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. 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.

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.

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.
• Capacity Strengthening and Organisational Learning: Develop and deliver GEDSI orientation and training for WWF-Laos staff, including new staff induction and periodic refresher sessions.
• 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.
• 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.

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.
• Experience designing and delivering training, facilitation, or capacity-strengthening activities on gender and/or inclusion to diverse audiences.
• 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).
• Strong understanding of the social, cultural, and institutional context for gender equality and social inclusion in Laos.
• Fluent written and spoken Lao; very strong working proficiency in English for reporting and coordination with regional/global partners.