Legal Officer - International Instruments & Other Enforceable Means 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 Officer - International Instruments & Other Enforceable Means

Location: Dakar, Senegal
Institution: GIABA
Grade: P2/P3    
Directorate: Evaluation And Compliance
Division: Legal
Unit: Common Law
Line Supervisor: Senior Legal Officer, Common Law
Supervising: None
Duration: Permanent

Role Overview

• Under the supervision and guidance of the Senior Legal Officer, Civil Law shall be responsible for following functions:

Role and Responsibilities

• Review relevant international AML/CFT instruments such as United Nations Security Council Resolutions and successor resolutions; FATF Standards and methodology and implications for member States; FATF Guidance and Best Practices papers; ECOWAS Treaties and Protocols; African Union Protocols; etc.
• Develop regional uniform AML/CFT framework and implementation strategies.
• Provide support role and/or participate (when required) in GIABA mutual evaluation exercises and draft reports on sections of the mutual evaluation reports (MERs) covering relevant FATF Recommendations and Immediate Outcomes;
• Provide support roles in the organization of GIABA assessors training; pre-assessment training; training on FATF Standards and Methodology organized for Member States;
• Analyze follow up reports by member States;
• Provide inputs and participate in the assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks;
• Undertake the identification, design and implementation of training and capacity building activities in the legal sector;
• Provide support in the organization of the GIABA Evaluation and Compliance Group meetings
• Provide inputs in the identification, design and implementation of capacity building activities in the legal sector
• Support the organization of capacity building activities on issues in Legal area for relevant stakeholders in member States
• Assist in the development and revision AML/CFT legal framework at national, supranational and regional levels;
• Participate in other capacity building activities organized by other units or divisions other than legal unit
• Provide inputs into revision of FATF Standards; Methodology; Guidance and Best Practice papers; Universal ME Procedures; and GIABA ME Processes and Procedure and other instruments for the purpose of improving the AML/CFT compliance by Member States
• Produce draft reports for GIABA Statutory meetings (TC/Plenary; GMC and any other fora)
• Provide the inputs into GIABA Annual reports, Strategic Plans; Annual Work Plan or any other relevant publications of GIABA and/or Members of the AML/CFT Global Network
• Participate in the mutual evaluations and training activities by other assessment bodies either as an expert or delegate as the case may be.
• Participate in the technical assistance needs assessments of Member States in the area of legal issues relating to AML/CFT compliance.
• Serve as part of the in-house legal team to GIABA Secretariat
• Perform any other functions as maybe assigned from time to time.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Law (preferably Common Law), with a specialization in International, Administrative or Commercial Law from a recognized university;
• 3 years progressively responsible experience as a lawyer in the legal office of an intergovernmental organization or private consultancy firm is desirable;
• Knowledge and understanding of relevant international instruments, including FATF Standards and FATF Methodology; ECOWAS treaties and protocols, United Nations Security Resolutions and Conventions relating to money laundering and the financing of terrorism;
• Knowledge and understanding of the relevant aspects of money laundering, combating terrorism finance (AML/CFT), proceeds of crime, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, and extradition legislation;
• Knowledge and understanding of confiscation and provisional measures for confiscating criminal proceeds;
• Experience in capacity building on AML/CFT at national, supranational and/or regional level;
• 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;
• Knowledge of legal frameworks of Common Law jurisdictions in ECOWAS member States;
• Proficiency in legal writing and ability to prepare legal briefs, opinions, or legal submissions, and a variety of legal instruments and related documents.
• Knowledge and understanding of programs/project management;
• Familiarity with the conduct of AML/CFT Mutual Evaluations;
• Excellent use of IT tools;
• Good report writing and presentation skills.

Age Limit:

• To be at least 24 years and less than 50 years old. This age limit 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 work under pressure.
• 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.
• Ability to evaluate, incorporate, and communicate the latest developments in specialty area using institution/agency guidelines and criteria;
• 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;
• 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 any additional one will be an added advantage.
• Knowledge of internal planning cycles and ability to contribute to the development and to implement Community-wide or institution policy by determining target audience, building coalitions with the appropriate population, and monitor progress;
• 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
UA 37,674.89 - USD 59,443.44
UA 43,414.62 - USD 68,499.59

Application Closing Date
11th May, 2022.