Early Warning Officer at Search for Common Ground (SFCG)

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organization that promotes the peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict - away from destructive approaches towards cooperative solutions. With more than 600 staff worldwide, Search implements projects in more than 30 countries across the globe.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Early Warning Officer - Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) - Sustaining Electoral Engagement for Democracy (SEED) Project

Location: Abuja
Employment Type: Full-Time - Local

The Project

• In 2023, Nigerians will return to the polls to vote for a new president, following the two terms of President Muhammadu Buhari. Civil society’s participation will be critical to ensuring a transparent, inclusive, and credible electoral process. For many citizens, the 2019 elections represented a setback to the progress made in earlier polls, notably in 2015.
• Yiaga Africa’s pre-election and Election Day observation in 2019 highlighted a number of challenges that threatened the credibility of the process: the quality of election administration fell short of expectations; parties and their supporters engaged in vote-buying, hate speech, and violent acts to impede the electoral process; and voter turnout was at 35 percent, the lowest in two decades.
• Building on lessons learned from this past electoral process, the Consortium for Election and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), under this program represented by the National Democratic Institute (CEPPS/NDI), the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (CEPPS/IFES), and CEPPS Associate Partner Search for Common Ground (Search), is embarking on a five-year program to further strengthen the engagement of Nigerian civil society in support of credible elections and democratic progress in the country.
• The program would enhance citizen observation and analysis in advance of, during, and after the 2023 elections cycle; increase participation of marginalized populations in the electoral process; and counter hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation while promoting civic education.

Position Summary

• Search for Common Ground seeks a professional, motivated, and creative Early Warning officer that will be the focal point for the collation of the hate speech data, compiling monthly reports and communicating trends to key stakeholders (i.e. consortium partners, USAID, etc.).

Roles and Responsibilities

• This staff would also be involved in monitoring of Hate speech and tracking reports.
• Provide support in managing the Early Warning System (EWS) and hate speech monitoring with guidance from the Conflict Analyst
• Ensure that the EW system receives expected incident reports from Search’s existing platforms and other stakeholders and such reports are documented on the system and analyzed in real-time and disseminated to actors and communities for immediate response.
• Document key success stories from the EWS reports, incidences and/or responses of actors and stakeholders linked to the reports received from the system.
• Provide  programmatic and logistical support to the project team
• Contribute to the preparation of funder reports
• Work with program staff in the development and continuous improvement of systems
• Provide necessary support to implementing partners and government under the supervision of the program managers
• Support the conduction of media analyses, including a communication channel mapping at both the national level and within target states (i.e. states conducting off-cycle elections).
• Support the dissemination Search’s strategy for hate speech monitoring (i.e. monitoring platforms where a majority of citizens receive information), inform radio programming, as well as inform partner’s activities.
• Support the use of innovative technology applications to track rumors and hate speech both online and offline and and disseminate them to key stakeholders..
• Mobilize Search’s existing platforms to track hate speech within their respective and collective communities, networks, and operations, including online and person-to-person within communities.
• Work with project partners to integrate proven methodologies for monitoring gendered hate speech.
• Support the Common Ground Journalist Forums (CGJ) forums to meet quarterly, leveraging lower-cost options such as virtual meetings and conference calls, as well as in-person meetings.
• Convene bi-annual virtual exchange sessions among and between media professionals from across the country, including those that have received Common Ground Journalism training as well as those that have established CGJ forums within their states.
• Support the production of a radio drama on key election-related topics, including the dangers of hate speech, rumors, misinformation, and disinformation; the importance of inclusive elections, featuring the voices of women, PWDs, youth, etc.

Educational Qualifications

• University Degree in Social Sciences, Conflict and Peace Studies, Peacebuilding, Development Studies, Humanities, Media & Communications or related field is required.
• Master's Degree in the aforementioned fields is desirable.

Required Experience:

• At least 4 years of experience in Early warning and conflict management  or related fields
• Relevant experience working in the non-profit and NGO sector;
• Experience with conflict analysis tools;
• Substantial experience working with government officials, NGOs and communities;
• Experience writing reports and project reports
• Understanding of the social, political and economic context of the state and how it impacts on conflict drivers and conflict in the state and targeted communities;
• Knowledge and experience in computers and crowd mapping software
• Ability to work individually, but also with experience of working effectively as part of a team
• Ability to manage multiple tasks effectively with attention to detail and an orderly approach to tasks
• Strong analytical skills, including drafting reports and briefings
• Superior written and oral communication skills in English.
• Must have a ‘hands-on’, practical mentality, be self-driven, and very motivated.
• Proficiency at using Microsoft office software: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. is required.
• Experience working on Elections is a plus.

Other Relevant Competencies:

• Accountability: Being accountable and passing on accountability for one's own actions and those of colleagues and the organization.
• 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.
• Creativity: The ability to come up with original and innovative ideas and solutions, to adopt points of view outside the usual parameters.
• Focus on Quality: Setting high quality standards and striving for continuous improvement and quality assurance.
• 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).

Application Closing Date
30th November, 2022.