One Acre, founded in 2006, supplies smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms more productive. We provide quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural trainings to improve harvests. We measure our success by our ability to make farmers more prosperous: On average, farmers harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund. We serve more than 800,000 farm families in Eastern and Southern Africa, with more than 7,500 full-time staff, and we aim to serve 1 million farm families by 2020.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Nigeria Security & Operational Risk Specialist
Location: Minna, Niger Preferred Start Date: As soon as possible
About the Role
The Security & Operational Risk Specialist is the primary technical authority, strategic leader, and advisor to Nigeria country leadership on all aspects of staff safety, security, and operational risk management.
Operating in a complex and volatile environment, you will lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of all health, safety, and security (HSS) systems across office, warehouse, and field operations in Nigeria.
You will serve as an influential internal voice and key thought partner to country leadership, directly shaping critical decisions such as geographic program scaling and the systems required to mitigate residual operational risks.
You will also coordinate field risk strategies, including facility security management, emergency preparedness, and government security relations.
Responsibilities Strategic Security Risk Management:
Strategic Thought Partnership: Act as a strategic advisor to country leadership and the Global People Division, delivering critical HSS insights that drive proactive, data-informed risk management and high-stakes decision-making.
Field Operations Risk Framework: Build and maintain an operational risk-identification and mitigation framework covering the complete agricultural cycle (enrollment, input delivery, and loan repayment).
Scaling & Expansion Advisory: Evaluate the risk profiles of new geographic areas to directly influence and advise on program scaling decisions.
Residual Risk Mitigation: Design and deploy comprehensive systems, policies, and structures to identify and mitigate residual operational risks in remote field sites.
Context Analysis & Reporting: Provide weekly and quarterly security briefs to Country Leadership, using data-driven high-risk location heatmaps, trend analysis, and mapping tools to guide operational posture.
Budget Ownership: Act as the budget owner and advocate for country-wide HSS expenditure, ensuring relevant, high-impact risk-mitigation investments.
Health, Safety & Security (HSS) Systems - Closely collaborate with the the Corporate Operations team lead on the following:
SOP Development: Design, adapt, and continuously improve tailored HSS SOPs aligned with Nigeria's specific risk context, including protocols for staff travel, remote site safety, incident reporting, and office/warehouse safety.
Compliance Tracking: Deploy and maintain robust compliance tracking systems for organization licenses, permits, and regulatory requirements, flagging risks before they impact operations.
Process Improvement: Initiate and lead high-complexity process improvements across departments (such as HR, Operations, and Supply Chain) to integrate HSS considerations into daily workflows.
Emergency Preparedness & Incident Response:
Emergency Response Leadership: Own the design, rollout, and testing of the Country Emergency Response Plan (ERP), Security Escalation Plan, and Field Operations Contingency Plan through live simulations and tabletop exercises.
Incident Management: Serve as the primary focal point and responder for security incidents, ensuring immediate containment, escalation, detailed documentation, and corrective actions.
Incident Post-Mortems: Conduct rigorous post-incident reviews (after-action reviews) to extract lessons learned and integrate them back into training and SOPs.
External Security Partnerships: Act as the primary liaison with Nigerian security agencies (NPF, NSCDC, DSS) across all operational states, formalizing security partnerships and keeping a structured contact log.
Team Leadership & Project Management:
Directly manage and mentor Field Risk Officers, taking ownership of their professional goals, performance plans, and contribution to an inclusive team culture.
Design and deliver comprehensive safety training programs (including HEAT, defensive driving, first aid, and incident reporting) to build a proactive safety culture.
Risk Project & System Execution - Scope, plan, and execute key HSS cross-departmental initiatives (e.g., annual HEAT training schedules, warehouse security upgrades, GPS tracking integration, and seasonal field contingency plans) on time, within budget, and across diverse operational locations.
Directly oversee the organization's guard force (currently 60+ personnel across 3 agencies), managing vendor relationships, performance reviews, and compliance with the Code of Conduct.
Qualifications Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:
Bachelor's Degree in Security Management, Occupational Health & Safety, Risk Management, International Relations, or a related field.
Professional certifications (e.g., NEBOSH, ASP, CSP, HSE) are highly preferred.
5+ years of progressive experience in health, safety, and/or security risk management.
Proven experience operating in complex, volatile, or high-risk environments (specific knowledge of Nigerian security dynamics or Northern States is a strong advantage).
Demonstrated expertise conducting security risk assessments and setting up organizational HSS systems.
Hands-on experience with incident management, emergency response planning (ERP), and crisis response.
Proficient in using data, mapping tools, and dashboards to analyze risks and track compliance.
High proficiency in English. Knowledge of local languages spoken in project areas is an asset.