Accountable Governance Coordinator

ABOUT US

Oxfam is a global movement of people working together to end the injustice of poverty. This means that we tackle the inequality that keeps people poor. Together we save, protect and rebuild lives. When disaster strikes, we help people build better lives for themselves and for others. We take on issues like land rights, climate change and discrimination against women. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can enjoy life free from poverty.

We are an international confederation of 22 organizations (affiliates) plus the Oxfam International Secretariat, all working together with partners and local communities in the areas of humanitarian, development and campaigning, in more than 77 countries. All our work is led by our core values: Empowerment, Accountability, Inclusiveness, Courage, Solidarity and Equality.

Oxfam Novib “Nigeria” is looking for ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE COORDINATOR

Duty station: “Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria”

Type of appointment: “Fixed-term Contract”

Contract duration: “12 months” (With Possibility of renewal depending on budget and performance)

Work schedule: “Full-time” (40 hours per week)

Reports to: “The Consortium Project Manager”

Salary & Scale: “Grade Level C2 – Annual Gross Salary (N12,000,000.00)

Start date: “January 1, 2026”

Deadline for applications: “December 12, 2025”

Status: National Position

Preference: Candidates residing in Kebbi State are strongly encouraged to apply.

CONTEXT

To facilitate collaborative governance and social protection processes by coordinating multi-stakeholder engagements, building capacities, and promoting inclusive planning and accountability mechanisms. This involves working with government officials, CSOs, communities, and partners to strengthen systems, enhance data-driven decision-making, and ensure responsive service delivery, ultimately empowering communities and improving governance outcomes in Kebbi State.

OBJECTIVE OF THE POSITION

The Programme Manager, Accountable Governance, will be responsible for managing Oxfam’s overall policy and governance component of the project. He/she will be responsible for working with government to ensure policies are implemented, provide technical leadership on policy and governance issues, coordinate and plan with other donor-funded programs to facilitate favourable policies for Oxfam projects.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES  

Program Management:

• Provide technical leadership for the design, formalization, and management of innovative policy and governance initiatives in Kebbi State on the EU-SUSI project.
• Conduct management and skills gap assessments of State and LGA officials, delivering tailored training on planning, data management, and disaster preparedness, and supporting LGAs to link their data systems to the state social protection database
• Strengthen the capacity of local government (6 LGAs in Kebbi State) to develop inclusive, community-driven development plans.
• Ensuring quality and integrity of implementation, including adherence to technical guidelines, administrative systems, and established deadlines
• Conducting capacity gap assessments, delivering trainings on digital literacy, data security, and gender-sensitive analysis, and upgrading the state Social Safety Net Register (SSNR) platform for real-time, disaggregated data entry and reporting.
• Coordinating and support training on the SSNR purpose, data collection, encoding, verification, and linkage of state-LGA data, emphasizing inclusivity and national framework alignment.
• Coordinate a multi-stakeholder technical working group to review existing models, document lessons, and integrate the Household Economy Diary methodology.
• Facilitate inclusive planning processes with women, youth, persons with disabilities, CSOs, government officials
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders: State Ministries, NASSCO, SOCU, LGAs, CSOs, community leaders, rights holders (women, youth, marginalized groups)
• Conducting a comprehensive review of existing systems and structures (using KIIs, FGDs), facilitating participatory problem-mapping with SOCU, LGAs, CSOs, and rights holders, and documenting findings in learning briefs.
• Establish gender-transformative community platforms for data validation, accountability, and rights-holder feedback.
• Advocate for inter-agency coordination to enhance SNR data use and reporting, linking with other states and national activities.
• Manage communication flows (updates, requests, feedback) between stakeholders, project staff, and partners.
• Support integration of community-based disaster risk reduction plans into LGA development plans.
• Evaluating the relevance and appropriateness of current and future programming in relation to policies affecting or hindering Oxfam’s projects
• Undertaking staff capacity building and trainings sessions

Team Management

• Foster collaboration between government (SOCU, MBEP, LGAs), CSOs, and communities in Kebbi state under the EU-SUSI project.
• Provide team members with information, tools, and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives.
• Implement performance planning and management systems, establish performance expectations with team members, and regularly provide constructive feedback on team members’ performance.
• Contribute to country team-building efforts, help team members identify problem-solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.

