Regional Food Security Stock Manager 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: Regional Food Security Stock Manager

Job Code: 200000081
Location: Lome, Togo
Grade: P3/P4  
Agency: Regional Agency For Agriculture And Food
Status: Permanent
Department: Economic Affairs & Agriculture
Division: Food Security Reserve
Line Supervisor: Head of Food Security Reserve
Supervising: Accountant

Role Overview

• Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Head of Food Security Division, the incumbent implements the operations of the Regional Food Security Reserve, in particular supplies, technical rotation or destocking for the benefit of requesting member states.
• It monitors the management of food stocks in member states and supervises the process of acquiring stocks from the Reserve and their management by storage structures in member states.

Role and Responsibilities

• Prepares the contracts for the purchase of food stocks and the payment of suppliers and service providers, logistics and storage.
• Prepares purchasing organization and storage plan.
• Monitors prices and supplier mapping.
• Ensures the quality of purchased products by requiring all necessary certificates.
• Participates in negotiations with suppliers of storage products.
• Monitors the management of stocks stored in the various basins.
• Implements the technical rotation of stocks through the identical replacement procedure.
• Prepares periodic activity and follow-up reports.
• Organizes periodic audits of stored stocks and storage conditions in identified basins.
• Maintains an inventory accounting system (incoming/outgoing, inventory values).
• Plans and implements annual control activities.
• Prepares reports on the monitoring and quality of stocks in member states.

Academic Requirements and Experience

• At least a Bachelor's Degree from a recognized university, in Finance, Logistics Management, Auditing, Business Management or in Rural Development Sciences - Agronomy / Agriculture, Economics, Project Management and Planning.
• Five (5) years’ professional experience in food and nutrition security, crisis management or regional or national food and nutrition security reserves,
• In-depth knowledge of food and nutrition security policies, food crisis prevention and management systems, early warning systems and data collection and analysis systems of national and international statistical services,
• Knowledge of sectoral policies implemented in ECOWAS member states, and an excellent ability to analyse information on all issues related to population resilience and vulnerability,
• Strong knowledge of food security stock management, nutrition, and food crisis management, as well as program and project management in related fields.
• Mastery of logistical operations for the management of regional or national reserve stocks (purchasing, storage and destocking) and for the management of incoming agricultural products (reception, conformity control, claims processing),
• In-depth knowledge of ECOWAS purchasing procedures, or those of any other regional or international organization.

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 that 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 unbiased 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 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
UA41,422.90 / USD 65,357.05 - UA 48,563.42 / USD 76,623.37 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.