Programme Officer, Relations with ECOWAS Bureaux and Regional Intergovernmental Organizations at 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: Programme Officer, Relations with ECOWAS Bureaux and Regional Intergovernmental Organizations
 
Job Code: 20000099
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Grade: P3/P4
Status: Permanent
Department: Office Of The President
Directorate: External Relations
Division: Relations With Ecowas Member States
Line Supervisor: Director of External Relations

Role Overview

• Under the Supervision of the Director, External Relations, the incumbent shall support the Directorate in coordinating the ECOWAS cooperation with the Region’s Intergovernmental Organizations and ECOWAS National Offices.

Role and Responsibilities

• Serve as the Focal Point for relations with West Africa Intergovernmental Organizations.
• Develop tools to ensure coordination and monitoring of cooperation with West Africa Intergovernmental Organizations.
• Ensure and promote effective communication between the Commission and these Bodies working in close collaboration with relevant Technical Directorates.
• Support in exploring and expanding innovative relationships and networks between ECOWAS and West Africa Intergovernmental Organizations.
• Support in facilitating and monitoring the process of elaboration and implementation of agreements between ECOWAS and West Africa Intergovernmental Organizations.
• Support in coordination and promotion of effective communication with ECOWAS National Offices.
• Work in ensuring the effective implementation of the Operational Manual of ECOWAS National Offices (ENO) as well as ECOWAS Technical Departments and Specialized Agencies.
• Constantly update the database of ECOWAS National Offices (ENO), Ministries, and Permanent Representatives.
• Support in elaborating the Directorate’s annual budget, work programs and their execution while ensuring that deadlines are met and that outputs meet the highest technical standard.
• Participate in relevant conferences, seminars, and working groups to enhance your organization’s visibility and network with stakeholders in the field of regional intergovernmental organizations.
• Maintain records of interactions, partnerships, and collaborative activities between ECOWAS and West Africa Intergovernmental Organizations and prepare reports, briefing notes, and other relevant documents to inform senior management about progress, outcomes, and challenges related to regional partnerships.
• Perform any other task assigned by the supervisor.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree or its equivalent in International Relations, Business Administration, Public Administration, Management, Law, International Development, Political Science or any Social Science from a recognized University.
• 5 years of relevant experience in the implementation of strategic plans, resources mobilization, partnership building, management.
• demonstrated knowledge of planning, monitoring & evaluation with and Result Based Management approach.
• Proven ability to effectively support in conducting complex negotiations with public and Intergovernmental Organizations.
• Demonstrated experience in developing productive relationships with resource providers and implementing partners (Intergovernmental Organizations, Foundations, Private Sector entities etc;
• Ability to actively build and contribute to internal and external networks.
• Experience working with National and Regional Bodies will be an advantage.
• Knowledge of rules, policies and guidelines of partners and members states.
• Proven experience in planning, monitoring & evaluation of programs and projects.

Age Limit:

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

Ecowas Key Competencies

• Ability to persuade/influence others to consider a certain point of view, adopt a new idea or implement new methods and practices.
• Ability to lead a team of trainees/junior staff and instill a spirit of teamwork to engage employees and achieve a well-defined set of activities.
• Ability to respect the chain of command in an appropriate manner.
• Ability to resolve challenges that occur with minimal direction and/or to recommend and explain solutions or alternatives for approval.
• Ability to utilize the Code of Ethics to manage self, others, information, and resources.
• Ability to mentor others and create feedback loops with supervisors, colleagues, and subordinates to build strong working relationships and improve performance.
• Contribute to maintaining organizational unit’s performance goals and standards.
• Interpersonal skills with the ability to keep a client informed of progress or setbacks in projects of relevance to the timeline, quality and quantity.
• Ability to proactively interact with clients and build strong trusting relationships based on mutual respect and regular discussions.
• Ability to establish and sustain professional credibility with clients/stakeholders in a manner that anticipates their needs, mitigates issues, and carefully balances professional obligations with the need to be sensitive and responsive to their needs.
• Ability to counsel, advise, consult and guide others on matters pertaining to assigned client service responsibilities and established client service standards.
• Demonstrate respect for cultural differences, fairness, and ability to relate well with people from varied backgrounds, nationality, gender, ethnicity, race and religion.
• Understanding of diverse cultural views especially within West Africa, with sensitivity to group differences; ability to challenge bias and to practice tolerance and empathy.
• Ability to listen actively, consider people’s concerns and apply judgement, tact, and diplomacy.
• Ability to work in a diverse and inclusive interactive environment that benefits from diverse strengths.
• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
• Ability to encourage, empower, and advocate for people in an unbias and transparent manner.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS institutions, sectors, programmes and policies.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS internal operational requirements of programs, projects, services, and systems required to achieve work assignments and meet performance goals.
• Knowledge of rules and procedures of ECOWAS associated assigned responsibilities and ability to explain these clearly to others.
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS culture, structures and performance issues and priorities impacting assigned responsibilities.
• Knowledge of member states development trends, indicators, challenges, and opportunities as it relates to the project/programme assigned to own position.
• Ability to study data/information from a variety of sources, identify anomalies, trends and issues, present findings, and make recommendations.
• Ability to break down problems or processes into key parts to identify and solve gaps in service, quality assurance, compliance, and performance targets.
• Knowledge of and ability to apply techniques to generate creative ideas and new approaches to meeting goals.
• Ability to use evidence and research to inform policies and programs and identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including stakeholders, regional institutions and/or internal committees.
• Demonstrate operational computer proficiency using appropriate tools.
• Ability to make sound use of graphics and tables to effectively present numerical data to write semi-complex technical reports/proposals and edit/check templates, letters, etc.
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner through both writing and verbal means.
• Exhibit interpersonal skills, make presentations, express opinions, and debate ideas with others in a constructive manner.
• 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 develop and implement an individual action plan for achieving specific work goals.
• Identify, organize, and monitor tasks throughout to facilitate execution.
• Ability to contribute and/or lead on projects as per accepted project management standards and techniques, to co-ordinate contributions by others to set and meet deadlines.
• Ability to organize work, set priorities, and work within timelines, giving attention to details, stakeholders, indicators, and risks.
• Ability to identify, collect and assess indicators to monitor performance and to take proactive remedial action as required.

Salary
UA49106.81/USD77,480.72 - UA56,591.37/USD66,123.98 Annually.

Application Closing Date
6th March, 2024.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their correctly filled Application Form, Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a Motivation letter to: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

Click here to download the application form (Docx.)

Note

• Female applications are encouraged.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Applications initially submitted with only the CV remain acceptable.
• ECOWAS does not charge a fee for recruitment and will not request for your account details.