Social Cohesion Officer at INTERSOS Nigeria – Maiduguri, Borno

INTERSOS Nigeria is recruiting a Social Cohesion Officer in Maiduguri, Borno State, to support conflict-sensitive management, inclusive governance and community ownership of shared livelihood facilities.

Conflict analysis and land tenure

• Conduct facility-level conflict and do-no-harm assessments, mapping affected groups, historic tensions, power dynamics and potential risks; update findings quarterly and advise the Project Manager ahead of critical decisions.
• Engage landowning families, traditional institutions, host communities, returnees, internally displaced people, women, young people and relevant government offices.
• Audit land and ownership records, including Phase 1 memoranda, donation letters, occupancy documents and community resolutions.
• Facilitate separate and joint consultations under free, prior and informed consent principles; support the negotiation of leases, donations or land regularisation and appropriate landowner recognition.
• Work with the legal adviser to prepare tripartite facility-management agreements, coordinate signatures from government, cooperatives and landowners, and arrange public validation in local languages.

Community governance and peacebuilding

• Support transparent membership selection and supervised Facility Management Committee elections, with designated women’s, youth and landowner representation.
• Help committees adopt constitutions, bye-laws, term limits, removal procedures, conflict-of-interest safeguards and codes of conduct.
• Establish and support Facility Oversight Committees in MMC, Jere and Mafa, and assist the State Asset Oversight Committee secretariat.
• Train committees in inclusive leadership, decision-making and accountability; organise public membership and plot-allocation displays, quarterly social audits and general assemblies.
• Facilitate dialogue among communities and authorities, develop Government–Community Compacts in each LGA and coordinate recognition events, monitoring visits and twice-yearly open days.
• Train and mentor inclusive Peace and Grievance Committees in mediation. Address disputes involving land, water, access, membership and benefits, escalating unresolved matters through the agreed committee, traditional/LGA and oversight structures.

Accountability, team supervision and handover

• Maintain a dispute and tension log, reporting monthly to the Project Manager and every two months to LGA oversight committees.
• Connect grievances to the Feedback and Complaints Response Mechanism and refer protection concerns to the Protection focal point.
• Support baseline and endline social-cohesion perception surveys with the MEAL Officer.
• Plan, supervise and train three community mobilisers; review reports and the accessibility and quality of community meetings.
• Assess facility handover readiness in ownership, governance and inclusion, and document lessons for WFP and project partners.
• Maintain impartiality and confidentiality, aim for at least 40% women and youth in each governance structure, include people with disabilities, IDPs and returnees, and uphold PSEA, safeguarding and security standards.

Requirements

• B.Sc. or HND in Peace and Conflict Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Law, Public Administration, Development Studies or a related social science; a relevant master’s degree is desirable.
• At least four years’ experience in peacebuilding, social cohesion, community governance or conflict-sensitive programming.
• Practical experience facilitating community dialogue, mediating disputes and establishing committees, cooperatives or similar governance structures, including elections and constitutions.
• Experience engaging traditional institutions, state and local authorities and humanitarian, recovery or development programmes in north-east Nigeria.
• Excellent facilitation, negotiation, conflict analysis, neutral judgement, agreement drafting, record keeping and reporting skills.
• Commitment to safeguarding, inclusion, humanitarian principles and responsible information handling; proficiency in MS Office or Google Workspace.
• Fluent English and Hausa; Kanuri fluency is strongly desirable.

Additional advantages

• Experience negotiating land-use, asset-handover or community ownership agreements and familiarity with statutory and customary land tenure in Borno State.
• Experience with shared livelihoods, water, sanitation or infrastructure assets and accountability-to-affected-populations mechanisms.