Principal Officer, Strategic Planning and Resource Mobilization 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: Principal Officer, Strategic Planning and  Resource Mobilization

Location: Dakar, Senegal
Institution: GIABA (ECOWAS)
Status: Permanent
Grade: P5
Directorate: Directorate General
Division: Principal Officer, Strategic Planning and  Resource Mobilization
Line Supervisor: Director General
Supervising: Monitoring And Evaluation  Officer

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the Director General, the Principal Officer, Resource Mobilization will be responsible for supporting the development and implementation of GIABA’s overall organizational resource mobilization strategy.
• S/he will ensure proper relationship building to cultivate and leverage an ever stronger donor support base for GIABA across select bilateral, multilateral, philanthropic, and corporate partners.
• Working closely with other Directorates, s/he will lead the development and presentation of proposals to potential donors and partners, support teams on compliance to donor and GIABA requirements during implementation, and coordinate stakeholder management across donors on an ongoing basis to maximize delivery of the strategic partnerships and shared mission.

Role and Responsibilities

• Resource mobilization strategy and systems development;
• Developing and maintaining a current understanding of GIABA’s programs and beneficiaries across the organization in all the countries where operations are conducted;
• Anchoring on GIABA’s institutional resource mobilization strategy, assist in the design, implementation and coordination of an institution-wide, comprehensive donor relations and stewardship system that fosters positive and mutually rewarding relationships between GIABA and its donors;
• Contribute to and review GIABA’s strategy documents and knowledge management products to help best position the institution for resource mobilization.
• Under the guidance of the DG, take initiatives to expand GIABA’s current donor base, through effective stewardship and new funding opportunities as may be developed to grow donor support for GIABA
• Working with other Resource Mobilization Officers, develop concept notes, proposals and budgets which drive the achievement of GIABA’s strategic plan and align with both GIABA and donor priorities.
• Prospecting bilateral, multilateral, philanthropic and private sector partners and translating partnership opportunities into both funds and leverage in furtherance of program and resource targets;
• Provide other forms of support as required in the implementation of the Resource.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with a portfolio of donors as a foundation for resource mobilization efforts. This includes gathering intelligence and analysing key trends in individual donor policies and plans vis-à-vis GIABA;
• Organize briefings, meetings, visits and events with current and prospective donors, coordinate programmatic and logistical arrangements, draft reports and set action plans for follow-up;
• Respond to internal and prepare response to external queries regarding donor contributions;
• Support teams to ensure compliance with donor and GIABA requirements, including ensuring timely and quality reporting.
• Have regular communication with donors, prospective and established, while working closely with GIABA’s Communication Unit, to coordinate inputs to external events and opportunities;
• Support the DG in identifying representational events with the potential for meaningful donor interaction. Provide proactive and timely advice to the director General on strategic interaction with individual donors;
• Represent GIABA at external fora and meetings on occasions designed to position the institution with donors and partners, which is critical to achieving GIABA’s strategy.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Master's degree in Business or Public Administration, Economics, Political Science or Social Sciences or any other equivalent qualification from a recognized university;
• 10 years of progressively responsible experience in implementation of strategic plans, resources mobilization, partnership building, management and 5 years at a supervisory level;
• Knowledge of strategic planning techniques, institutional and organizational evaluation, result based management (RBM) and monitoring & evaluation techniques; including theories, standards and models, quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods, validity/reliability testing of data, data analysis and interpretation,
• Knowledge of  funding rules, policies and guidelines for  partners;
• Knowledge of technical assistance on funding requirements  for member states;
• Knowledge in developing  work plans, monitor and evaluate programmes and provide reports;
• Ability to develop viable funding proposals.

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; develops and implements internal controls for pilot program to manage potential barriers to implementation;
• 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 work under pressure.
• Ability to be diplomatic, tactful and respect 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 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, to show care and make them feel valued 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
UA57,772.51 USD 91,153.46.

Application Closing Date
19th November, 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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