Local Stakeholder Engagement Expert - Gambia

Aninver Development Partners SL (www.aninver.com) is looking for a Local Stakeholder Engagement Expert - Gambia for a consultancy assignment financed by World Bank in Gambia.

Aninver Development Partners SL is currently preparing a proposal for a World Bank-funded consultancy assignment in the Gambia focused on establishing local and digital interfaces for continuous updates to the Gambia Social Registry (GamSR). The GamSR serves as the country's primary tool for identifying and targeting vulnerable households for social protection programmes. To maintain registry accuracy, this project aims to operationalize a sustainable system combining a permanent local interface and a digital on-demand interface.

To support this initiative, we are seeking a qualified Local Stakeholder Engagement Expert. This specialist will play a pivotal role in validating local hosting arrangements, mapping community and local government roles, and ensuring that stakeholder engagement frameworks effectively address coverage gaps, language needs, and accessibility for remote, marginalized, or vulnerable populations across the country.

Aninver is preparing a proposal for this assignment. The selected expert will be part of the proposed team; the engagement is conditional on the contract being awarded to Aninver. The full Terms of Reference for the position are shared with shortlisted candidates.

Objectives of the assignment

• Validate hosting recommendations through targeted consultations with local government authorities, community development directorates, and relevant line ministries.
• Map the roles of local authorities, traditional leaders, and community development committees in facilitating and verifying household updates.
• Assess coverage gaps in the proposed local interface model, with explicit attention to remote communities, high-density areas, and populations subject to seasonal mobility.
• Evaluate language and literacy contexts to inform staff selection, training, and the design of user-facing materials.
• Contribute to the design of a citizen-facing grievance redress and appeals mechanism.

Scope of work

• Conduct stakeholder consultations to confirm institutional willingness, capacity, and financial sustainability of proposed local hosting models.
• Assess coverage gaps affecting hard-to-reach, internally displaced, or seasonally mobile populations.
• Analyze language and literacy barriers to ensure accessible communication and intuitive user-facing documentation.
• Define institutional roles, accountability structures, and workflows for receiving and logging update requests at the community level.
• Map local governance structures, including regional councils, district chiefs, village development committees, and community focal points.
• Collaborate with the multidisciplinary team to integrate local insights into the broader operationalization of the continuous update system.

Your role as Local Stakeholder Engagement Expert - Gambia

• Lead stakeholder engagement and participatory consultations with decentralized government bodies and community-level actors in the Gambia.
• Validate local interface hosting arrangements and refine institutional responsibility maps based on field findings.
• Assess local capacity gaps and contribute to the development of change management and capacity-building roadmaps.
• Evaluate local language and literacy requirements to guide the adaptation of communication materials and forms.
• Coordinate closely with national and regional stakeholders to ensure local ownership and alignment with social protection frameworks.
• Contribute expert inputs to inception, interim, and final reports regarding stakeholder readiness and community-level workflows.

Requirements

• A university degree in social sciences, public administration, development studies, community development, or a related field.
• Proven professional experience in stakeholder engagement, community mobilization, or decentralized social sector programming, preferably in the Gambia or the West Africa region.
• Demonstrated expertise in conducting institutional mapping, qualitative fieldwork, and consultations with local government and grassroots communities.
• Strong understanding of social protection systems, social registries, or poverty targeting mechanisms is highly advantageous.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and facilitation skills with diverse stakeholder groups.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken), alongside proficiency in relevant local languages spoken in the Gambia.
• National of, or based in, the project country

Desirable

• Prior experience working on World Bank or international donor-funded public sector reform projects.
• Familiarity with local governance structures and community development networks in the Gambia.

A seasoned community engagement and stakeholder coordination specialist with deep familiarity with local governance structures in the Gambia, excellent facilitation skills, and a strong background in social protection or decentralized public service delivery.

Assignment details

• Location: Gambia
• Financed by: World Bank
• Contract: individual consultancy (conditional on award)

About Aninver Development Partners

Aninver is an international development consulting firm headquartered in Spain. It supports governments, development banks, UN agencies and bilateral donors with feasibility studies, technical assistance, evaluations and capacity building across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Asia-Pacific, working with a network of international and national experts.

Why apply

• Join a multidisciplinary team on a World Bank-financed project in Gambia.
• Individual consultancy: flexible, output-based engagement with an experienced proposal team.
• Your CV stays in Aninver's expert network for future assignments that match your profile.

How to apply

Sign in (or create a free account) and upload your CV in English. Add your LinkedIn profile, indicative daily rate and availability to speed up the assessment. Aninver will contact the shortlisted candidates.

Frequently asked questions

Is the position confirmed? The engagement depends on the contract being awarded to Aninver. Shortlisted experts are included in the proposal with their consent.

Can I apply if I am not based in the country? This position requires a national of, or a professional based in, the project country.

What happens with my CV? It is used to assess your fit for this and future positions and is not shared with third parties without your consent.