Program Officer (PO), Highway & Road Engineer - P2/P3 at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Institution: ECOWAS Commission
Grade: P2/P3
Status: Permanent
Department: Infrastructure
Directorate: Transport
Division: Roads & Railways
Line Supervisor: PO Road Infrastructure Development
Supervising: Program Assistant

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the PPO Road Infrastructure Development, the PO Highway & Road Engineer will provide technical expertise and support project implementation in the road development, road engineering and related policy and strategies in the development of the regional highway network.
• The PO Highway & Road Engineer will also coordinate with Member State Ministries and Road Agencies as well as Development Partners to implement community cross border road projects and services to support the attainment of regional integration Agenda of ECOWAS.

Role and Responsibilities

• Support the development of short, medium and long term programme and plans for construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of road infrastructure in ECOWAS region;
• Coordinate and monitor implementation of Community Highway corridor development program in the ECOWAS region;
• Promote the harmonization of roads policies, Design standards, procedures and practices in the ECOWAS Member States
• Support the preparation of term of reference for studies in road infrastructure and coordinate such studies;
• Analyze and monitor current policies, design standards, procedures and practices that are used for highway design in ECOWAS Member States.
• Ensure that transport infrastructure designs meet the approved regulations and standards;
• Develop and monitor programmes for the improvement and integration of roads networks;
• Must have experience in multi-modal transport that integrates all transport modes including air, road, transport, railway development, port and border operations, transit systems, inland container depots, warehousing and logistics clusters
• Assist the management of Road projects from conceptual stages, pre and post-contract activities.

Academic Qualification and Experience
Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering, Public Works, Highway Engineering or related discipline

Experience:

• Three (3) years of considerable experience in the implementation of road infrastructure projects in a developing country context
• Experience in highway and road infrastructure project implementation, studies and works supervision in the public or private sector
• Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to monitoring and evaluation of road infrastructure projects or programmes.
• Proven experience in at least two of the following key aspects: planning, design, construction, financing, regulation and maintenance

Age Limit:

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

Ecowas Key Competencies

• Ability to execute tasks, contact colleagues and contribute as needed towards decision making to ensure tasks are completed in a timely manner;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Ability to guide own work by setting and monitoring goals with strong personal initiative and commitment to ECOWAS;
• Ability to model and advocate for compliance, good work ethics, flexibility and persistence to get job done coupled with an ability to influence positive teamwork and cooperation;
• Excellent interpersonal skills to engage with stakeholders in positive exchanges that establishes mutual expectations, understanding and reduces uncertainties and conflicts;
• Ability to make decisions based on guidelines, procedures and precedents and maintain confidentiality and discretion with stakeholders;
• Good judgement and demonstrated ability to be assertive – rather than passive or aggressive when interacting with Stakeholders ;
• Well-developed ability to relate well with people from varied backgrounds, open to understanding diverse cultural differences especially within West Africa;
• Ability to factor in diversity when providing services, responding to requests, recognizing and releasing preconceived notions and stereotypical views of certain groups and individuals.
• Basic understanding of the ECOWAS organization mandate and its functions;
• Ability to explain the functional area assigned to and the contributions it makes to the organization and its mandate;
• Ability to apply ECOWAS standards in emailing, reporting, correspondences, etc. and to contribute to implementing associated changes as directed.
• Ability to carefully review and check the accuracy of information in work reports provided by management, management information systems or other individuals;
• Good knowledge of office monitoring indicators of relevance to own work and ability to provide brief reports or updates;
• Ability to condense information and/or produce concise summary notes to help others with decision-making, problem solving and/or assessment of work.
• Demonstrated computer skills to communicate using tools, to write and format documents appropriately for presentation, the web, proposals, reports and other documents;
• 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 organize information and materials for others, solving minor problems and checking for completeness and compliance to standards and instructions;
• Knowledge of techniques to prioritize tasks in fast paced workplace with frequent interruptions and moving deadlines and adaptability/ flexibility to meet work expectations;
• Good initiative with an ability to identify what needs to be done and take action in a proactive manner.

Annual Salary
(UA 42,916.53   USD 67,713.70) / (UA 49,106.81  USD 77,480.72).