Facilitation Expert at International Alert

Location: National and Selected State Locations (with travel as required)
Duration: Up to 3 months with possibility for 
Contract Type: Consultancy 
Reports to: National Team Lead

Background

As part of the national effort to harmonise and operationalise a comprehensive DDR (Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration) framework in Nigeria, there is a critical need for expert facilitation to ensure meaningful stakeholder engagement, inclusive participation, and knowledge co-creation across national and sub-national levels.

This includes convening government actors, security agencies, community representatives, civil society, victims’ groups, and returnee populations in structured dialogues and strategic working sessions. The Facilitation Experts will enable these platforms to function effectively by applying inclusive, participatory, and context-sensitive facilitation methodologies.

Purpose of the Assignment

To provide expert-level facilitation services for high-level and grassroots events, ensuring outcomes that are participatory, consensus-driven, technically sound, and conducive to advancing the objectives of the national DDR framework.

Key Responsibilities

Facilitation of National and Sub-National Events

• Facilitate multi-stakeholder consultations, roundtables, validation workshops, and technical working groups.
• Support strategic dialogues with traditional leaders, civil society, state authorities, and community actors.
• Moderate national policy-level sessions that feed into DDR strategy development and legal reforms.

Community Engagement and Reintegration Dialogue

• Facilitate community-based reintegration and reconciliation dialogues with returnees, victims, and host communities.
• Guide sessions that identify barriers, solutions, and action points for peaceful reintegration and local peacebuilding.
• Support trauma-informed facilitation practices, ensuring safety and inclusivity of vulnerable groups (e.g. women, youth, survivors).

Training and Knowledge Co-Creation

• Deliver participatory training and learning sessions for enumerators, government officials, security personnel, and civil society actors.
• Use adult learning principles, simulation techniques, role play, and interactive formats to enhance learning outcomes.
• Facilitate consensus-building sessions during DDR design and implementation planning.

Coordination and Pre/Post Event Support

• Work with the project team to co-design facilitation plans, agendas, and workshop methodologies.
• Contribute to pre-event participant preparation and briefing.
• Support documentation of proceedings, synthesis of lessons, and development of post-event outcome reports.

4. Deliverables

Qualifications and Experience

Education

• A degree in Peacebuilding, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Communications, or related field.
• Advanced training or certification in facilitation, participatory learning, or conflict transformation is an added asset.

Experience

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in professional facilitation or dialogue process design.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating DDR, peacebuilding, or community reintegration dialogues in fragile or post-conflict contexts.
• Familiarity with conflict-sensitive, gender-sensitive, and trauma-informed facilitation techniques.

Skills and Competencies

• Excellent communication, neutrality, and audience engagement skills.
• Ability to manage power dynamics and foster trust in high-stakes and emotionally charged sessions.
• Fluency in English required; knowledge of local Nigerian languages (e.g., Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo) is highly desirable.
• Strong documentation and synthesis capabilities.