Executive Director at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen West African countries. Founded on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region. Considered one of the pillars of the African Economic Community, the organization was founded in order to achieve collective self-sufficiency for its member states by creating a single large trading bloc through an economic and trading union. It also serves as a peacekeeping force in the region. The organization operates officially in three co-equal languages French, English, and Portuguese.

We are currently recruiting for the vacant position below:

Job Title: Executive Director of the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Surveillance and Control

Reference: ECW/WAHO-CDC/1
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Department: Regional Centre for Disease Surveillance and Control
Grade: D1
Status: Permanent
Reports to: DG - WAHO

Institutional Context

• A Directorate in ECOWAS Community Institutions is a subset of Departments headed by Statutory Appointees or D2 level Officers. Directorates are headed by Directors or Officers holding Director level positions.
• Directors or Director level Officers are responsible for providing the expertise in particular areas for the design and implementation of technical projects in line with ECOWAS objectives.
• Directors in ECOWAS provide leadership and management to major sector(s) of technical activities which are substantively important to the accomplishment of the Institution’s mandate.
• They are responsible for interpreting governing bodies’, the President’s and the Commissioner’s broad visions and policy guidelines, and for developing and managing goals and objectives to meet that mandate.
• D1 positions typically supervise 10 or more professionals some of who may be Division Chiefs at the P5 level and thus supervise other professional staff.

Duties & Responsibilities
Leadership Tasks:

• Directors or Director level Officers report directly to Departmental Heads. As the principal link between the Directorate and the wider beyond, the Director is responsible for:
  • Clearly communicating the Department’s vision to staff, explain how the Directorate’s activities aligns with them as well as ways of carrying out set tasks on it;
  • Staying on top of fast-moving technical, political, social or economic changes;
  • Remaining in frequent contact with the other Directors in the Institution to ensure that the work is harmonized with that of other Directorates as needed.

Managerial Tasks

• The Director will supervise staff of the Directorate including Professional and General staff. He or she will utilize a range of transactional managerial skills to ensure that staff of the Directorate performs efficiently and effectively, and that they deliver the regular outputs needed at sufficient quality and in a timely manner.

Managerial tasks will include:

• Plan annual goals, objectives, activities and budget tied to the Directorate’s overall plans; measure and monitor goal achievement; negotiate suitable adjustments to goals and budgets;
• Implement performance-based budgeting within the Directorate;
• Organize the Directorate in an efficient way with clear reporting lines, minimal bureaucracy and optimal delegation of responsibilities and authority;
• Work with the relevant Directorate to ensure efficient and effective services such as recruitment, action on performance decisions, promotions and related matters;
• Set standards of work and create mechanisms to monitor staff output and ensure that standards are maintained and deadlines met without compromising quality of work;
• Manage the system of setting individual performance planning and standards through available Performance Planning and Evaluation systems;
• Provide regular and prompt performance feedback to direct reporting;
• Actively engaged in the development of staff to ensure skills are built to match plans, goals and existing structures;
• Create productive working atmosphere within the Directorate to encourages staff participation.

Use of Personal Expertise:

• While the Director will have a reserve of skilled professionals to draw upon, he or she may at times be called upon to apply his or her personal expertise directly in the relevant technical field in any of the following ways:
  • Direct technical guidance on programme design or implementation in an area where he or she has high-level technical expertise;
  • Represent ECOWAS in professional meetings or working groups; make speeches, negotiate agreements, mediate disputes;
  • Lead or participate in technical missions to develop projects and programmes;
  • Advise on issues relating to his or her area of technical expertise.

Technical Tasks
Summary:

• Under the supervision of the Director General of WAHO, under the control of the Governing Board and in accordance with the rule of procedures, the Director will be saddled with running the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Surveillance and Control with a view to assisting ECOWAS Member States in strengthening their capacities for more efficient control and prevention of diseases and other deficiencies through strengthened disease surveillance and rapid response to emergencies.

Duties and Responsibilities
The incumbent shall exercise oversight over all activities of the Centre. More specifically, she/he shall:

• Ensure the day-to-day operations of the Centre;
• Develop strategies and plans for implementation;
• Implement annual work programs and approved decisions;
• Ensure appropriate scientific, technical and administrative support for the Advisory Council;
• Ensure that the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Surveillance and Control performs its tasks in ways which meet the needs of its users, in particular in terms of scientific excellence and independence of activities and opinions, relevance of services provided and in keeping  to deadlines;
• Prepare the statement of income and expenditure as well as ensure budget execution of the ECOWAS -RCDC;
• Take care of all staff matters,

Furthermore, the Director shall submit annually to WAHO:

• An annual report on all activities of the Centre for the year ended no later than six months after the end of the financial year;
• Work programs;
• A budget estimate for the following year.

Qualifications

• A Master’s degree and post-graduate qualifications in Medicine or Medical Sciences with Postgraduate qualifications in Public Health;

Experience:

• A minimum of twelve (12) years of cognate professional experience in disease surveillance and response preparedness including six (6) years relevant international experience and five (5) years in a supervisory level;
• Possession of higher degree would reduce the required professional experience to ten (10) years with five (5) years in a supervisory or managerial capacity;
• At least a-ten year training or similar practice in Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation or Management of Health Services;

Competencies (Skills, Knowledge and Abilities):

• The Executive Director of the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Surveillance and Control must have demonstrated expertise in some or all of the following areas:
  • Adaptive capacity: Be flexible, versatile and/or tolerant in a constantly evolving workplace, while performing effectively and efficiently her/his tasks;
  • Ethics: Good understanding of socially acceptable behavior and administrative practices and ensure that her/his own behavior and the behavior of others meet these standards and are aligned with the values of the Organization;
  • Building relationships: Build and maintain positive working relationships with others both internally and externally to achieve the goals of the organization.
  • Communication: Ability to listen, and to speak and write clearly, thoughtfully and timely using suitable and efficient communication tools and techniques.
  • Ability to communicate in two of the three official languages of ECOWAS will be an asset;
  • Creativity and innovation: Fashion out new and unique ways to improve the finances of the Organization and create new opportunities.
  • Foster team spirit: Work in synergy with others in order to set goals, solve problems and make decisions that will enhance the organization’s efficiency;
  • Leadership: Positively influence others to produce results that will serve the best interest of the Organization;
  • Decision-making: Appraise situations so as to determine the relevance, urgency and risks, and make clear and timely decisions in the best interest of the Organization;
  • Organization: Set priorities, prescribe timelines; monitor progress towards the goals and activities, data and information;
  • Planning: Develop strategies to promote the organization’s advancement, set goals, implement action plans, and assess processes and results;
  • Troubleshooting: Assess situations posing problems so as to identify causes, gather and analyze relevant information, propose solutions, and make recommendations and/or fix the issues;
  • Strategic thinking: Assess the possibilities and actions in the light of the trends and conditions pertaining to the environment, vision and values of the Organization. Age Candidates must be fluent in one of the official languages of the Community: English, French and Portuguese. A working knowledge of another would be an advantage.

Language:

• Candidates should not be over 50 years old at the point of recruitment and must be citizens of one of the ECOWAS member states.

Anual Salary
USD 60,372 6 USD 75,005.

Application Closing Date
3rd April, 2017.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should download the "Job Application Form", fill it and send it as an email attachment together with their CV's to: waho-cdc@ecowas.int No certificate should be attached.

Click Here to Download Job Application Form (MS Word)

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