Early Warning Analyst Job at Search for Common Ground

Search for Common Ground - We are Searchers. We are over 600 strong worldwide. We believe in our mission to end violent conflict. It’s our purpose- our call to action. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, we implement projects from 55 offices in 34 countries, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Position: Early Warning Analyst - Consultancy
Job Locations: Kogi/Bayelsa, Abuja

Project Summary

• To respond to the challenges of the 2015 election and promote sustainable long-term CSO engagement in electoral and political processes, the Electoral Empowerment of Civil Society Project (EECSP) Consortium is implementing a five-year initiative to: 1) improve impartial observation, accurate reporting on, and recording of election vote totals using domestic electoral observers during and after the 2015 election cycle; 2) improve management within Nigerian partner CSOs; and 3) increase participation by marginalized groups in Nigerian political processes.
• The Consortium includes the National Democratic Institute (NDI) as the lead partner, World Learning (WL), the Center for Democratic Development – Ghana (CDD-Ghana) Search for Common Ground (SFCG). In the one-year extension of the project (Year 6) Search’s intervention will also contribute to Objective 3: Increased Participation by Marginalized Groups in Nigerian Political Processes and special focus on Violence Mitigation for 2019 Polls in the Middle Belt (Plateau and Benue) and the Northeast (Borno and Adamawa) regions and Bayelsa and Kogi states in their off-season election later in 2019. The activities of this project would be implemented in two phases.
• The first phase would focus on the federal and state level elections in Plateau and Benue states in the North Central, and Borno and Adamawa states in the North East, with intensive activities between January and March 2019, with selected activities continuing in the post-election period. The second phase of proposed activities will be for gubernatorial elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states from September to December 2019.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead the identification and training of early warning observers across the project states who will be responsible for monitoring and reporting of conflict incidences in potential hotspots.
• Confirm, validate and analyze early warning on violent incidents, rumors, security force actions, and civilian-led mitigation efforts and feed the information into the Nigerian Electoral Early Warning System (NEEWS).
• Work with relevant authorities and electoral stakeholders including security forces, INEC officials at the state level, and traditional leaders to refer legitimate electoral concerns and share analysis of early warning reports as generated from the reporting system for appropriate response.
• Work with the project coordinator to identify conflict scenarios and prioritize geographic areas and demographics that have a history of electoral conflicts in target states.
• Periodically convene a small group of civil society conflict monitors and experts to develop a “conflict scan” or common analysis of short and medium-term trends in each project state.
• Develop monthly reports of potential and actual electoral violence in project states, share the reports with SFCG’s early warning platforms for early warning response and with EECSP consortium members for responsive actions.

Documentation and Reporting:

• Develop monthly conflict scans and reports
• Contribute the development of the quarterly reports
• Contribute to the final project report
• Any other duties as may be assigned by the line manager.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

Terms of Consultancy

• This consultancy will last for a period from July - December 2019
• The location is based in Kogi and Bayelsa
• SFCG will withhold 5% of the consultancy fees and remit the amount to relevant tax authorities as per the provisions of the Nigerian law. Please provide your Tax Identification Number (TIN) to facilitate this process if you are in agreement with our terms of reference. The consultant is not entitled to any fringe benefits from SFCG, including but not limited to sick leave, health or life insurance and pension plan.
• Payment will be made on a monthly basis on the submission of timesheet, monthly reports and invoice

Required Qualifications and Experience
Educational Background:

• University degree or equivalent in Social Science, Peacebuilding, Education or related fields. Master’s degree is added advantage.

Required Experience:

• At least 5 years of professional experience in project management, early warning and conflict analysis.
• Substantial experience working in election and/or peacebuilding projects will be an added advantage;
• Relevant experience working in an NGO or INGO

Other Relevant Requirements:

• Familiarity with location (i.e. Kogi or Bayesa) and knowledge of the local languages in the target states will be added advantage.
• Strong command of English language, with excellent written and oral communication skills and interpersonal communication skills;
• A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace; and
• Ability to prioritize, plan and organize workflow to tight timeframes, handle multiple tasks, and be flexible with changing priorities.
• Excellent working knowledge in English
• Attitude for team work and good leadership skill
• Attention to detail:  The ability to process detailed information effectively and consistently
• Collaboration: The ability to work effectively with others in order to achieve a shared goal - even when the object at stake is of no direct personal interest possibilities.
• Learning Ability: The ability to absorb new information readily and to put it into practice effectively
• Adaptability: The ability to remain fully functional by adapting to changing circumstances (environment, procedures and people).