GEDSI Technical Adviser at WWF… · Vientiane

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GEDSI Technical Adviser, WWF-Laos

Position title: GEDSI Technical Adviser, WWF-Laos
Location: Vientiane Capital – with field travel as required

Background:
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has had a presence in Laos since the late 1980s, when it contributed to some of the first biodiversity surveys that established Laos’ protected area system. The office in Laos was officially established in 2001. Today, our main office for WWF-Laos is in Vientiane Capital, with field offices in multiple provinces.

WWF-Laos works with government, civil society, the private sector and other partners to address the drivers of biodiversity loss and to move towards a greener nature-based future where the people of Laos can thrive and live in harmony with nature.
Our vision is “a vibrant and sustainable future for Laos, shaped by inclusive conservation that protects biodiversity, ensures equitable benefits, and nurtures harmony between people and the environment”. Conservation is WWF’s core work, and our programmes in Laos are implemented under four broad thematic areas: Forests, Wildlife, Freshwater and Circular Resilience. As outlined in WWF-Laos’ 2026-2030 strategic plan, we focus our conservation efforts in three main landscapes, eight priority sites and three cities.

Conservation is most effective and durable when it is equitable, inclusive, and community-driven. WWF recognises that the impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change are not experienced equally – and that women, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups are disproportionately affected; and, despite having valuable knowledge and skills in sustainability and community conservation, are often least heard in conservation decision-making. The systematic integration of Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) principles across WWF-Laos' programmes, partnerships, and operations is therefore not a parallel track to conservation – it is central to achieving lasting conservation outcomes.

As GEDSI Technical Adviser, this role will drive WWF-Laos to strengthen inclusive conservation approaches across its landscapes and priority/project sites. The GEDSI Technical Adviser plays a critical internal coordination and technical support role in this effort, ensuring that GEDSI is embedded across the organisation's planning, implementation, monitoring, and learning processes.

Major Functions:
The GEDSI Technical Adviser serves as WWF-Laos' primary internal reference point for gender equality, disability, and social inclusion – delivering technical support, coordination, and capacity strengthening across the organization, to ensure that GEDSI principles are meaningfully integrated across all programmes, landscapes, and operational functions. The role reports directly to the Environmental Governance Manager, with dotted line reporting to WWF Asia-Pacific's Senior Advisor for Gender and Inclusive Conservation (based in Laos) and works closely with all Conservation programme teams and Operation teams (e.g. Finance, Administration and Procurement) to support WWF-Laos deliver conservation outcomes that are inclusive, equitable, and rights-based.
This is a full-time role designed to embed GEDSI as a cross-cutting function within the organisation, rather than as a standalone programme, and serves as WWF-Laos' focal point for GEDSI-related coordination, learning, and technical engagement across national, regional, and global initiatives.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:
GEDSI Mainstreaming and Technical Support
• Lead consultations in/with local communities, and support programme and site teams to integrate GEDSI considerations into project design, workplans, budgets, and implementation, ensuring these are contextually relevant to Laos’ diverse ethnic groups.
• Provide technical advice and practical tools to help staff apply GEDSI analysis to conservation planning, community engagement, and stakeholder processes, including through the development of accessible guidance notes and checklists.
• Review project documents, proposals, and reports from a GEDSI perspective and provide constructive feedback and recommendations to authors.
• Support the integration of GEDSI-responsive indicators into monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) frameworks across WWF-Laos' programmes.
• Advise on the design and facilitation of participatory processes – including community consultations, Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and grievance redress mechanisms (GRMs) – to ensure they are inclusive and accessible and culturally appropriate.

Capacity Strengthening and Organisational Learning
• Develop and deliver GEDSI orientation and training for WWF-Laos staff, including new staff induction and periodic refresher sessions, tailored to different roles and levels of prior GEDSI knowledge.
• Enhance the capacity of programme and site teams to independently apply GEDSI approaches in their day-to-day work, through coaching, mentoring, and peer learning – with a focus on building lasting in-house expertise rather than dependency on external advisory support.
• Identify and share relevant GEDSI resources, guidance notes, case studies, and good practices from WWF's global and regional networks and from peer organisations, adapting materials to the Laos context where needed.
• Facilitate internal reflection and learning on GEDSI progress, challenges, and lessons across the organisation.

Strategy, Planning, and Coordination
• Lead the development and periodic review of WWF-Laos' GEDSI Action Plan, in alignment with the Mekong Regional GEDSI Programme (MGRP) and WWF-Laos’ 2026-2030 strategic plan.
• Serve as WWF-Laos' focal point for GEDSI-related coordination with relevant WWF regional and global programmes, initiatives and technical networks, ensuring the country office actively contributes to and benefits from shared learning, technical exchange, reporting and collaborative opportunities.
• Lead and coordinate GEDSI-related inputs to organisational planning, including annual work planning, budgeting, strategic reviews, and donor reporting processes, ensuring GEDSI is reflected as a cross-cutting organisational priority.
• Periodically review and communicate how WWF-Laos' GEDSI work contributes to broader global frameworks such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Coordinate and contribute to organisational, national, regional, and global GEDSI initiatives, communities of practice, learning platforms, and technical working groups, ensuring WWF-Laos both contributes to and benefits from emerging good practice and lessons learned.
• Develop and maintain constructive working relationships with relevant WWF regional and global technical networks, providing timely inputs to reporting, planning, knowledge management, and learning processes as required.

