Director, Research, Communication and Documentation (Court of Justice) at 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 to fill the position below:

Job Title: Director, Research, Communication and Documentation (Court of Justice)

Reference: ECW-CCJ/REC/D/002
Duration: Permanent
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Department: Specialised Institution
Directorate: Research, Communication and Documentation
Grade: D1
Supervisor: Chief Registrar

Job Description

• 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 and 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 Department'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 reports;
• 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;
• Work with the relevant specialized Parliamentary Committee on regional legislation, as needed.

The Position

• The core functions of this is to provide legal research for the judicial functions of the judges and to provide leadership and management for the Research, Communication and Documentation Department.
• The Director is responsible for the coordination of the functions of the Research/Legal Affairs Division, Library and Documentation Division and Communication Division and works under the supervision of the Chief Registrar.
• He/ She is the head of the department of Research, Communication and Documentation and reports to the President through the Chief Registrar.
• Provides leadership and management for Research, Communication and Documentation Department and coordinates the functions of the various Division in the Department.
• Responsible for conducting comprehensive and robust legal research and analysis for the Honorable Judges of the Court in all matters pending before the Court or on any issue as may be assigned by any Judge.
• Formulating and ensuring the implementation of efficient research and analytical strategies for providing legal research for the efficient discharge of the judicial functions of the Judges.
• Formulating and providing legal opinions, giving legal advice and drafting and vetting legal documents.
• Develops and implements programs and strategies for the development of the ECOWAS Community law and for the harmonization of the judicial and legal systems in the West African Sub-region.
• Responsible for organizing seminars, conferences and workshops to facilitate the intellectual and professional development of the institution.
• Supervises, monitors and coordinates programs, policies and strategies aimed at raising awareness about the institution, its activities and judicial functions, the institution's website and for ensuring the effective collection and dissemination of information about the institution.
• Supervises, monitors and coordinates programs and strategies for enhancing the library stock and research materials of the institution, access to global research database and for the establishment of an innovative documentation policy.
• Plans, supervises, monitors and coordinates the activities, duties and programs assigned to the Department for the accomplishment of the institution's mandate.
• Develops and provides strategic direction to the Department.
• Prepares the Department's draft budget.
• Performs any other related tasks as may be assigned by the President, a Judge of the Chief Registrar.

Qualifications/Experience/Skills
Educational Qualification:

• Minimum of a Master's Degree in Law.

Experience:

• Twelve (12) years professional experience including six (6) years relevant international experience and five (5) years in a supervisory or managerial capacity.
• Possession of higher degree would reduce the required professional experience to ten (10) years with five (5) years in a supervisory or managerial capacity.
• Qualification and experience in Mass Communication or in Documentation would be an added advantage.
• Experience in a variety of private and public institutions, preferably in a multi-cultural setting and in an international institution would be an advantage.
• Evidence of substantial scholarly research experience or publications in law would be an advantage.

Competencies (Skills, Knowledge and Abilities):

• Leadership skills and ability to work in a multi-cultural team;
• Ability to build partnership with other institutions;
• Strong capacity for comparative analysis, legal reasoning and in-depth analysis of case law, substantive and procedural law.
• Good communication skills for influencing groups of peers and stakeholders outside the organization (public speaking, writing, persuasiveness, credibility, negotiation, problem-solving).
• Good interpersonal social skills for working with peers and subordinate staff (listening ability, approachability, clear oral expression).
• Able team-player with peers (creates solutions to problems, creates ideas, takes on share of the work, reliable).
• Drive and energy;
• Demonstrates fairness;
• Self-control and stress management methods;
• Good personal organization with ability to prioritize comfortably, adjust to rapidly changing priorities and to manage time well;
• Ability to delegate authority clearly and effectively to staff. In particular, ability to use support staff available to the Directorate.
• Must be Computer Literate.

Age:

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

Language:

• 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.

Remuneration
USD 60,372 - USD 75,005(Annual Salary)

Application Closing Date
30th June, 2015.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online