Legal Drafting and International Negotiation 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: Legal Drafting and International Negotiation Officer

Location: Abuja (FCT)
Institution: ECOWAS Commission
Grade: P3
Division: International Negotiations and Codification
Line Supervisor: Principal Officer, International Negotiations and Codification

Role Overview

• Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Principal Officer, International Negotiations & Codification, the incumbent will draft Community Acts and produce timely, accurate, high quality legal documents that meet the needs of ECOWAS and comply with legal standards. 

Role and Responsibilities

• Assist in drafting legal Acts of the Community and other legal documents with accuracy and clarity
• Review, revise and update contracts, agreements and policies to ensure compliance with legal requirements
• Develop programs for the harmonization of legal and judicial policies devised by the Director and assist in their implementation
• Undertake research to determine the impact of existing Acts on proposed Community Acts and participate in discussions relating to proposed Community Acts
• Conduct research and analyze legal articles and Community Acts in a bid to align them with ECOWAS objectives
• Ensure respect for the privileges and immunities conferred on the Commission and its staff under the terms of the Headquarters Agreement, the General Convention on Privileges and Immunities of ECOWAS and other international conventions
• Provide support to the Director through the Senior Legal Adviser for the performance of tasks within their respective areas of competence
• Undertake legal research and provide legal advice to statutory officials and departments within the Community
• Formulate legal opinions at statutory or internal meetings of the Commission to facilitate understanding and decision making
• Participate in negotiations between ECOWAS Commission and Member States, Development Partners or Institutions in the framework of financing Community projects or in the framework of strengthening cooperation and partnerships
• Participate in international negotiation meetings with partners, third countries and other regional communities
• Represent the ECOWAS Commission in certain conferences or seminars
• Perform any other task assigned by his or her supervisor.

Academic Qualification and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Law with a specialization in Legislative Drafting from a recognized university
• Five years of progressively responsible experience as a lawyer in the legal office of an intergovernmental organization or government is desirable
• Broad knowledge of public international law and ability to apply legal expertise to analyze a diverse range of complex and unusual legal issues and develop innovative and creative solutions
• Excellent knowledge of legal issues relating to the functions, structure and activities of ECOWAS
• Proficiency in legal writing and ability to prepare legal briefs, opinions, legal submissions and a variety of legal instruments and related documents

Age limit:

• Be below 50 years old This provision 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 them and guide them
• Organizes and leads cross divisional work group in developing creative solutions to address problems and or leads a small group of entry level professionals and administrative support staff
• Well developed 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 employees and provides timely and consistent feedback regarding technical proficiency and effectiveness
• Knowledge of project management at the level usually acquired from a certification in Project Management eg Prince2 or Project Management Professional PMP
• Ability to consider the impact of a shift in programmatic direction to the needs of internal and external clients
• 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
• Well developed 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, and timelines and service delivery, addressing client questions in a timely manner
• Ability to communicate openly with clients or stakeholders, keeping them informed of progress and issues requiring attention or resolutions
• Excellent judgement and ability to implement programmatic changes in a manner that ensures a bias free work environment and fair and equitable application to new rules or regulations
• Demonstrated experience and ability to adhere to policies, goals, objectives, and principles of valuing diversity in performing everyday duties and responsibilities promoting or modeling behaviors that demonstrate tolerance and understanding of various cultures
• Ability to build value from leveraging diverse capabilities and inputs from various cultures, staff and clients
• 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
• Excellent knowledge of ECOWAS institutions and how the different organs relate to each other particularly as it relates to own work sector or programs
• Broad knowledge of ECOWAS legal framework with a sound knowledge of approaches to policy and program development as well as project management normally acquired through certification
• Well developed knowledge of the rules, processes and procedures of ECOWAS of pertinence to tasks related to own position
• Broad knowledge of member states trends, indicators, challenges and opportunities as it relates to sector or 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 or programme and excellent analytical skills to assess external policies and trends when reviewing policy or programme options, pros, cons and recommendations
• Ability to synthesize complex information gathered from a variety of external sources and disseminates 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 or agency guidelines and criteria
• Well developed 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 such as email, word processing, excel, power point, collaborative software, graphic software
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner through both writing and verbal means either with electronic or print media
• Fluency in one of the three ECOWAS official languages English, French and Portuguese
• Good 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 sound and achievable plans
• Ability to conduct meetings with staff, stakeholders, colleagues and others to ascertain organizational, program and or project needs adjusting 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.

ECOWAS Work Environment:

• ECOWAS provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and a healthy work-life balance.
• We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore, we encourage women to apply for positions that suit their competencies.
• 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.

Salary

• UA 36,929.06 / USD 58,266.68 Annually. 

Application Closing Date
30th April, 2026. 

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Curriculum Vitae, Cover letter and Application form to: b60legaldraftinternational@ecowas.int using the job title as the subject of the email.

Click here to download the application form (Docx.)

Note

• Failure to comply with any of these requirements will result in the cancellation of the application.
• All should be sent by email to the relevant email address against each position before the deadline.
• The application will not be considered if one of the Mandatory documents is not attached.

Assessment method:

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

Disclaimer:

• 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.
• This vacancy is subject to local recruitment, in accordance with Article 9.3 of the ECOWAS Personnel Regulations (revised in 2021).
• All staff in General Services and related categories will are recruited from among ECOWAS citizens residing in the Member State where the vacancy is advertised.
• A staff member subject to local recruitment will not be entitled to allowances or benefits applicable exclusively to international recruitment.