Head of Division, Peace Support Operations (P3) 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: Head of Division, Peace Support Operations

Job Code: 20003915
Location: Abuja
Job type: Full-Time
Grade: P5
Agency: Commission
Division: Peace Support Operations Division
Line Supervisor: Director, Peacekeeping and Regional Security
Directorate: Peacekeeping and Regional Security
Institution: ECOWAS Commission
Supervising: Military Component, Police Component, Civilian Component, Mission Support
Department: Political Affairs, Peace and Security

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of Director, Peacekeeping and Regional Security, the Head of Division is responsible for the planning, deployment, and management during multidimensional peace support operations.

Role and Responsibilities

• Initiate and undertake activities for the implementation of policies on planning and management of ECOWAS PSO Missions
• Plan and coordinate authorized operations that ECOWAS may have to undertake.
• Coordinate the activities of the Heads of Section under PSOD
• Initiate and undertake the production and promulgation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for field mission management and for each substantive civilian and military mission component.
• Supervise the conduct of force development efforts, including force-generation tasks, logistics support and inspections.
• Ensure that Pledged Units are prepared for deployments and when deployed, effectively conducting the assigned missions.
• Manage deployed missions in conjunction with the ECOWAS SRPC work closely with the COS of the ESF, to supervise the planning, conduct and report of inspections of Standby units and operations in cooperation with Member States and relevant partners.
• Conduct and coordinate the update of ESF doctrine, SOPs, and other relevant policy documents.
• Coordinate and Work closely with other ECOWAS Departments
• Carry out any other tasks as may be assigned to him by his supervisors.

Academic Qualification and Experience

• Minimum of a Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in Political Science, International Relations, Social Science, Law, Public Administration, or a related field from a university of recognized standing or a Certificate of successful attendance to a senior staff college for military or security personnel.
• 10 years of progressively responsible experience in political affairs, diplomacy, conflict resolution, or related field, including 6 years relevant international work and 5 years at a supervisory level.
• Knowledge of the work of intergovernmental bodies, the work of ECOWAS, and its related bodies concerned with political, economic, social, peace and security, and related matters with a technical ability to identify problems and propose policy options.
• Knowledge of the governance challenges in West Africa as well as the Commissions’ rules and procedures and the ability to evaluate international political situations with bequeathing skills in bilateral and multilateral negotiations.
• Possess at least one (1) year experience with the UN, AU, or ECOWAS PSO Mission.
• Have employment experience in the planning and assessment function at managerial level.
• Have previous specialty and employment experience in integrated mission planning and assessment.

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 fulfilment of the organization’s mandate (e.g. establish networks, benchmarks).
• 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.
• Excellent self-management skills, demonstrating ethics and integrity 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 (e.g. Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) or Program Management Professional PgMP).
• 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 (e.g. feedback loops, surveys, studies, needs assessments) and make recommendations.
• Ability to develop and implement best practices in client services (e.g. dashboards, incentive management, feedback mechanisms).
• 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.
• Diplomacy, tact, 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 appraisals, evaluations and in managing conflict regardless of cultural differences positions, gender issues or opinions, and encourages staff to overcome cultural and gender barriers and background differences.
• Ability to serve the interest of a culturally diverse multinational teams/organizations/communities and some disable groups without prejudice, bias or sympathy to a select group.
• Solid understanding of the ECOWAS organizational structure, associated dynamics and expectations as required to collaborate, participate, contribute, and lead effectively.
• Applied knowledge of the Community mandate, strategic plan/priorities as well as the economic, political, and social state/trends of member states, especially 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.
• Superior knowledge of the rules and procedures of ECOWAS to appropriately interpret and apply directive text, provide technical advice, coach others, and assess performance.
• Ability to analyse 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.
• Proficiency in oral and written French and English languages.
• 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 skills (e.g. proposals, terms of reference, program assessments, blueprints, business processes) with well-developed editing.
• Ability to give honest feedback, provide recognition, address shortcomings, and motivate direct reports to work at peak performance.
• Fluency in one of the three ECOWAS official languages (English, French & Portuguese)
• Superior organizational and project/program management skills with significant experience identifying timelines, targets, costs, and resources necessary to deliver on operational/program/project outputs.
• 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 identify gaps affecting the achievement of program/project expectations and to design and implement intervention plans required to build the desired capacity (e.g. training, structural realignment, partnerships, reallocation of resources.
• Ability to implement rigorous monitoring, and evaluation practices and to set in place regular reporting schedules relevant to key outputs (e.g. management indicators, project milestones, program results, processing targets).
• Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures, and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Assessment method:

• Assessment of qualified candidates may include a written exercise and a competency-based interview.

ECOWAS Work Environment:

• ECOWAS provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and a healthy work-life balance.

Annual Salary
UA66,123.98 (USD104,330.42)

Application Closing Date
24th July, 2025.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications to: b53headofdivpeacesupportoperations@ecowas.int using the Job Title as the subject of the email.

Click here to download the application form (Docx.)

Note

• Selection and appointment will be subject to background and reference checks and other administrative requirements.
• ECOWAS does not charge for any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing in connection with application or recruitment processes and does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.
• Individuals from minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are also highly encouraged to apply. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of ECOWAS’s workforce.
• We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore, we encourage women to apply for positions that suit their competencies.