Introduction

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is an international humanitarian organization with operations in over 28 countries, committed to assisting, protecting, and finding solutions for refugees, internally displaced persons, and other conflict-affected communities. DRC is a pioneer in anticipatory action for displacement, specifically in fragile and conflict-affected settings, currently designing and implementing displacement forecasting and anticipatory action mechanisms across seventeen countries. As co-lead of the Global Working Group on Anticipatory Action for Displacement with IOM, DRC acts as a global convener on displacement-centric anticipatory action. DRC Nigeria has a longstanding presence across the northeast, northwest, and middle belt regions, delivering humanitarian protection, emergency response, and peacebuilding programming in some of the most complex displacement environments in West Africa. DRC's Nigeria programme combines protection monitoring, multipurpose cash assistance, and community-based early warning to respond to displacement driven by armed conflict, transhumance-related tensions, and resource competition.

About The Job

DRC is seeking a National Peacebuilding and Conflict Analysis Specialist (PB/CA Specialist) to support peacebuilding programming on the Scaling Anticipatory Action for Displacement (SAAD) project in Nigeria. SAAD, funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York for 24 months (July 2026 to June 2028), aims to shift humanitarian crisis management from reaction to prevention by combining machine learning displacement forecasting with community-based early warning systems and conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives, protection monitoring, and conflict-sensitive anticipatory planning. In Nigeria, the project will build on DRC's conflict analysis, protection monitoring system and peacebuilding programming to anticipate localized conflict dynamics that precede displacement. By linking displacement forecasts to existing early warning systems, SAAD will identify escalating transhumance-related tensions, resource competition flashpoints, and community-armed group friction along key displacement corridors. When predefined thresholds are met, pre-agreed anticipatory measures will activate relevant, adapted conflict-prevention and social-cohesion initiatives, including humanitarian mediation and dialogue facilitation, as well as targeted protection services, to interrupt escalation pathways before violence peaks and displacement occurs. The PB/CA Specialist is technical lead on DRC’s conflict analysis and peacebuilding programming for SAAD and also supports peacebuilding programming overall in Nigeria. Under direct management by the DRC Nigeria Head of Programme and technical supervision by the Global Peacebuilding Advisor and Peacebuilding and Conflict Early Warning Project Advisor, the Specialist is responsible for leading conflict analysis and peacebuilding programming, technical support to peacebuilding activities on SAAD and other projects in Nigeria, as relevant.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Lead Conflict Analysis and conflict sensitivity adaptation

• Support the regular integration of updated, practical conflict analysis into anticipatory action planning, readiness activities, and trigger validation.
• Based on Conflict Analysis, make recommendations for conflict-sensitive AAP design.
• Ensure conflict analysis and conflict sensitivity across SAAD and other Nigeria projects according to DRC’s standards.

Technical Peacebuilding Implementation and AAP Development

•  Contribute peacebuilding technical expertise to the development and operationalization of conflict-sensitive Anticipatory Action Plans (AAPs) for Nigeria.
• Develop guidance (based on DRC Global PB guidance and processes) for pre-agreed anticipatory intervention packages, including conflict prevention (humanitarian mediation, dialogue processes) and relevant social cohesion initiatives.
• Provide capacity strengthening and training of DRC staff in conflict analysis/conflict sensitivity of social cohesion and peacebuilding programming, conflict management, mediation, and dialogue facilitation.
•  Monitoring and quality assurance of peacebuilding activities on SAAD and other projects.

 Support and collaboration with peacebuilding partners and peacebuilding mechanisms.

• Identify and map relevant peacebuilding actors and mechanisms at local and national levels.
• Support facilitation of co-design processes with civil society organizations and peacebuilding stakeholders for inputs to AAP development and joint identification of adequate peacebuilding initiatives to be supported.
• Provide regular technical support, capacity strengthening and training to peacebuilding partners, community actors and other stakeholders, as relevant.

Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement

• Represent DRC in relevant peacebuilding forums and working groups at different levels.
• Maintain and strengthen partnerships with local civil society and peacebuilding actors, and academic institutions supporting AAP co-design, sub-grant implementation, and local knowledge production.

Support to Nigeria Peacebuilding Programme and Business Development

• Support DRC Nigeria's broader peacebuilding programme and business development efforts by contributing to assessments, strategy, peacebuilding-related proposals and donor engagement.
•  Perform other relevant tasks as requested by and in discussion with the Head of Programme.

The responsibilities listed above are not exhaustive and may be readjusted according to operational needs but will remain in line with the overall purpose of the role.

Experience and technical competencies:

To be successful in this role, we expect you to combine technical depth in conflict analysis and peacebuilding programming with a strong and grounded understanding of Nigeria's conflict and humanitarian landscape.

Required

• Minimum 5 years of experience in conflict analysis/conflict sensitivity, peacebuilding or social cohesion programming including early warning/early response, conflict prevention and management, security governance, community safety or similar types of programming.
• Working in Nigeria or the West Africa region, with strong contextual understanding of transhumance dynamics, farmer-herder conflict drivers, displacement patterns, or humanitarian coordination systems.

Demonstrated experience in:

• Designing and implementing projects focused on conflict analysis/conflict sensitivity, early conflict warning/early response, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding.
• Leading conflict analysis and conflict sensitivity adaptation, as well as providing technical support to various stakeholders.
• Providing technical peace building support to partners and communities and in delivering participatory and inclusive training on conflict analysis/conflict sensitivity, early warning/early response, conflict prevention and management.
• Strong facilitation and dialogue facilitation skills, with demonstrated ability to convene and lead multi-stakeholder peace building processes at community level as well as processes involving other relevant stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple competing priorities and work under pressure in complex, politically sensitive environments.
• Innovative and creative thinking with strong analytical and reporting skills.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 30% of time, including field locations in conflict-affected areas.
• Proficiency in MS Office and strong working knowledge of data tools for monitoring and analysis. Desirable.

Desirable:

• Experience or as a minimum familiarity with Anticipatory Action, protection monitoring, climate resilience in complex displacement contexts is a clear asset.

Education:

Academic background in International / Humanitarian Affairs, Political Science or Peace and Conflict Studies, Geography or Environmental Studies with a conflict/displacement focus, Social Sciences (Anthropology, Sociology). Practical trainings or courses in conflict analysis/conflict sensitivity, peacebuilding, conflict management, mediation and dialogue facilitation.

We offer.

Contract length: One (01) Year, with a possibility of extension depending on funding availability. 

Workplace: Abuja, Nigeria

Start date: When the right candidate is identified. 

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with the DRC National salary structure.  This is contractually a national position for which local Nigerian terms and conditions apply. 

General Regulations:

Application Process

Are you interested? Then apply for this position online: All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than 3 pages). Both must be in English.

DRC provides equal opportunity in employment and prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

DRC encourages all applicants to apply and does not practice any discrimination in any recruitment process.

However, all applicants shall take into consideration that DRC cannot offer an international work contract to a citizen of the country of assignment (in this specific case, Nigeria)

Deadline: Applications close on the 17th November 2026 at midnight (GMT time).