implementation Plan, and analysis tools for use across the program and partners.
Implement gender equality activities aligned with the GEDSI Strategy and Annual Work Plan, including advocacy and empowerment efforts with ministries and CSOs.
Design and support gender mainstreaming strategies, action plans, and M&E frameworks to track progress and impact.
Offer expert guidance on integrating gender and intersectional perspectives into program design, planning, risk mitigation, and proposal development.
Design and facilitate training on gender equality and intersectionality for Tautua staff and partner organisations.
Assist partners in identifying and addressing barriers to inclusion for underrepresented and marginalised genders.
Identify new gender equality champions, provide technical advice to implementing partners, and support other gender-related tasks as needed.

*For full Terms of Reference visit: https://www.tautuapartnership.ws/vacancies 

About you
We are seeking an individual  with a strong understanding of program implementation across all stages of the project life cycle—from design and delivery to monitoring and evaluation. You will bring proven experience in advancing gender equality through complex development programs and in fostering collaboration with diverse stakeholders to drive inclusive, community-led change. Experience working in the Pacific Islands region is highly desirable, along with a demonstrated commitment to culturally responsive and locally grounded gender and social inclusion approaches.

Additional key requirements include:

Exceptional organisational and planning skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure while maintaining attention to detail.
Strategic and critical thinking capabilities, supported by a history of analytical work in program or project management environments.
Proven experience leading diverse teams, with a focus on fostering positive team culture and delivering results through collaboration and trust.
Strong skills in project planning, reporting and monitoring and evaluation, with a clear understanding of the project management lifecycle in donor-funded programs.
In-depth knowledge of Samoa’s government systems, civil societies, sectoral landscape and human development policy environment, with the cultural competence to navigate formal and informal protocols respectfully.
Experience working with DFAT or other major development partners in Samoa and/or the Pacific is highly desirable.

How to Apply
We welcome your interest in gender and social inclusion approaches for Tautua in this key role. Please apply via the online job advertisement by clicking on the “apply” button. Your application must include:

A written response addressing the selection criteria outlined in the TOR; and
An updated CV.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.
Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.