Legal Adviser, Legal Drafting and International Negotiation 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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Legal Adviser, Legal Drafting and International Negotiation

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Institution: ECOWAS Commission
Grade: P4
Status: Permanent
Departement: Office Of the President
Directorate: Legal Affairs Directorate
Division: International Negotiations & Codification
Line Supervisor: Principal Legal Adviser, International Negotiations & Codification

Role Overview

• Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Principal Legal Adviser, International Negotiations & Codification, the incumbent will participate in negotiations meetings and provide Council role advice to ECOWAS, prepare and propose legal texts and provide assistance in their implementation.

Role and Responsibilities

• Assist in drafting legal Acts of the Community, including Additional Acts of the Conference of Heads of State and Government, Regulations, Directives and Decisions of the Council of Ministers according to the new legal regime of the Community;
• Assist in drafting other types of legal acts on behalf of the Commission, including conventions, agreements and contracts;
• Develop programs for the harmonization of legal and judicial policies devised by the Director, and assists in their implementation;
• Develops draft cooperation agreements between member states on legal and judicial issues;
• Assist in monitoring the Commission’s working relationship with the ECOWAS Parliament and Court of Justice and promote synergies amongst lawyers;
• Ensure respect for the privileges and immunities conferred on the Commission and its staff, under the terms of the Headquarters Agreement, the General Convention on Privileges and Immunities of ECOWAS and other international conventions;
• Provide support to the Director, through the Senior Legal Adviser, for the performance of tasks within their respective areas of competence;
• Provide legal advice in his area to statutory officials and all Commission staff;
• Also formulate legal opinions at statutory or internal meetings of the Commission to facilitate understanding and decision-making;
• Participate in negotiations between ECOWAS Commission and Development Partners or Institutions in the framework of financing Community projects or in the framework of strengthening the relations of cooperation and partnership;
• Participate in International negotiation meeting with Partners, third countries and others Regional Communities;
• Represent the ECOWAS Commission in certain conferences or seminars;
• Perform any other task assigned by his/her supervisor.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Law, with a specialization in international, administrative or commercial law from a recognized university;
• 7 years progressively responsible experience as a lawyer in the legal office of an intergovernmental organization or government is desirable;
• knowledge of  international law; ability to apply legal expertise to analyzing a diverse range of complex and unusual legal issues and problems and in developing innovative and creative solutions;
• knowledge of legal issues relating to the functions, structure and activities of international organizations;
• Proficiency in legal writing and ability to prepare legal briefs, opinions, or legal submissions, and a variety of legal instruments and related documents.

Age Limit

• Be below 50 years old. This provision does not apply to internal candidates.

Ecowas Key Competencies:

• Ability to get groups to work together cooperatively, by enlisting active involvement, creating a climate for respect and openness, and applying effective techniques for group facilitation, explore their potentials, motivate  and guide them;
• Organize and lead cross-divisional work group in developing creative solutions to address problems and or lead a small group of entry level professionals and administrative support staff;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Develop on—the-job training techniques paired with excellent coaching and mentoring skills; knowledge of new staff orientation approaches to facilitate understanding of the position and organization;
• Ability to assign work to direct reports and provide timely and consistent feedback regarding technical proficiency and effectiveness;
• Ability to represent the organization effectively before external parties.
• Ability to consider the impact of a shift in programmatic direction to the needs of internal and external stakeholders;
• Ability to promote and consider staff feedback to streamline processes in order to meet deadlines of relevance to client expectations;
• Ability to consistently maintain composure and direction in high- pressure situations;
• Develop problem solving, mediation and conflict resolution skills to address discrepancies, complaints, bottle necks, time constraints affecting quality and quantity of client services;
• Ability to anticipate growing client needs and expectations to continuously improve quality, timelines, service delivery and addressing client questions in a timely manner;
• Ability to communicate openly with clients, keeping them informed of progress and issues requiring attention/resolutions.
• Ability to implement programmatic changes in a manner that ensures a biased-free work environment, fair and equitable application to new rules/regulations;
• Experience and ability to adhere to policies, goals, objectives, and principles of valuing diversity in performing everyday duties and responsibilities; promoting/modeling behaviors that demonstrate tolerance and understanding of various cultures;
• Ability to remain objective in managing conflict regardless of cultural differences /positions, gender differences, and encourage other staff to overcome cultural and gender bias and  differences;
• Ability to build value from leveraging diverse capabilities and inputs from various cultures, staff and clients;
• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work;
• Ability to create a diverse and inclusive interactive environment that benefits from diverse strengths bringing together innovative practices;
• ability to seek out best practices to make organizational decisions of relevance to diversity management, ensuring that project and program activities identify vulnerable areas and contain systemic checks.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS institutions and how the different organs relate to each other, particularly as it relates to own work sector/programs;
• Knowledge of approaches to policy and program development of  an international organization as well as project management ;
• Knowledge of the rules, processes and procedures of an international organization, of pertinence to tasks related to own position;
• Knowledge of member states development trends, indicators, challenges and opportunities as it relates to project/programme assigned to own position
• Creativity and flexibility to deviate from traditional methods in developing new procedures, processes and tools, using technology to simplify methods and approaches whenever possible;
• Ability to reevaluate current procedures and suggest improvements to ensure an effective, streamlined process;
• Ability to gather and summarize information to predict stakeholder views on a new policy/programmes; and excellent analytical skills to assess external policies and trends when reviewing policy/programme options, pros, cons and recommendations;
• Ability to synthesize complex information gathered from a variety of external and internal sources and disseminate it to others in a logical manner;
• Ability to apply appropriate methodology to discover or identify policy issues and resource concerns.
• Develop interpersonal, negotiation, networking and presentation skills with proven abilities to influence, explain complex information and demonstrate empathy and open-mindedness;
• Ability to demonstrate operational proficiency in the use of computer in communicating using technology tools;
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner through both written and verbal expressions;
• Exhibit active listening skills to encourage stronger communication amongst  team members, to show care and make them feel valued and to  drive employee engagement in all institutions and agencies;
• Fluency in oral and written expressions in one of the ECOWAS official languages of the Community (English, French & Portuguese). Knowledge of an additional one will be an added advantage.
• Ability to consider external circumstances, factors and trends when organizing project activities to ensure the best outcomes;
• Ability to review process outcomes, correspondence, reports, and policy documents to develop achievable plans;
• Ability to conduct meetings with staff, stakeholders, colleagues and others to ascertain  organizational  program and/or project needs, making adjustments to plans and activities accordingly;
• Ability to adjust project plans based on input from staff and stakeholders and/or ability to design and implement guidelines, tools and templates to accommodate new or revised programmes and services.

Annual Salary

• UA56, 591.37, USD89, 289.87.

Application Closing Date
24th April, 2020.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should download the Application Form below, fill it out correctly; attach a Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a Motivation Letter and send to: [email protected]

Click here to download Application Form (Ms Word)

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