Partnerships, Stakeholder Engagement, and Communications
• Support programme teams to foster new, and maintain, partnerships with women-led organisations, disability-focused groups, ethnic community organisations, and other civil society actors working on inclusion in Laos, with a view to strengthening locally-led GEDSI action.
• Contribute GEDSI perspectives to policy briefs, donor communications, and advocacy materials produced by WWF-Laos, ensuring messaging is evidence-based and grounded in field realities.
• Represent WWF-Laos in relevant GEDSI-related forums, networks, communities of practice, and technical working groups at national, regional, and international levels, and communicate key developments and learning to internal teams.
• Support the documentation, communication, and dissemination of inclusive conservation stories, case studies, technical briefs, learning products, and knowledge management materials that promote good practice and lessons learned.
• Participate in peer learning exchanges, technical workshops, and regional learning events to strengthen WWF-Laos' GEDSI practice and share experiences from Laos with wider WWF and partner networks.

Required Qualifications :
• Bachelor's degree in gender studies, social sciences, community development, international development or a related field. A postgraduate qualification in a relevant discipline is considered an advantage.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience working on GEDSI mainstreaming, gender analysis or social inclusion programming, ideally within an NGO, conservation, or development organisation operating in Laos.

Required Experience, Skills and Competencies:
• Practical experience applying GEDSI frameworks and tools in programme design, implementation, or monitoring – including in community or field settings with demonstrated ability to translate technical GEDSI concepts into accessible, actionable guidance for non-specialist staff.
• Experience designing and delivering training, facilitation, or capacity-strengthening activities on gender and/or inclusion to diverse audiences, including field-based and operations staff.
• Familiarity with inclusive approaches to community engagement, participatory methods, and safeguards frameworks (e.g. FPIC, environmental and social safeguards/ESS, statements of principles/SOP and grievance mechanisms) and their practical application in conservation or development contexts.
• Strong understanding of the social, cultural, and institutional context for gender equality and social inclusion in Laos, including knowledge of ethnic diversity, land and resource rights, and women’s roles in natural resource management.
• Ability to work collaboratively and influence without direct authority – supporting colleagues across diverse teams and functions and fostering a culture of inclusion within the organization.
• Fluent written and spoken Lao; very strong working proficiency in English for reporting and coordination with regional/global partners.
• Proven ability to work with a high degree of autonomy, taking initiative while adhering to organisational policies and regulations.
• Commitment to ongoing professional learning and development and to applying a rights-based and intersectional approach to GEDSI work.
• Experience working in or alongside conservation, natural resource management, or environmental governance programmes is an advantage, particularly in community-based or landscape-level settings in Laos.
• Previous experience working with donor agencies applying GEDSI standards and commitments, such as DFAT, USAID, GEF, etc, including familiarity with GEDSI reporting requirements.
• Experience with GEDSI data collection and analysis.

Working Relationships:
• Internal – Interacts on a regular basis with members of the Stakeholder Engagement Division and Conservation Division (Site/Project/Programme Managers, Senior Programmes Manager for Biodiversity, Senior Programmes Manager for Eco-Restoration, Conservation Director), Country Director, Technical Advisers, and all WWF-Laos staff. The role also maintains frequent and structured engagement with the Senior Adviser for Gender and Inclusive Conservation, WWF Asia-Pacific, together with relevant WWF regional and global programme teams, technical advisers, and communities of practice for technical guidance, coordination, learning, and knowledge exchange.
• External – Interacts with relevant government entities, civil society organisations, women-led groups, disability-focused organisations and United Nations agencies; and participates in relevant donor and partner forums on inclusive conservation and gender equality in Lao PDR, contributing to national and regional dialogue on GEDSI in conservation and natural resource management.

WWF’s Values & Behaviours:
• Adheres to WWF’s values: Courage, Respect, Collaboration and Integrity.
• Demonstrates WWF core values in action when working:
◦ We demonstrate courage through our actions, we work for change where it’s needed, and we inspire people and institutions to tackle the greatest threats to nature and the future of the planet, which is our home.
◦ We live the principles we call on others to meet. We act with integrity, accountability and transparency, and we rely on facts and science to guide us and to ensure that we learn and evolve.
◦ We honour the voices and knowledge of people and communities that we serve, and we work to secure their rights to a sustainable future.
◦ We deliver impact at the scale of the challenges we face through the power of collective action and innovation.

WWF-Laos can offer you:
Contract duration: 1 year initial with possible extension with industry leading benefit and salary package and ample opportunity for professional development. For more information on our work in Laos, please visit: http://www.wwf.org.la.

How to Apply:
Please find more information and complete the application form by clicking this link:

Note: Please indicate your gross salary expectation (including tax) in cover letter and/or CV

Deadline for applications: 24 September 2026. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

WWF does not charge or accept a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.

WWF provides equal employment opportunities and affirmative action for all qualified individuals regardless of race, colour, gender, national origin, disability, inclusive, or veteran status and promotes affirmative action to assure equal employment opportunities. Please indicate if you require accommodation for the application or interview process to jobs.laos@wwf.org.la