Social Cohesion Officer – MMC, Jere and Mafa

About the role

INTER SOS is recruiting a Social Cohesion Officer for facilities in MMC, Jere and Mafa, Nigeria. The postholder leads ownership and land tenure processes, builds inclusive governance structures, runs community dialogues and mediates disputes, while supervising three community mobilisers. The role requires neutrality, impartiality and strict adherence to safeguarding and humanitarian principles.

Key responsibilities

• Carry out quarterly conflict and do-no-harm analyses and map stakeholders, advising the Project Manager on land, membership, plot allocation and benefits risks.
• Lead the ownership and tenure audit, consult landowning families under free, prior and informed consent, negotiate land-use instruments and draft Tripartite Facility Management Agreements.
• Support transparent elections of Facility Management Committees with protected seats for women, youth and landowners; help draft constitutions and bye-laws; set up LGA Facility Oversight Committees and the State Asset Oversight Committee secretariat.
• Put safeguards against elite capture in place, such as public display of membership lists and plot allocations, quarterly social audits and General Assembly meetings.
• Facilitate community dialogues, lead the Government-Community Compact, organise landowner recognition events and coordinate monitoring visits and open days.
• Set up and mentor Peace and Grievance Committees, mediate disputes and escalate unresolved ones through the agreed path.
• Maintain a log of tensions and disputes, link grievances to the Feedback and Complaints Response Mechanism, and help design the social cohesion perception survey with the MEAL Officer.
• Plan, train and supervise three community mobilisers, and assess handover readiness and lessons learned.

Required profile

• B.Sc or HND in Peace and Conflict Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Law, Public Administration or a related social science; a Master's degree is desirable.
• 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 community structures, working with traditional institutions and State and LGAs in North-East Nigeria, and with NGOs, UN agencies or government programmes in humanitarian or recovery settings.
• Fluent English and Hausa; strong knowledge of Kanuri is highly desirable.

Required skills

• Excellent facilitation, negotiation and mediation skills, with strong analysis of power and conflict dynamics.
• Clear writing of agreements, meeting records and reports.
• Proficiency in MS Office or Google Workspace.