Protection from Violence Programme Development Manager Nigeria Abuja

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The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is seeking a highly qualified, resilient, and dynamic professional to take up the role of Protection from Violence Programme Development Manager (PDM) for Nigeria. The porpuse of the role is to be responsible to design, develop, and implement Protection from Violence CC programme/project. The role will provide overall technical leadership, strategic direction, and quality assurance of NRC Nigeria's Protection from Violence programme implementation. The role is responsible for mentoring, training, and building the technical capacity of staff and local partners.  The role also leads efforts to strengthen partnerships with government institutions, local organizations, civil society to promote evidence-based advocacy on key rights and policy issues affecting displacement-affected people. 

• Develop Protection from Violence Core Competency (CC) strategy, technical SOPs / guidelines and Macro LFAs.

• Compliance and adherence to NRC policies, Protection from Violence CC tools, handbooks and guidelines.

• Responsible of development and manage funding proposal, project budgets and donor reports 

• Overall management of project staff.

• Coordinate and manage Protection from Violence CC project implementation (activities, budget and project documentation) in line with proposals, strategies and donor requirements.

• Ensure capacity building of project staff and transfer key skills.

Please download the detailed job description to learn more about the position. 

What you will bring

• Bachelor's degree in social sciences, law, human rights, or a related field; or a minimum of 5 years of experience in protection, specifically in specialized responses and community-based protection in Nigeria.

• Minimum 3 years of experience from a senior level project implementation position in a humanitarian/recovery context.

• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts.

• Technical Protection from Violence Core Competency expertise.

• Documented results related to the position's responsibilities.

• Knowledge and skills in market analysis, cash-based interventions and market-based programmes.

• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile.

• Fluency in English, both written and verbal.

• Experience managing a complex protection programme including implementation, programme development, fundraising and budget development.

• Excellent understanding of key technical standards (IASC, protection mainstreaming, IHL, gender and humanitarian principles, donor markers on gender and disability etc.) and a demonstrated ability to integrate them into programming. 

• Specific expertise in general protection case management and civilian protection programming. 

• Experience with start-up, scale-up projects and emergency contexts.

• Well-developed organisational and communication skills.

• Experience in managing teams, preferably in a conflict setting.

• Good ability to use Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. required.

• Knowledge of the context and protection issues in Northeast Nigeria and understanding of the local language of the country.

• Specific expertise in monitoring and analysis of violence (quantitative and qualitative data), including in the absence or regular, consistent or reliable data. Expertise in the development and oversight of sectoral monitoring and analysis mechanisms would be an asset.

• Duty station:  Abuja, Nigeria

• Contract: 1 January to 31 December 2026, fixed national contract

• Travel: 40%

• Salary/benefits: grade 9 on NRC's salary scale, with accompanying terms and conditions

• NRC is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.

• We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC

• Internal candidates only: please click on the suitcase icon labelled "I am an employee" to be redirected to NRC's internal careers site.

• When creating your profile, include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history and education.

• Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.

• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We receive many applicants for each vacant position.

• If you have any questions about this role, please email  with the job title as the subject line.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year.

Watch this short video to see NRC in action.

We contribute to the development of policy aiming to protect the rights of the displaced and we call for increased humanitarian funding and engagement on processes that will generate structural changes in protection and assistance in the region.

Nigeria continues to face one of the world's most complex and protracted displacement crises, driven by conflict, insecurity, and climate-related shocks. As of 2025, an estimated 7.8 million people across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States require humanitarian assistance. Many displaced families continue to face challenges in accessing housing, land and property (HLP) rights, civil documentation, and legal remedies essential for achieving durable solutions. 

Against this backdrop, the Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) Core Competency (CC) plays a critical role in ensuring that displacement-affected populations can claim their rights and access essential services. NRC Nigeria's ICLA programme focuses on housing, land and property (HLP), civil documentation, legal identity, and access to justice, while contributing to integrated programming across NRC's other Core Competencies.

We are looking for people who are passionate about helping refugees and people forced to flee. Are you one of those people? If you are, NRC offers you the opportunity to:

• do demanding and professional work, often in challenging contexts.

• join a work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility.

• be part of a welcoming and supportive community committed to human dignity.

Learn more about NRC