Social Cohesion Officer at INTERSOS

Key responsibilities
Conflict and context analysis:

• Carry out a conflict and do-no-harm analysis at each facility site. Identify the groups involved, what divides and what connects them, past tensions, power dynamics and risks linked to the facility.
• Map stakeholders for each facility: landowning families, traditional leaders, host community members, returnees, IDPs, women and youth groups, and government offices. Note each group's interests and expectations.
• Update the analysis every quarter. Advise the Project Manager on conflict risks before key decisions on land, membership, plot allocation or benefits.

Ownership and land tenure process:

• Lead the ownership and tenure audit. Collect and review Phase 1 MoUs, land donation letters, Certificates or Rights of Occupancy, community resolutions and site records.
• Facilitate consultations with landowning families, first separately and then jointly with government and communities, using free, prior and informed consent principles.
• Support negotiation of the land-use instrument for each site (long-term lease, conditional donation or regularisation through the Ministry of Lands) and of the landowner recognition and benefit package.
• Draft the Tripartite Facility Management Agreements with the legal adviser. Coordinate their signing by the lead MDA or LGA, the cooperative and the landowning family or traditional institution.
• Organise public validation meetings where each agreement is explained in local languages and a summary is displayed at the facility.

Governance structures:

• Facilitate transparent selection of members and supervised elections of the Facility Management Committees, with protected seats for a Women's Lead, a Youth Lead and a landowner representative.
• Support each group to draft its constitution and bye-laws, including term limits, removal procedures, conflict-of-interest rules and a code of conduct.
• Set up and support the LGA Facility Oversight Committees in MMC, Jere and Mafa.
• Provide technical support to the secretariat of the State Asset Oversight Committee.
• Train committees in leadership, transparent decision-making, inclusive participation and accountability to members.
• Put the safeguards against elite capture in place: public display of membership lists and plot allocations, quarterly social audits, and General Assembly meetings.

Social cohesion and peacebuilding:

• Facilitate community dialogues between landowners, host communities, IDPs and returnees, women and youth, and government officials, to agree a shared vision for each facility.
• Lead the development and signing of a Government–Community Compact in each LGA, setting out what government and communities each commit to.
• Organise landowner recognition events at commissioning, together with traditional and government leaders.
• Coordinate quarterly joint monitoring visits and the twice-yearly community open days.
• Set up, train and mentor Peace and Grievance Committees in mediation and dispute resolution.
• Make sure they include traditional, religious, women, youth, landowner and IDP/returnee representatives.
• Mediate disputes over land, access, water allocation, membership and benefits directly.
• Escalate unresolved cases through the agreed path: facility committee, then traditional leader and LGA mediation, then the Facility Oversight Committee.

Early warning and accountability:

• Maintain a log of tensions, disputes and how they were resolved. Report it every two months to the LGA Oversight Committees and monthly to the Project Manager.
• Make sure grievances are linked to the Feedback and Complaints Response Mechanism (FCRM). Refer protection concerns to the Protection focal point.
• Help design and analyse the social cohesion perception survey (baseline and endline) with the MEAL Officer.

Supervision of community mobilisers:

• Plan and supervise the community and committee work of the three community mobilisers.
• Train them in facilitation, mediation basics, conflict sensitivity and safe referral.
• Review their reports, and check the quality and inclusiveness of meetings they organise.

Handover readiness:

• Assess the ownership, governance, inclusion and cohesion criteria of the handover readiness scorecard for each facility.
• Document lessons learned on ownership resolution and social cohesion for WFP and partners.
• Cross-cutting duties
• Stay impartial and be seen to be impartial. Never take sides in disputes or make commitments on behalf of government or landowners.
• Make sure at least 40% of members of every governance structure are women and youth, and that persons with disabilities, returnees and IDPs take part meaningfully.
• Follow PSEA, safeguarding, confidentiality and security procedures.
• Carry out any other reasonable duties related to the project, as assigned by the Project

Qualifications, experience and competencies
Education:

• Essential: a university degree (B.Sc or HND) in Peace and Conflict Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Law, Public Administration, Development Studies or a related social science.
• Desirable: a Master's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, Development or Law.

Experience:
Essential:

• At least 4 years of experience in social cohesion, peace building, community governance or conflict-sensitive programming.
• Proven experience facilitating community dialogues and mediating disputes, preferably over land, water or shared resources.
• Experience setting up or strengthening community structures such as committees, cooperatives, WUAs or peace committees, including elections and constitutions.
• Experience working with traditional institutions and State and LGAs in North-East Nigeria.
• Experience with NGOs, UN agencies or government programmes in humanitarian or recovery settings.

Desirable:

• Experience negotiating land-use, asset handover or community ownership agreements.
• Knowledge of customary and statutory land tenure in Borno State, including the Land Use Act.
• Experience with livelihoods, WASH or infrastructure projects where communities share assets.
• Experience with Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and feedback mechanisms.

Skills and competencies:

• Excellent facilitation, negotiation and mediation skills.
• Able to stay neutral, build trust and handle sensitive information with discretion.
• Strong analysis of power and conflict dynamics, and sound judgement on risk.
• Clear writing of agreements, meeting records and reports.
• Cultural sensitivity and respect for local customs, with a commitment to inclusion of women, youth, persons with disabilities, IDPs and returnees.
• Commitment to PSEA, safeguarding and humanitarian principles.
• Proficient in MS Office or Google Workspace.

Languages

• Essential: fluent English and Hausa.
• Strongly desirable: fluent Kanuri.