Job Openings at the North East Regional Initiative (NERI) Nigeria

Job Title: Program Manager

Locations: Abuja, Benue, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau

Position Summary

• The Program Manager (PM) is responsible for the design, implementation and close-out of a portfolio of activities.
• The PM works in close collaboration with Senior Management (including USAID / OTI) and community stakeholders to identify, prioritize and design activities that will respond to community development priorities in order to further the objectives of the NLCB program.
• The PM is responsible with oversight of project activities to ensure that all tasks are completed within timeframe and budget parameters defined during project design.
• The PM is tasked with the programmatic and administrative closeout of all activities, including final reporting, disbursement of funding (in concert with finance staff) and disposition of any project inventory.
• The PM serves as the main point of contact for state-level actors and community stakeholders to ensure that all activities fit within a strategic and coherent portfolio.
• The PM is expected to report daily to and receive guidance from Senior Management.
• The PM is expected to liaise with various levels of stakeholders, including government officials, civil society organizations and community actors; the selected candidate must be able to maintain good relations with all associated parties.
• In addition, the Program Manager is expected to collaborate horizontally with other PMs to share lessons learned and jointly design program strategy.

Reporting & Supervision

• The Program Manager reports to the Deputy Chief of Party – Programs (DCOP-Programs) based in Abuja.
• The  Program Manager should expect direct interactions with the Senior Management Team and with the client, USAID / OTI.
• The Program Manager will supervise one or multiple Program Officers, and collaborate horizontally with other departments including procurement, logistics, security, and monitoring & evaluation to ensure successful activity implementation.

Primary Responsibilities
Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Responsible general oversight of a portfolio of projects. The geography of targeted communities as well as type of programming is expected to change frequently over the course of the program.
• In concert with senior management, advice on programmatic design of new projects, including identification of potential local partners and beneficiaries, monitor implementation to ensure timely completion and adherence to budget and administrative and programmatic closeout throughout the portfolio of activities.
• Take a leadership role in the program’s learning process by feeding information in a timely manner on political and security developments in the PM’s target area.
• Develop activity-level Theory of Change (TOC), thinking strategy about the contribution of each activity to the overall program objective.
• Work alongside Government of Nigeria (GoN) officials, community stakeholders and civil society actors to ensure coherent and strategic programming as part of a unified project endeavor.
• Serve as the focal point of the objectives and purpose.
• In coordination with Program Officers, establish community-level project oversight committees to ensure community buy-in of activities.
• Help set up transparent management and oversight mechanisms and work to incorporate as wide a range of project beneficiaries, GoN and other important stakeholders as possible.
• Responsible for the proper use of the program database for project and program development and management, including updating information on projects and activities per week.
• Comply with all Creative and USAID procedures and policies with regards to ethics and compliance, grants management, HR, finance, operations and security.
• Perform other tasks, as assigned.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• University degree in a related field is required
• At least 5 years of general work experience is required.
• Experience in working with communities to implement grassroots development projects preferred.
• Prior experience (3 years or more) in grants management with international-funded projects is highly desirable.
• Proficiency at using Microsoft office: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook etc. is required.
• Ability to work under short deadlines and efficiently handle multiple tasks.
• Attention to detail and ability to follow up on tasks to completion is required.
• Ability to work autonomously and take initiative to generate valuable findings and communicate them in a timely manner.
• Ability to efficiently create and send reports during critical times or deadlines.
• Prior work experience with USAID or US Government funded projects is desirable.
• Prior work experience with Nigeria security forces is desirable.
• Experience working in a conflict environment is a plus.
• Fluency in languages spoken in Nigeria’s North Central and / or North West regions is preferable.

Job Title: Program Officer

Location: Abuja

Position Summary

• The Program Officer (PO) is responsible for grass-roots development of project concepts and activity submissions.
• The PO will interact with community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), associations and other groups implementing NLCB-funded activities or potential activities.
• The PO will work with groups to develop activity ideas and summaries, refine project concepts during the design phase, assist in the creation and negotiation of budgets, as well as be the primary field oversight for ongoing activities. This position will be based in Abuja, with extensive travel to activity sites in Nigeria’s North Central and North West regions.

Reporting & Supervision:

• The PO reports to the Program Manager.

