Principal Officer, Protocol at the Economic Community of West African States

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: Principal Officer, Protocol

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Institution: Ecowas Parliament
Status: Permanent
Grade: P5
Directorate: Office Of The Secretary General
Division: Protocol Division
Line Supervisor: Secretary-General
Supervising: Protocol Officer

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the Secretary General, this position will advise the Secretary-General and the Parliament on Protocol and Diplomatic matters and supervise Protocol Services of the Parliament.

Role and Responsibilities

• Advise on Protocol policies and lead in the implementation of such policies;
• Plan, co-ordinate and supervise the work of the Protocol Division, including contributing to the drawing up of the annual budget and supervising the staff of the Division to ensure provision of efficient Protocol services to the Institution;
• Co-ordinate the Parliament’s inter-phase with the Diplomatic Community and facilitate access to Diplomatic Missions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• Ensure effective Protocol services to the Honourable Speaker and other high level delegations of the Parliament on official missions and ensure VIP treatment for those personalities;
• Supervise Protocol services during sessions and other meetings of the Parliament, including receiving of guests, planning of seating arrangements, organising receptions, accommodation and transport;
• Supervise ticketing arrangements for official travel and facilitate travel arrangements such as the acquisition of visas;
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Master's degree in Political Science, International Relations, Management, Public Relations, Communications or related fields from a recognized University.
• 10 years of progressively responsible experience in conference management, protocol services or related field, including 2 years of relevant international work experience and 2 years of experience in conference and protocol at a supervisory level;
• Knowledge of norms, rules and customs of diplomatic conference and protocol developed within an international setting;
• Ability to maintain up to date information related to protocol/travel services, composition of organizations and of Governments;
• Proven experience in developing and implementing an effective mechanism for the management and delivery of conference, protocol and travel services.

Age Limit:

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

Ecowas Key Competencies:

• Ability to lead in assigned programmes and projects by providing the necessary managerial and operational expertise required for the fulfillment of the organization’s mandate;
• Ability to lead by example and organize teamwork to encourage cooperation to achieve targeted results, champion and build momentum for change and to bring about employee engagement;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Excellent self-management skills, demonstrating ethics and integrity, confidentiality and displaying due regards for internal controls of rules, delegations and transparency;
• Ability to bring together complementary skills/expertise, assess individual contributions and recognize/address accomplishments and shortcomings in a manner that brings continued success to the organization;
• Knowledge of program management at the level usually acquired from a certification in program management.
• Ability to research benchmarks and trends to bring about the best recommendations for the development and improvement of programs/projects that will best serve the community/organization;
• Well-developed networking and interpersonal skills to seek feedback, information and data from a network of professionals from multiple countries/sectors/organizations and to identify and prioritize the most critical community requirements;
• Ability to manage and co-ordinate client management initiatives and make recommendations;
• Ability to develop and implement best practices in client services;
• Ability to develop and implement stakeholder management plans, programs and initiatives to obtain buy-in on new initiatives, to better understand dissenting views, to obtain resources and to increase perceptions of success.
• Ability to be diplomatic, tactful and respectful of other people from varied backgrounds, understanding diverse cultural views especially within West Africa with the ability to convert diversity into opportunities to improve program/operational outcomes;
• Ability to create a diverse and inclusive interactive environment that benefits from diverse strengths bringing together innovative practices;
• 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 and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work;
• Ability to serve the interest of culturally diverse multinational teams/organizations/communities and persons with disability without prejudice and bias
• Understanding of the ECOWAS organizational structure, associated dynamics and expectations as required to collaborate, participate, contribute and lead effectively;
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS mandate, strategic plan/priorities as well as the economic, political and social situation and trends in Member States, as pertains to own scope of work;
• Knowledge of ECOWAS best practices, program management approaches and research techniques to lead and/or contribute to the development or assessment of programs, projects or initiatives;
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS rules and procedures in order to appropriately interpret and apply directive or text, provide technical advice, coach others and assess performance.
• Ability to analyze a situation by using indicators to assess the costs, benefits, risks, and chances for success in making decisions;
• Ability to pull together information from different sources to identify the cause of problems, consequences of alternative causes of action, potential obstacles and ways to avoid the problem in the future;
• Ability to break down very complex situations/information into simple terms to explain recommendations and conclusions aimed at solving problems or improving operations/programs/projects;
• Ability to develop new insights into situations, apply innovative solutions to problems and to design new methods of addressing issues or disconnects where established methods and procedures are inapplicable or no longer effective.
• Ability to communicate with impact, clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner conveying credibility & confidence when making presentations, setting expectations and explaining complex issues;
• Ability to listen intently and correctly interpret messages from others and respond appropriately;
• Accomplished technical writing and editing skills;
• Exhibit active listening skills to encourage stronger communication amongst team members and to  drive employee engagement in all institutions and agencies;
• Ability to give constructive feedback, provide recognition, address shortcomings and motivate direct reports to work at peak performance;
• Proficiency in information communication technologies(ICT);
• 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.
• Organizational and project/program management skills with significant experience identifying timelines, targets, costs and resources necessary to deliver on operational/program/project outputs in line with result based management approach;
• Ability to set effective goals and targets for self, others, and the work unit and adjusting work or project priorities in response to changing circumstances;
• Ability to use participatory approach in project planning and identify gaps affecting the achievement of program/project expectations and to design and implement intervention plans required to build the desired task;
• Ability to implement rigorous monitoring and evaluation practices and to set in place regular reporting schedules relevant to key outputs;
• Ability to plan, organize, control resources, and to comply with policies, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Annual Salary
UA66, 123.98, USD104, 330.42.

Application Closing Date
31st October, 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] using the Job Title as the subject of the email.

Click here to download Application Form (Ms Word)

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