Senior Advisor, Military 1034 views0 applications

About CIVIC

Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) is an international nonprofit with offices around the world working to improve protection for civilians caught in conflict zones. CIVIC envisions a world in which no civilian is harmed in conflict. Our mission is to support communities affected by conflict in their quest for protection and strengthen the resolve and capacity of armed actors to prevent and respond to civilian harm. We are advocates who believe that no civilian caught in conflict should be ignored, and advisors who provide practical solutions to preventing and responding to civilian harm. Learn more at civiliansinconflict.org.

About the Position

The Senior Military Advisor (SMA) will be a highly valued member of CIVIC’s program in East Africa, which currently focuses on the protection of in the region. The SMA will be responsible for providing training and technical assistance to CIVIC’s government security partners on the implementation of civilian harm mitigation initiatives; supporting CIVIC’s research and advocacy initiatives; and contributing regular analysis of current events to aid in project planning, reporting, or other CIVIC activities.

Job Purpose: Provide training, analysis, and representation for CIVIC’s East Africa program, primarily to government security force partners, but other civilian and government stakeholders as well.

Location: The SMA will ideally be based in Nairobi, Kenya with travel to Uganda, Somalia or other parts of Kenya possible as the project develops.

Travel: Up to 30%-40% required

Reporting to: The SMA reports to the East African Regional Director, based in Nairobi, Kenya

Key Functions

Support CIVIC’s East Africa program, particularly its current efforts to support the Kenyan, Ugandan, and Somali militaries to develop capabilities to mitigate civilian harm during operations.

• Cultivate strong working relationships with senior government, military, and civil society leaders.
• Oversee the provision of, and directly provide, technical expertise pertaining to the protection of civilians in armed conflicts to which East African countries are party.
• Oversee the design and implementation of tools, systems, processes, tactics/techniques/procedures to minimize the harm caused to civilians during operations and foster better protection of civilians.
• Develop training modules and deliver workshops – in close coordination with CIVIC’s international military advisors – on the key tenets of civilian harm mitigation and protection of civilians to military and civilian members of East African governments.
• Oversee and conduct advocacy with senior government and military officials to advance programmatic and policy changes related to the protection of civilians.
• Oversee and coordinate the program portfolio to ensure the highest level of project quality and accountability, while fostering continuity through building the capacity of external partners.
• Support the management, training, and mentoring, of new trainers or military advisors across the program.
• Disseminate findings from CIVIC’s work that are of importance to decision-makers in a position to fund or implement projects in East Africa.
• Work with the East African Regional Director to promote CIVIC within NGO networks and among government stakeholders to promote effective collaborations and partnerships.
• Promote the representation, training, and advocacy on civilian protection and harm mitigation.
• Assess training efforts to provide recommendations to diverse stakeholders in order to improve civilian protection.
• Keep CIVIC’s international and national partners and others informed about progress of the projects, plans for the development of new programs/projects/activities.
• Conduct monitoring and reporting of activities in support of project reporting requirements.
• Work with the monitoring, evaluation and learning team to track on the effectiveness efforts.
• Build Strategic relationships and partnerships with key foreign missions’ such as the European Union, UK, the US and others.

Qualifications Required

• Past Military Experience as a senior officer, such as Army Lt. Colonel, Navy Commander, Air Force Lt. Colonel, or higher rank.
• Prior service with Kenyan Defence Forces strongly desired.
• Experience training armed forces, preferably in the army, specifically relating protection of civilians and/or International Humanitarian law. Additional experience working with police forces is also highly desired.
• Prior experience working at a non-profit desirable.
• Flexibility, cultural awareness and sensitivity.
• Computer literacy including proficiency with Dropbox, Slack and Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Power Point, etc.).
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Kiswahili; knowledge of other relevant languages such as French or Somali are highly valued.
• Ability to write high-quality narrative and qualitative reports to describe recent activities and provided analysis of results and relevant current events.
• Demonstrated experience networking with donors, government officials and the private sector.
• Strong personal network in Kenya strongly desired.
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and the ability to develop collaborative relationships, especially in a multi-component project.
• Superior analytic, communication and interpersonal skills, including training and facilitation skills and demonstrated experience working with multicultural teams.
• High level of integrity in dealing with co-workers and with programs.
• Must currently be able to work in Kenya legally.

Additional Details

CIVIC is not able to sponsor employees at this point in time, therefore, please ensure that you are able to legally work in this location when applying. Upon offer, the candidate will be asked to provide a copy of their passport, National ID, work permit, or other documentation which allows them to work in the specified location.

Note to Recruiters and Placement Agencies: CIVIC does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. CIVIC does not pay placement fees for candidates submitted by any agency other than its approved partners.