Principal Programme Officer, Relations with ECOWAS Member States at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Role Overview

• Under the Supervision of the Director of External Relations, the incumbent shall be in charge of the Relations with ECOWAS Member States and ensure that the agreed action plans are implemented accordingly.

Role and responsibilities

• Serves as an interface between the ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Country Offices in the Member States, the Permanent Representations based in Abuja as well as the Resident/Special/Permanent Representations of the Commission.
• Promotes communication between the Commission and these structures, working closely with the relevant technical departments.
• Ensures regular updating of relevant databases and documents and ensures the circulation of relevant databases.
• Ensures that the capacity building needs of ECOWAS Country Offices are considered in the overall strategic framework of the Commission.
• Supervises the staff of the Division and assists the Executive Directorate in the performance of its mandates.
• Facilitates the establishment of effective partnerships between the different parties (National Offices, Permanent Representations in Abuja, and Resident/Special/Permanent Representations) and the Commission.
• Develops an integrated approach to managing relationships between
• and the Commission, on the one hand, and the Commission’s activities in the Member States, on the other,
• Contributes to the implementation and monitoring of actions/programmes carried out in support of the National Offices.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Science, International Relations or any similar discipline from a recognized University.
• 10 years of progressively responsible experience in implementation of strategic plans, partnership building, management, and 5 years at a supervisory level.
• knowledge of institutional and organizational evaluation, result based management (RBM) and monitoring & evaluation techniques, including theories, standards and models, quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods, validity/reliability testing of data, data analysis and interpretation.
• knowledge in developing work plans, ability to monitor and evaluate programmes and provide reports.
• Ability to develop viable funding proposals.
•  Bonne connaissance des mécanismes nationaux de coordination de programmes régionaux.
• Parfaite maîtrise des questions concernant l’intégration et le développement régional.

AGE LIMIT

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

ECOWAS KEY COMPETENCIES

• A bility to lead in assigned programmes and projects by providing the necessary managerial and operational expertise required for the fulfillment of the organization’s mandate.
• 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; develop and implement internal controls for pilot programme to manage potential barriers to implementation.
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner.
• Excellent self-management skills, demonstrating ethics and integrity, confidentiality and displaying due regards for internal controls of rules, delegations, and transparency.
• Ebility 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 programme management at the level usually acquired from a certification in programme management.
• Ability to research benchmarks and trends to bring about the best recommendations for the development and improvement of programmes/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 and make recommendations.
• Ability to develop and implement best practices in client services.
• Ability to develop and implement stakeholder management plans, programmes and initiatives to obtain buy-in on new initiatives, to better understand dissenting views, to obtain resources and to increase perceptions of success.
• Ability to be diplomatic, tactful, and respectful of other people from varied backgrounds, understanding diverse cultural views especially within West Africa with the ability to convert diversity into opportunities to improve programme/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 managing conflict regardless of cultural differences /positions, gender differences, and encourage other staff to overcome cultural and gender bias and differences.
• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
• Ability to serve the interest of culturally diverse multinational teams/organizations/communities and persons with disability without prejudice and bias.
• Understanding of the ECOWAS organizational structure, associated dynamics and expectations as required to collaborate, participate, contribute, and lead effectively.
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS mandate, strategic plan/priorities as well as the economic, political, and social situation and trends in member states, as pertains to own scope of work.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS best practices, programme management approaches and research techniques to lead and/or contribute to the development or assessment of programmes, projects, or initiatives.
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS rules and procedures to appropriately interpret and apply directive, provide technical advice, coach others and assess performance.
• Ability to analyze 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/programmes/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 are no longer effective.
• 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 and editing skills.
• 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;
• Ability to give constructive feedback, provide recognition, address shortcomings, and motivate direct reports to work at peak performance.
• Proficiency in information and communications technology (ICT).
• Fluency in oral and written expressions in one of the ECOWAS official languages (English, French & Portuguese). Knowledge of an additional one will be an added advantage.
• Organizational and programme/project management skills with significant experience identifying timelines, targets, costs, and resources necessary to deliver on operational/programme/project outputs in line with result-based management approach.
• 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 use participatory approach in project planning and identify gaps affecting the achievement of programme/project expectations and to design and implement intervention plans required to build the desired task.
• Ability to implement rigorous monitoring and evaluation practices and to set in place regular reporting schedules relevant to key outputs.
• Ability to plan, organize, control resources, and to comply with policies, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.