Partnerships Officer - Liaison

Organizational Context

UNOPS supports global peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development projects. The Peace and Security Cluster (PSC) is a key service provider in mine action, particularly through UNMAS. UNMAS Nigeria plans and oversees humanitarian mine action, providing technical support and integrating mine action into broader humanitarian and development programs. This role serves as a primary technical contact for UNMAS with national counterparts in Nigeria.

Job Purpose

The Partnerships Officer - Liaison serves as a primary technical point of contact, providing essential advice and facilitating robust information exchange between UNMAS and national counterparts in Nigeria. This role is pivotal in supporting the Federal Government's adherence to national mine action treaty obligations and in mainstreaming Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) into national systems, including the school curriculum. The officer ensures the effective integration of mine action into broader humanitarian and protection responses, particularly in conflict-affected areas of north-east Nigeria. By fostering strong coordination with key ministries like Education and Defence, the position directly contributes to mitigating threats from explosive ordnance, enhancing national capacity, and promoting inclusive mine action practices that address the differentiated needs of vulnerable populations. This role is critical for advancing sustainable mine action implementation and requires occasional travel to north-east Nigeria.

Responsibilities

The Partnerships Officer - Liaison is responsible for comprehensive coordination, technical assistance, and operational facilitation. Key duties include acting as the focal point for routine information sharing with relevant federal ministries such as Education, Defence, and Women Affairs, and other national counterparts. This involves supporting the mainstreaming of Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) into the national school curriculum, ensuring efforts address the differentiated needs of girls, boys, out-of-school children, and children with disabilities, consistent with UNMAS and UNOPS guidelines. The role also entails monitoring the inclusion of mine action concerns across relevant sectors and maintaining up-to-date contact directories for key stakeholders. Furthermore, the officer provides day-to-day technical inputs and data to assist national counterparts in drafting obligatory national reports under international conventions and in preparing reports required by mine action treaties. This includes supporting the development of relevant standards and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in accordance with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), and managing task registries to ensure workflow continuity. Operationally, the role facilitates the scheduling, logistics, and documentation of formal meetings, technical working groups, and workshops involving organizational leadership, government officials, and other stakeholders. The officer prepares official correspondence, briefing notes, meeting minutes, and routine operational updates for both internal and external government audiences, ensuring all logistics and communications reflect inclusive, accessible, and gender-sensitive practices, aligning with UNOPS DEI and PSEAH standards.

Work Experience

A minimum of two years of progressive professional experience in liaison, public administration, program management support, or coordination roles is required. Desired experience includes working in Nigeria with stakeholders like the Ministry of Education, coordinating with diverse national and international partners, and applying gender-sensitive or inclusive approaches in stakeholder engagement, particularly in education or child protection contexts. Fluency in local languages of Abuja and northeastern Nigeria is also desired.

Skills

Facilitation, Partnerships, Technical Assistance, Technical Communication

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