Senior Military Advisor at Center for Civilians in Conflict’s Mission

Travel: Up to 35% required
Reporting to: Country Director, Nigeria

About The Position

• The Senior Military Advisor will be a highly valued member of the CIVIC’s Nigeria Team and Field Leadership Team
• The postholder will be responsible for the design and delivery of high-quality training to the Nigerian Armed Forces, engaging and managing relationships with the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Job Purpose

• Implement security force training in support of CIVIC’s programs
• Working with the Country Director, Sr. Advisor Training, and the rest of the in-country team, Senior Military Advisor (US-based), Senior Protection Advisor (US-Based), and the Africa Program Director, the SMA will provide military-specific strategic guidance and management of CIVIC’s Nigeria program portfolio throughout program implementation.

Duties include:

• Support CIVIC’s projects to strengthen civilian protection policy, practice, and training of the Nigerian government and military.
• Cultivate strong working relationships with senior government, military, and civil society leaders.
• Lead the design and delivery, in close coordination with Sr. Advisor Training, Senior Military Advisor (US-based) and Senior Protection Advisor (US-based) on protection of civilians and civilian harm mitigation training for Nigerian Armed Forces at the strategic, operational and tactical levels, including national-level training schools and professional military education institutions.
• Assist the Nigerian Armed forces with development of context specific training sessions and SOPs in line with protection of civilians.
• Advise the Nigerian Armed Forces on the implementation and practices and process to improve civilian harm mitigation.
• Promote the representation, training, and advocacy on civilian protection and harm mitigation.
• Assess training efforts to identify best practices and provide recommendations to diverse stakeholders in order to improve civilian protections.
• Lead the development and implementation of the training program strategy by consulting with staff, partners, and other interested parties.
• Conduct monitoring and reporting of activities in support of project reporting requirements.
• Contribute to, or write op-eds, blogs, and articles highlighting issues important to CIVIC when possible. With the permission of the Country Director, speak with media about our work in the region.
• Research and draft publications (such as reports and briefing papers) and advocacy materials discussing CIVIC’s work.
• Work with the Country Director and broader team to develop medium-term strategy, advance program objectives, deliver ambitious work-plan, and identify new opportunities.
• Work with the Country Director to identify possible funding opportunities for program work and perform other duties as required to further the CIVIC’s mission and goals
• Build Strategic relationships and partnerships with key foreign missions’ Military Attaches such as EU, US, UK, Germany, Russia, and France.
• Engage, and as appropriate coordinate with military advisors such as ECOWAS, BMATT, the EU among others on current security issues within the sub regions.
• Work with the monitoring, evaluation and learning team to track on the effectiveness of trainings delivered from time to time.
• Dependent on experience, support the design and deployment of support to the East Africa and Sahel programs based in Nairobi and Mali respectively.

Qualifications & Skills Sets of Candidate
Applicants must have the following qualifications and experience:

• Past Military Experience at Strategic Level of the Nigerian Armed Forces (equivalent of a Brig. General or at least Lt. Col in the Army or in other services).
• Graduate of Senior Professional Military Education (Nigerian or Foreign Equivalent of National Defence College or Service War College, such as Army War College Nigeria).
• Current operational experience in internal security operations (ISO) inside Nigeria (defined as serving in ISO within the last 4 years, experience in the Northeast preferred); experience serving in a peacekeeping operation preferred.
• Experience training Nigerian Armed Forces or other armed forces required; experience training on protection of civilians or International Humanitarian Law or serving as Directing Staff at a military institution is strongly desirable, Flexibility, cultural awareness and sensitivity.
• Computer literacy including proficiency in Excel, Word, Power Point, etc.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Ability to write high-quality narrative and qualitative reports.
• Demonstrated experience networking with donors, government officials and the private sector.
• Strong personal network in the Nigerian Armed Forces,
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and the ability to develop collaborative relationships, especially in a multi-component project.
• Superior analytic, communication and interpersonal skills, including training and facilitation skills and demonstrated experience working with multicultural teams.
• High level of integrity in dealing with co-workers and with programs.
• Service as Brigade Commander/Chief of Staff or on Theater/Division level staff in ISO, (preferably in operations or intelligence) is strongly desirable.
• Familiarity with Operational Design is desirable.
• Prior experience working at a non-profit desirable.