Finance and Compliance Management:

• Monitor governance activity spending, Weekly and Monthly report and ensure alignment with budget and donor rules.
• Identify financial risks, promote transparency, escalate fraud/non-compliance.

Documentation and knowledge sharing

• Document success stories, case studies, and challenges for learning and reporting for the EU-SUSI project.
• Organize dissemination (trainings, dialogues), advocate for inter-agency coordination.
• Coordinate development/publication of Best Practices Manual for Social Protection & Safety Net Programming (including Household Economy Diary)
• Lead reviews of existing social protection systems; conduct participatory problem-mapping with SOCU, LGAs, CSOs, and rights holders.

Influence & Representation:

• Organize policy dialogues, dissemination forums, and targeted meetings with MBEP, SOCU, and humanitarian actors.
• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with governments and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.
• Proactively form relationships with community members to complement Oxfam’s funding.
• Represent all Oxfam’s projects on governance issues at technical and strategic planning meetings, or as requested by the Head of Programmes and Influencing.

WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

Education/Knowledge & Experience:

Education:

• Master’s Degree or its equivalent in International Relations, Development Studies, Management, Social Sciences, International Development or another relevant field.

Experience:

• Experience working in Northern Nigeria strongly preferred.
• A minimum of 7 years of progressive work experience including at least 2 years in a senior management or technical advisory role on large, education, project focused, skills building program.
• Strong understanding of compliance issues.
• Strong management skills, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues in high security environment. Experience managing a multi-organizational team (international and national partners) is a plus.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English required, including report development, writing, and editing.
• Demonstrate attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Demonstrate experience working with country-level ministries and government officials.
• Ability to provide leadership, communicate effectively and build high performance teams in support of achievement of organizational objectives.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to build relationships with colleagues at long distances in a multicultural environment.
• Solid experience in resource mobilization with a variety of donors.
• Numeracy and the ability to interpret financial data to provide management support to budgetary processes, including planning, monitoring and reporting.

Desirable

• Commitment to equal opportunity, gender equality and the principles of diversity.

Competency

• Influencing: To engage with diverse stakeholders in a way that leads to increased impact for the organization. To spot opportunities to influence effectively and where there are no opportunities, to have the ability to create them in a respectful and impactful manner.

• Self-Awareness: To develop a high degree of self-awareness around your own strengths and weaknesses and your impact on others. Our self-awareness enables us to moderate and self-regulate our behaviour to control and channel our impulses for good purposes.

• Humility: To put ‘we’ before ‘me’ and place an emphasis on the power of the collective, nurture the team and play to the strengths of everyone. we are not concerned with hierarchical power, and we engage with, trust and value the knowledge and expertise of others across all levels of the organization.

WORKING AT OXFAM IN NIGERIA

• All our work is guided by our core values: Empowerment, Accountability, Inclusiveness, Courage, Solidarity and Equality.
• At Oxfam in Nigeria, we work according to the Feminist Principles - Oxfam Policy & Practice.
• Oxfam in Nigeria is based on the power of difference. That is why we aim to attract a diverse mix of talented people who share our standards, values and principles, and who are committed to prevent and eliminate any type of misconduct.
• We have an active policy against sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, any form of abuse of power or lack of integrity and financial misconduct. This subject will be covered in our application and selection process.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Do you believe that this is the job you are looking for? Then we would love to meet you! Please send your resume and cover letter.

• Only applications received before the closing date “December 12, 2025” and submitted via our application portal will be considered.

• Oxfam in Nigeria is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

• At the time of a contract offer, it is necessary for Oxfam in Nigeria to request valid references. Our candidates will be subject to appropriate screening checks, including criminal records and terrorism, financial checks or integrity screenings/references.

• This job opening is posted internally and externally, simultaneously. Internal candidates are given preference if they are sufficiently qualified or can be obtained in short term. We believe it’s important in our organization that our employees are offered maximum opportunities for growth in new themes and competencies. Priority for internal candidates supports this.

• Oxfam in Nigeria reserves the right, to its sole discretion, not to make agreements regarding this job opening, make an agreement in a lower level, or make an agreement with an amended job description.

• Only applicants shortlisted for the post will be contacted.