Primary Responsibilities
Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Liaise with community groups, NGOs, CBOs associations and other community stakeholders to identify potential partners for the project activities.
• Liaise with Nigerian security forces and government officials to gain access to communities, and build acceptance for the program’s activities.
• Identify potential activities at the community level for project support.
• Work with Program Manager (PM), and Abuja-based Program team, develop project ideas identified for support and submit them for approval by senior management and USAID / OTI.
• Work with community organizations to budget and prepare logistics.
• Monitor and report on routine program operational activities and scheduled program events, reporting activity summaries through well-written activity notes to Program Manager.
• Work with staff to ensure project attendance at local events.
• Collect information on program activities, including beneficiary targets.
• Work with Program, M&E and Grants teams to create and maintain project trackers.
• Take photos and videos of activity events to contribute to the program’s communication efforts.
• Support review of final Evaluation Reports and grant closing.
• Attend focus groups to derive lessons learned to inform future project activities.
• Assist in the development of activity ideas based on information collected in the field.
• Facilitate linkages between communities as needed.
• Any other duties suitable to task and commensurate with ability.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• University degree in Political Science, International Affairs or other related Social Sciences field is required.
• Three years of general work experience with at least two years of related experience is required.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills is required.
• Prior experience with international organizations or international-funded projects is highly desirable.
• Problem solving, stress management and time management skills are required.
• Proficient at using Microsoft office software: MS Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, etc.
• Excellent record keeping and documentation skills are required.
• Experience of working in a conflict environment is a plus.
• Written and spoken fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in one or more of the local state languages in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and / or North West region is required.

Job Title: Security & Conflict Analyst

Location: Abuja

Position Summary

• The Security & Conflict Analyst collects, analyzes, and reports on complex information related to the social, political and security context prevailing in program’s area of intervention.
• The Security Analyst will product weekly reports based on open source data collection as well as primary data collected with partners operating at the community, regional and national level.
• The Security & Conflict Analyst must demonstrate superior written and oral communication skills, be highly motivated and capable of rapidly producing relevant analyses.

Reporting & Supervision

• The Security & Conflict Analyst reports to the Deputy Chief of Party – Program and works in close collaboration with all members of the Senior Management Team, as well as Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager and the Security Officer. The position is based in Abuja. Some travels to North West and North Central Nigeria may be required.

Primary Responsibilities
Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Collect and analyze open-source data available in Nigeria media, security sources as well as program activities (activity notes, final evaluation reports, background sections of grant write-ups).
• Communicate daily with the program’s network of partners operating at the community, regional and national level to obtain primary data on security incidents, local context, and reactions by major stakeholders.
• Maintain a database of security incidents and other significant developments related to farmer – herder conflicts, banditry, violent extremist groups, religious freedom and persecution and other issues of interest.
• Produce weekly, as well as ad hoc reports detailing the social, political and security situation in the program’s area of intervention.
• Collaborate with the Nigeria Program Manager (NPM) on the drafting of weekly, semi-annual and ad-hoc reports as it relates to analytical, research pieces.
• Monitor the geographic footprint of the program’s activities to ensure that it stays relevant.
• Participate in weekly implementation meetings to determine priority tasks and provide support as necessary.
• Represent the program in meetings with USAID, Government of Nigeria and other stakeholders.
• In collaboration with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager, develop and supervise the implementation of innovative data collection techniques and tools, including working with external service providers to develop research and learning activities.
• At the request of USAID / OTI and the senior management team, conduct desk reviews or lead field research encompassing large, difficult and diverse problem sets.
• Contribute to cluster-level or program-level evaluations.
• Any other task at the request of the senior management team.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• University degree in Social Sciences, Economics, Journalism, or related field is required.
• Five years of general work experience and three years specific work experience required.
• Superior written and oral communication skills in English.
• Proficiency at using Microsoft office software: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. is required.
• Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis skills and experience are required.
• Attention to detail and ability to follow up on tasks to completion is required.
• Ability to work autonomously and take initiative to generate valuable findings and communicate them in a timely manner.
• Ability to efficiently create and send reports during critical times or deadlines.
• Prior work experience with USAID or US Government-funded projects is desirable.
• Prior work experience with Nigeria security forces is desirable.
• Experience working in a conflict environment is a plus.
• Fluency in one or more of the languages spoken in North West and North Central Nigeria is preferable.