Conflict Analyst – Lebanon

About Search

Search for Common Ground (Search) is a non-governmental organization working to transform the way societies deal with conflicts. We have over 37 years of experience in peacebuilding and are based in 53 local offices worldwide. We strive to build sustainable peace for generations to come by working with all sides of a conflict, providing the tools needed to work together, and finding constructive solutions. While conflict is inevitable, violence is not! Our mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. Instead of tearing down an existing world, we focus on constructing a new one. We shift the everyday interactions between hostile groups of people, so they can work together to build up their community, choosing joint problem-solving over violent means. We first worked in Lebanon in 1996, and we opened up our office in Beirut in 2008. Since then, our activities and capacities have grown significantly. We rely on local staff as well as local partner organizations in order to ensure our work is culturally sensitive, sustainable and well-grounded in the context.

For more information, visit www.sfcg.org and https://www.facebook.com/sfcg.lebanon.

Position Summary

Search seeks a professional, motivated, creative and well-organized Conflict Analyst for Lebanon and its programs run remotely from the country. The Conflict Analyst will keep track of the unfolding social, political and conflict dynamics of Lebanon and other countries in the Levant and will provide analytical real time conflict and context analyses. S/he will be the focal point for conflict sensitivity across the Lebanon projects. S/he will consolidate and prepare weekly and monthly conflict and context analyses reports to inform the program, partners, donors and other stakeholders. S/he will also review and provide context and conflict analysis inputs to donor reports, concept notes and new proposals. The Conflict Analyst will contribute to research, position papers and design and inputs of conflict scans and conflict analyses done as part of the different projects.

S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Country Director and in close coordination with the Program Directors, Media and Communications Manager, Gender Adviser and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager and program teams and partners. The position will be based in Beirut, with frequent travel to the field.

The position holder will more specifically have the following Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Roles and Responsibilities

• Prepare weekly conflict analysis reports based on the review and analysis of news, incident reports from the staff and partners, interviews with key informants, and information collected from Search Lebanon and other program in the Levant;

• Prepare specific conflict analysis reports on a periodic basis, either thematic or geographic focus based in the need and relevance;

• Serve as a hub for reporting of conflict incidents from staff and partners;

• Carry out specific research and studies;

• Leading capacity building of teams on conflict sensitivity and ensuring conflict sensitivity is mainstreamed across projects;

• Be the country office’s conflict sensitivity focal point;

• Meet with the government, civil society, security, donor, media and private sector on a regular basis to collect necessary information and intelligence;

• Provide advice to the Country Director, Program Directors and program teams on unfolding conflict dynamics;

• Contribute to the proposal and report writing processes by writing the context and conflict analysis sections; and

• Advise program teams and Country Director on strategy for new and existing projects and how they can meaningfully respond to evolving context and conflict dynamics.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

Required Profile

Education

• Master’s degree in conflict and peacebuilding studies, international relations, political sciences or related fields. Or first degree with substantial research experience;

Experience:

Essential

• Deep understanding of the social, political and conflict dynamics in Lebanon and other countries in the Greater Levant;

• Demonstrated skills of using different conflict analysis frameworks;

• Excellent analytical and writing skills;

• Knowledge using qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis tools;

• Advanced research and report writing skills;

• Knowledge of early warning systems;

• A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace; and

• Ability to prioritize, plan and organize workflow to tight timeframes, handle multiple tasks, and be flexible with changing priorities.

Desirable:

• Experience working in a conflict resolution setting

• Experience working in a non-profit or similar environment

• Experience of partnership building, with experience of influencing stakeholders and establishing and maintaining strong partnerships;

• An excellent planner with deep knowledge and experience of project management tools and processes (project planning, workplans, budget planning, etc.)

• Organizational skills and attention to detail;

• Excellent use of Excel, excellent writing and analytical skills;

• Well organized, dynamic and creative;

• Excellent comprehension of the principles of conflict, conflict transformation and peacebuilding;

• A team leader, with a strong capacity to motivate oneself and others and build a team spirit;

• Ability to work under pressure and in challenging environments;

• Flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances;

• Willingness to travel regularly to Search’s field offices; and

• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Arabic.

Other Relevant Requirements

• Written and verbal communications skills including the ability to synthesize complicated policy issues into digestible products and to deal with both elite and popular media and specialist and non-specialist audiences;

• Ability to work effectively in a team environment and strong interpersonal skills;

• Commitment to Search’s aims and a clear understanding of the links between policy, lobbying, campaigning and media work and of how policy change can be achieved through effective advocacy;

• Ability to responding flexibly to opportunities and requests sometime with little notice;

• Ability to manage competing priorities in a rapidly changing environment;

• Demonstrate capacity to adapt to a multi-cultural context, and tolerance and respect to issues related to gender, religion, race and nationality; and

• Treats all people fairly without favoritism and solves problems in collaborative ways.