Principal Programme Officer, Administration and Finance at ECOWAS Commission

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is recruiting for Principal Programme Officer, Administration and Finance

Job Title: Principal Programme Officer, Administration and Finance
Reference: ECW-COMM/REC/YOS-P/001/2012


Location: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Department: Human Development & Gender
Directorate: ECOWAS Youth and Sport Center
Grade: P5
Annual Salary: USD 52,273 - USD 59,100
Supervisor: Director, ECOWAS Youth and Sport Centre


Job Description
The incumbent is responsible for planning and financing, co-coordinating and directing the organization’s work in Administration, Finance and Support, to include travel, procurement, shipping, inventory, vehicles and drivers, printing and mail, facilities management, safety and security and visa and protocol services.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Organize and direct staff in varied administrative functions ensuring adherence to the organization’s policies and procedures and the effective and efficient delivery of administrative, technical and support services throughout the organization;
• Participate in negotiations and communications with the host Government in relation to Centre’s building/temporary premises, including liaison with landlord for rental contracts, re-modeling and maintenance;
• Prepare annual divisional budget and control of estimates and expenditures;
• Prepares inputs into audits, reporting on budget/programme performance;
• Receive and evaluate regular financial reports with particular attention to apparent anomalies or unusual trends;
• Initiate action for correction of situations where anomalies occur;
• Prepare correspondence as required;
• Define requirements and prepare terms of reference for the electronic data processing o unit to produce reports from financial database;
• Maintain the financial procedures relating to assigned area of responsibility;
• Supervise support staff as assigned.

Qualifications/Experience/Skills

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Financial Management, Business Administration or related field.
• Minimum of ten years of progressive responsibility in administrative and financial management roles for relevant national public institution or international organization.
• Advanced University degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) will reduce required years of relevant professional experience to eight years
• Candidates should not be 50 years old or over at the point of recruitment and must be a citizen of one of the ECOWAS member states.
• Must be fluent in one of the official languages of the Commission; English, French and Portuguese. A working knowledge of another would be an advantage.

Competencies (Skills, Knowledge and Abilities)

Achieving and Improving: Can take personal responsibility for ensuring Centre’s management is focused on delivery of set objectives. Actively evaluates each work activity, the relationship with Centre’s objective and mandate. Understanding of budgetary control and resource allocation procedures. Provide delegated authority, as required, to ensure the work activities meet their objectives and achieves the right balance between quality, time, cost and risk. Can challenge where necessary to continuously improve working methods, systems and processes.

Communicating Effectively: Able to effectively represent the Centre’s objectives and explain its purpose/benefits to the ECOWAS community clearly and positively to internal and external customers/stakeholders. Able to demonstrate an understanding of the broader and strategic context of Centre’s objectives and be able to interpret, influence and apply that into effective outcomes. Persuade stakeholders/customers to accept a particular way forward, sometimes dealing with resistance and negotiating to reach an agreed way forward. Able to write and develop communication materials efficiently

Diversity: Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the principles of managing people by valuing diversity and encouraging and supporting staff.

Encouraging Innovation and Managing Change: Commitment to challenging the status quo and look for new and better ways of delivering the objectives. Apply interpretative and creative thinking in relation to the scope of work responsibilities and demonstrate a proactive and enthusiastic approach to embedding this in practice. Able to adapt and deal with situations and manage expectations during periods of change, especially in the eyes of the stakeholders and can take account of the broader perspective and how it affects the Centre and its staff

Ethics and Integrity: Demonstrated practice of integrity and ethical behaviour in all circumstances

Leading and Managing Others: Effectively deploy leadership qualities and management skills to ensure that work plans stay on track. Able to effectively draw upon the various skills and talents of different people both within and outside the Centre to achieve deliverables. Communicate a clear vision of the future direction and role of management and provide constructive and positive support when things go wrong so that lessons can be learned and improvements made.

Working Together: Able to create a shared sense of purpose and commitment amongst the disparate staff members of the Centre. Able to secure active stakeholder management/ownership of the work activities and broker relationships at all levels. Can demonstrate the sensitivities required to balance and resolve the tensions in working with a wide range of contacts (both internally and externally at senior levels) and preserve the Centre’s key objectives through effective consultation and negotiation to achieve the right perspective and the required outcomes.

Application Closing Date
31st October 2012

Method of Application
Interested and Qualified Candidates Should
Click Here To Apply Online