Community Liaison Team Leader

The starting monthly salary for this position is $868 (USD)            

Department: Operations          

Reports to: Community Liaison Supervisor

Direct Reports: Community Liaison Officers

MAG’s Vision is a safe future for women, men and children affected by violence, conflict and insecurity. People will live in communities where their rights are upheld, with dignity and choice and free from fear from mines, explosive remnants of war (ERW) and the impact of small arms and light weapons and ammunition.

MAG’s Mission is to save lives and build safer futures. We will use our core skills and distinctive competence to save lives through the removal of mines and ERW, and reduce the impact of small arms, light weapons and ammunition on people and communities. How we do this is as important as what we do – we work primarily with and for communities, for us ‘it’s all about people’.

MAG’s Values. Our values come to life through our actions, every day. How we act has an impact on others. As someone who works at MAG, you can help to create a positive culture by demonstrating our values through your own behaviour and actions. Everyone has a role to play in shaping our culture. Everyone should understand our values and is encouraged to think how they are relevant to their individual role.

DETERMINED – we work with purpose

EXPERT – through excellence and expertise we build trust

INTEGRITY – we strive to do the right thing

COMPASSION – people come first in everything we do

INCLUSIVE – we are inclusive, and we value diversity

Job Purpose

The Community Liaison Team Leader (CLTL) is responsible for the day-to-day leadership, supervision and technical coordination of a Community Liaison Team implementing humanitarian mine action activities in Ethiopia.

The post holder will ensure the safe, effective and high-quality implementation of Community Liaison (CL), Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE), Explosive Hazard Awareness Training (EHAT), Community Focal Point (CFP) development, Non-Technical Survey (NTS), field-based Explosive Ordnance (EO) Contamination Assessments, temporary hazard marking, referral and information management activities in accordance with MAG Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), Ethiopian National Mine Action Standards (NMAS), and donor requirements.

The CLTL is responsible for supervising Community Liaison Officers, planning daily operations, maintaining high technical standards, ensuring quality assurance and supporting effective coordination with communities, local authorities and humanitarian partners.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership and Supervision

• Lead, supervise and motivate the Community Liaison Team.
• Allocate daily tasks and monitor performance.
• Provide mentoring and on-the-job coaching to Community Liaison Officers.
• Promote teamwork, accountability and continuous learning.
• Conduct regular performance discussions and identify training needs.
• Foster a positive, respectful and inclusive team environment.

Operational Planning and Coordination

• Develop daily and weekly work plans in consultation with the CL Supervisor/Technical Lead.
• Coordinate team movements and deployment schedules.
• Ensure operational activities are implemented efficiently and safely.
• Liaise with local authorities, community leaders and humanitarian partners before field deployment.
• Ensure all activities comply with approved operational plans.

Community Liaison

• Lead community engagement activities using participatory approaches.
• Establish and maintain relationships with community leaders, women’s groups, youth representatives, persons with disabilities, IDPs, returnees and local authorities.
• Promote community acceptance of MAG activities.
• Support conflict-sensitive engagement and accountability to affected populations.

Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE)

• Plan and supervise EORE delivery.
• Ensure EORE sessions follow the approved curriculum.
• Monitor the quality of facilitation.
• Support adaptation of messages to local contexts.
• Verify participant records and training reports.

Explosive Hazard Awareness Training (EHAT)

• Support preparation and delivery of EHAT.
• Coordinate participant registration and logistics.
• Ensure training quality.
• Support practical exercises.
• Ensure accurate documentation of training activities.

Community Focal Point (CFP) Development

• Support community selection of Community Focal Points.
• Supervise CFP training and mentoring.
• Monitor CFP performance.
• Strengthen community reporting mechanisms.
• Ensure regular engagement with established CFPs.

Non-Technical Survey (NTS) and EO Contamination Assessment

• Supervise implementation of NTS.
• Verify survey information before submission.
• Review sketch maps and GPS data.
• Ensure quality of EO Contamination Assessment reports.
• Support identification of suspected hazardous areas.
• Ensure hazard information is accurately recorded.

Hazard Marking and Referral

• Ensure temporary marking is undertaken only when authorised and safe.
• Ensure all suspected EO hazards are reported through approved procedures.
• Support timely referral to EMAO and authorised operators.
• Maintain referral records.

Information Management and Reporting

• Review all operational documentation before submission.
• Verify completeness and accuracy of activity reports.
• Ensure accurate use of Survey123 or other approved digital tools.
• Submit daily, weekly and monthly reports.
• Support development of case studies and lessons learned.
• Ensure confidentiality and secure management of information.

Quality Assurance

• Monitor compliance with MAG SOPs, IMAS and EMAS.
• Conduct routine quality checks during field activities.
• Identify and correct technical deficiencies.
• Support internal quality assurance visits.
• Implement recommendations from quality monitoring.

Safety and Security

• Ensure team compliance with MAG Safety and Security procedures.
• Conduct daily safety briefings.
• Monitor changing security conditions.
• Suspend activities when required.
• Report incidents immediately.
• Ensure correct use of PPE and communications equipment.

Representation and Coordination

• Represent MAG professionally with local authorities and communities.
• Participate in coordination meetings when requested.
• Maintain effective communication with the CL Supervisor/Technical Lead and Operations Manager.
• Promote positive relationships with humanitarian partners.

Person Specification

Essential

• Diploma or Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Geography, Education, Environmental Science or another relevant discipline.
• At least two years’ experience in community engagement, humanitarian programming or mine action.
• Previous experience supervising field teams.
• Experience delivering EORE or community awareness activities.
• Experience conducting NTS or community assessments.
• Good understanding of IMAS and NMAS.
• Good report-writing skills.
• Experience using smartphones, GPS and digital data collection tools.
• Good English and Amharic language skills.
• Ability to work in remote and challenging environments.

Desirable

• Humanitarian mine action experience.
• Experience delivering EHAT.
• Experience managing Community Focal Point networks.
• Experience using ArcGIS Survey123, Kobo Collect or GIS.

Core Competencies

• Leadership
• Team management
• Community engagement
• Communication
• Planning and organisation
• Coaching and mentoring
• Information management
• Problem solving
• Quality assurance
• Accountability
• Integrity
• Cultural sensitivity

General Responsibilities

The post holder is expected to:

• Work in accordance with MAG’s Vision, Mission and Values.
• Comply with MAG’s Code of Conduct and Safeguarding Policy.
• Promote Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
• Promote Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA).
• Maintain confidentiality.
• Comply with MAG Health, Safety and Security policies.
• Undertake any other duties appropriate to the role.

This is a non-contractual document that can be varied from time to time as circumstances dictate. This job description is intended to summarize the main duties and responsibilities of the post; this is not intended to be a full and exhaustive list of tasks. All MAG staff are expected to demonstrate flexibility and willingness to perform appropriate tasks when the need arises.

Some Job Descriptions may be supplemented by specific Terms of Reference.