Justice, Conflict and Stability Lead - Nigeria and West Africa At The British Council

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The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Justice, Conflict and Stability Lead - Nigeria and West Africa

Location: Abuja, Sub Saharan Africa, NG
Pay band: Senior Management Broadband - Senior Managers & Professionals
Department: Conflict and Security
Contract type: Country appointed/ International hire
Duration: 3-year fixed term contract 

Role Purpose

• The British Council is currently looking for an experienced leader to assume the position of Justice, Conflict and Stability Lead to steer their large operation in Nigeria. This post comes at a critical and unprecedented time of change for communities globally. It is a senior management position which requires demonstrable sector expertise and experience. We are seeking a Programme Director who will be accountable for the following contracts: Managing Conflict in Northern Nigeria Programme (MCN), Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme (ROLAC) and Agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation Programme (ACT) (all EU-funded).
• This post will lead other projects in the sector as and when they are secured. The successful postholder will be responsible for driving business development to build the British Council’s work in Nigeria and the West Africa region working closely with the Director of Governance, Justice and Peacebuilding and wider regional teams. While the focus of this post is Nigeria, the postholder is expected to contribute to the regional and global Inclusive Communities efforts and practice.

Context
With the combined pressures of the impacts of Covid-19, a growing but massively unequal economy and complex demographics, programming in Nigeria is at a challenging point; this opportunity offers the right candidate a pivotal role in shaping the changes which will affect British Council work (both donor and self-funded) with substantial potential impact within Nigeria. Building on the successes of British Council’s legacy of justice and peacebuilding work in Nigeria, the programmes underway will support stronger, better and more mutually beneficial relationships between government and civil society essential to a stable, inclusive, accountable future for all.

Opportunities / Challenges:

• This role presents considerable opportunities to build upon our track record in delivery of contracts as a trusted partner for both DFID / HMG and the European Commission; our governance, justice and peace building work (which includes supporting inclusive communities and giving voice to vulnerable groups) and our ability to develop large scale co-funding programmes with donors.
• Many countries in Sub Saharan Africa are ODA classified. (Official Development Assistance (ODA) is defined by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) as government aid that promotes and specifically targets the economic development and welfare of developing countries.)  This aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals means there will be significant contract opportunities in Nigeria and across the region. This is an exciting opportunity to establish the agenda in an area of growing importance for the BC and HMG more generally. The successful candidate will also be given the responsibility for charting a course of action, implementing and measuring success.
• There will be significant challenges for this role including the scale of operations, rapid pace of change in the market and the challenges of aligning corporate and client expectations. It requires nimble thinking and strong relationship management skills to navigate between the range of stakeholders involved internally and externally.

Requirements
Essential:

• Qualified to a Master's degree level or equivalent by experience
• Experience & knowledge of Nigeria and the rule of law and justice sectors
• Recent experience of leading large-scale programmes (of value above £15m)
• Demonstrable experience of leading and managing multisectoral teams
• Experience of setting strategic direction for a business, department or region
• Proven credibility at providing leadership and engagement at government and institutional level

Desirable:

• Knowledge and experience of security, justice and conflict resolution in a development context
• Business Development and account management with donors on large scale programmes (including the EU)

Additional Information: This recruitment exercise seeks to attract the most suitable candidate for the role.