Parliamentary Research Officer 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: Parliamentary Research Officer

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Grade: P2 / P3 / P4
Status: Permanent
Institution: ECOWAS Parliament
Directorate: Parliamentary Affairs & Research
Division: Library, Documentation & Research
Line Supervisor: Principal Officer, Library, Documentation & Research

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the Principal Officer, Library, Documentation & Research, the incumbent shall assist Members of Parliament  by providing them relevant well researched information for their work.

Role and Responsibilities

• Respond in a timely manner to requests for information or enquiries from Committee members and other Members of Parliament;
• Undertake research, usually from readily available sources, on clearly defined subjects;
• Analyse and evaluate research and interpret data in order to identify the key issues;
• Prepare and present, in both written and oral forms, the results of research in a manner appropriate for answering parliamentary questions, providing briefings to Committee members, or for providing content for newspaper articles and press releases ;
• Prepare and provide briefings for Committee Clerks to be tabled at meetings of the Committee;
• Monitor motions, petitions, legislations, Hansard, and other parliamentary activity as appropriate;
• Monitor coverage in the media issues before the Committees;
• Advise and guide the Committees, Members of Parliament, the Secretary-General and Committee Clerks on relevant policy matters;
• Progress casework through liaison with local and national bodies, government agencies, lobby groups and other associated bodies;
• Develop knowledge of relevant legislation and ensure that knowledge is maintained and updated;
• Maintain precise, detailed records of each issue and ensure the confidentiality of data at all times;
• Develop knowledge in specialist areas as required by the Committees;
• Performs other tasks as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in International Relations, Political Science, Public Administration or a related field from a recognized University;
• 2 years of progressively responsible professional working experience in political science, political affairs, international relations, law, mediation, conflict resolution, or related area is required;
• Knowledge and understanding of ECOWAS agency or institutional mandate, international non-proliferation theories, concepts and developments and ECOWAS strategies, including cooperation with Member-States and international organizations;
• Knowledge and understanding of ECOWAS agency / institution’s relations with national and regional agencies, International organizations and other international and diplomatic institutions;
• Ability to liaise between ECOWAS members and Staff with the government of the country of residence, in focus areas;
• Classification of information of relevance to the human resources management functional areas.

Age Limit:

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

ECOWAS Key Competencies:

• Ability to execute tasks, contact colleagues and contribute as needed towards  decision making to ensure tasks are completed in a timely manner;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Ability to guide own work by setting and monitoring goals with strong personal initiative and commitment to ECOWAS;
• Ability to model and advocate for compliance, good work ethics, flexibility and persistence to get job done coupled with an ability to influence positive teamwork and cooperation;
• Ability to work in teams to carry out semi-routine work including assigning work, training and checking work.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to engage with clients in positive exchanges that establishes mutual expectations, understanding and reduces uncertainties and conflicts;
• Ability to keep clients informed on matters of relevance to expectations, establishing “bring forward” systems and introducing other procedures/techniques to ensure that service standards are maintained;
• Ability to make decisions based on guidelines, procedures and precedents and maintain confidentiality and discretion with clients;
• Good judgement and demonstrated ability to be assertive – rather than passive or aggressive when interacting with clients;
• Well-developed problem-solving, critical thinking and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to perceive the moods and feelings of others, and to understand the attitude, interests, needs, and perspectives of others;
• Well-developed ability to relate well with people from varied backgrounds, open to understanding diverse cultural differences especially within West Africa;
• Ability to listen attentively to people’s ideas, requests and concerns and to explain to others the need for diversity management in every day workplace practices;
• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work;
• Ability to factor in diversity when providing services, responding to requests, recognizing and releasing preconceived notions and stereotypical views of certain groups and individuals;
• Basic understanding of the ECOWAS organization mandate and its functions;
• Ability to explain the functional area assigned to and the contributions it makes to the organization and its mandate;
• Knowledge of ECOWAS semi-routine procedures, processes and practices as it relates to assigned responsibilities and information systems;
• Ability to apply ECOWAS standards in emailing, reporting, correspondences, etc. and to contribute to implementing associated changes as directed;
• Ability to carefully review and check the accuracy of information in work reports provided by management, management information systems or other individuals;
• Good knowledge of office monitoring indicators of relevance to own work and ability to provide brief reports or updates;
• Ability to edit, check, track and review documents prepared by others and reorganize data or information according to instructions using latest technology;
• Efficiently retrieves, inputs, edits, formats, transmits and links electronic file data used for analysis and understands data management operations;
• Ability to condense information and / or produce concise summary notes to help others with decision-making, problem solving and / or assessment of work;
• Demonstrated computer skills to communicate using tools, to write and format documents appropriately for presentation, the web, proposals, reports and other documents;
• Ability to proofread, edit and revise documents to ensure they follow standard conventions for punctuation and mechanics and formatted in accordance to ECOWAS communication standards;
• Ability to relay / redirect complete and accurate messages to appropriate persons / departments;
• 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.
• Ability to organize information and materials for others, solving minor problems and checking for completeness and compliance to standards and instructions;
• Knowledge of techniques to prioritize tasks in fast paced workplace with frequent interruptions and moving deadlines and adaptability / flexibility to meet work expectations;
• Understanding and adherence to the policies, procedures and guidelines required to support the ECOWAS planning cycle at the individual and organizational level;
• Good initiative with an ability to identify what needs to be done and take action in a proactive manner.

Annual Salary     
UA42,916.53  /  USD67,713.70 - UA49,106.81  /  USD77,480.72 - UA56,591.37  /  USD89,289.87

Application Closing Date
13th April,  2021.

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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