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.
About the Position
CIVIC seeks highly qualified applicants for the position of Senior Program Officer. This role is integral to the CIVIC Sahel program teams, reporting directly to the Sahel Country Director, and working closely with the Operational teams and other regional colleagues (West Africa & Coastal States Country Team) to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of program activities. The Senior Program Officer will provide overall leadership in program management, grant compliance, and donor engagement, while also supervising staff and ensuring quality delivery across the Sahel portfolio. This person will work directly within CIVIC’s Sahel program team to deliver program objectives, strengthen donor relationships, and expand CIVIC’s impact in the region.
The project “Advancing the Protection of Civilians through Rapid-Response Institutional Support to Security Institutions in Mali, ”funded by the UK ISF/FCDO, is an eight-month initiative designed to strengthen the Protection of civilians (PoC) through direct support to Mali’s national security institutions. It seeks to expand the CNAP early-warning focal point network and the Alert-Mali app, institutionalize PoC mechanisms within the Mali War College, and foster civil-military dialogues in conflict-affected areas. By embedding PoC principles into doctrine, practice, and coordination platforms, the project specifically aims to reduce civilian harm, improve accountability of security actors, and enhance resilience at both national and regional levels. In light of this project, CIVIC intends to recruit a Senior Program Officer to lead its implementation, ensuring effective coordination, compliance, and delivery of results.
This position requires independence, versatility, tact, and strong program and project management skills. The ideal candidate enjoys variety in their daily work; embraces innovation; excels at relationship and trust building; can write clearly and succinctly; is detail-oriented but also appreciates the big picture; can communicate effectively with peers, supervisees, and senior management; and, while professional at all times, is comfortable with and committed to advocating on behalf of people and communities affected by conflict.
Position basée à : Bamako (Mali), avec possibilité de voyage sur terrain et potentiel dans les pays où les activités de CIVIC sont mises en œuvre.
Voyage : Jusqu’à 25% (domestique et international)
Superviseur : Directeur Pays, Mali
Type de contrat : CDD 6 mois, avec possibilité de renouvellement
Date de prise de fonction : 1 November 2025.
Key Functions:
Program Management & Work Planning
- Develop, update, and track work plans across CIVIC’s Sahel projects, ensuring alignment
with donor requirements and program goals.
- Facilitate
coordination between program, operations, and finance teams for timely and
efficient delivery of activities.
- Coordinate with Program Officers and consultants, setting priorities, providing guidance, and
ensuring timely implementation of tasks.
- Support the
design, preparation, and implementation of activities, meetings, and trainings
related to Sahel projects, in collaboration with program teams.
Grant & Compliance Management
- Ensure compliance with donor requirements and CIVIC internal policies across all grants.
- Coordinate timely preparation and submission of high-quality donor reports (narrative and
financial) in collaboration with the MEL and Finance team.
- Lead/coordinate and document grant start-up and close-out processes.
- Track grant deliverables, reporting schedules, and compliance requirements across the
Sahel portfolio.
- Provide oversight on grant audits and donor compliance reviews, ensuring all findings are
addressed. Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, Reporting and Knowledge Management
- Collaborate with MEL to prepare, edit, and disseminate internal monthly reports, donor
reports, and national authorities reporting requirements.
- Use monitoring and evaluation findings to inform adaptive program management and donor
communications.
- In collaboration with the MEL, ensure lessons learned and good practices are systematically
documented, shared across the project teams and Sahel program, and integrated into future
program design.
- Support the organization of reflection and learning sessions with
staff and partners to
improve program quality.
- Ensure mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues such as Gender, Women, Peace and Security
(WPS), Protection of Civilians, and climate-security nexus in program design and delivery.
- Ensure that all projects' documents are properly filed in Dropbox
External Relations & Representation
- Arrange and participate in meetings and events with government officials, security and
defense forces, NGOs, and other partners.
- Prepare talking points, background notes, and briefing packages for senior CIVIC staff
(Africa Director and Mali Country Director).
- Participate in CIVIC coordination fora, donor meetings, and external events as delegated
by the Country Director.
- Maintain and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders at the national and regional
level. Cross-Departmental Coordination & Support
- Provide support to CIVIC’s various departments, including research, military and community
engagements, and advocacy, ensuring integrated program delivery.
- In charge of CSO engagement ensuring that consortia are established and functioning.
- Support coordination of social media strategy and content, working closely with CIVIC HQ
Communications team, including dissemination of project outputs and
advocacy products at national and regional levels.
Financial Oversight & BvA (Budget vs. Actual)
- Coordinate internal BvA (Budget vs. Actual) meetings with program and finance teams.
- Track follow-up on action points from BvA reviews to ensure financial accountability and
adaptive planning.
- Provide strategic input into budget revisions and resource allocation, ensuring efficiency and
value for money. Program Development & Donor Engagement.
- Support proposal development, donor mapping, and engagement efforts
in collaboration with
the Sahel Program Manager and Country Director.
- Contribute technical and programmatic inputs to concept notes, proposals, and strategic
discussions with donors.
- Contribute to identify funding opportunities and support CIVIC’s fundraising and partnership
development strategy in the Sahel.
Leadership & Team Supervision
- If applicable, provide day-to-day supervision and coaching to Program Assistants,
consultants, and interns working under the Sahel portfolio.
4·Organize regular team meetings, set collective priorities, and ensure accountability across deliverables.
- Promote a culture of collaboration, learning, and inclusion within the team.
Skills/Qualifications:
- Excellent writing skills in French and English (reports, concept notes, communication).
- Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Peace and Conflict Studies, International
- Minimum 3–5 years’ experience in program implementation and coordination in an NGO/INGO setting.
- Proven experience in donor-funded project management (preferably UK FCDO, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU, UN, etc.).
- Strong knowledge of Protection of Civilians, conflict sensitivity, and civil-military engagement in fragile contexts.
- Experience in budget monitoring and donor compliance.
- Strong facilitation, negotiation, and coordination skills with government, security actors, and communities
- Strong interpersonal skills to effectively interact with all levels of staff, U.S. and foreign government personnel, and the NGO community.
- Strong verbal communication skills to effectively present information and respond to questions
- Capacity to work both independently and as a member of a team and to work within multiple deadlines and timeframes
- Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Programs (Word, Excel)
- Experience with Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Google Drive, G+, etc.), Dropbox, and Slack strongly desired.
Core competencies:
- Commitment to CIVIC’s mission and values).
- Integrity, accountability, and results-orientation.
- Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Team spirit, flexibility, and cultural sensitivity
CIVIC seeks to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool in the belief that employees from diverse backgrounds are critical to achieving our goals. We strongly encourage applications from persons with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please do apply before 24 October 2025.
CIVIC is not able to sponsor employees at this point, therefore, please ensure that you can legally work in this location when applying.
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.