Consular Officer at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Grade: P3 / P4
Department: General Administration And Conference
Directorate: Conference And Protocol
Division: Protocol
Line Supervisor: Principal Protocol Officer
Slot: 2 Openings

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the Principal Officer Protocol, the incumbent will provide day-to-day protocol support services with issuing visas, resident permits resolving challenges and ensuring the smooth delivery of services whilst providing needed support to the Principal Protocol Officer.

Role and Responsibilities

• Facilitate liaison between the Commission and the host Government counterparts as well as the diplomatic community.
• Undertake protocol activities of the Protocol Division in the Commission and provide protocol services and advice to the Commission, its staff and guests;
• Delivers consular and passport services to the Staff of the Commission, including responses to client enquiries with requests for information and forms
• Process passport applications and conduct personal interviews
• Perform security checks and follow procedures for centralised passport operations
• Maintain passport databases for the Commission’s staff
• Update schedule of fees and printed instructions as required
• Maintain stock levels of all passport related materials including application forms, travel documents and laminates
• Manage consular cases, update and maintain consular case records, including welfare, whereabouts, repatriations, visa refusals and denials.
• Communicate and co-ordinate with hospitals, police, lawyers, social services, airlines, government and non-government authorities and other contacts as required
• Execute notarial acts using ECOWAS guidelines
• Organise and execute accreditation of diplomats and heads of missions as well as multilateral organizations that partner with the commission.
• Coordinate and provide protocol services during the ECOWAS Statutory and technical meetings and important events organised by the Commission or those being held under its auspices;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Academic Qualifications And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Arts, Social sciences from a recognised University;
• 5 years of progressively responsible experience in protocol, travels, tourism, hospitality or any related area;
• knowledge of accepted norms, rules and customs of international diplomatic protocols, including practices developed within ECOWAS system or similar international organisations;
• knowledge of diplomatic and travel services in a governmental or international organisation including experience in developing constructive working relationships with host governments;
• Proven experience in the organisation of international conferences/events;
• knowledge of accepted norms, rules and customs of international travel logistics, including practices developed within international organisations;
• knowledge of the airline industry, travel planning in a governmental or international organisation including experience in developing constructive working relationships.

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 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 the subordinates to build strong working relationships and improve performance.
• Contribute to maintaining organisational unit’s performance goals and standards.
• Interpersonal skills with ability to keep a client informed of progress or setbacks in projects of relevance to 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 need, 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 unbias 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, implement an individual action plan for achieving specific workgoals;
•  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.

Annual Salary

• P3: UA49,106.81, USD77480.72
• P4: UA56,591.37, USD89,289.87

Interested and qualified candidates should download the Application Form below, fill it out correctly; attach a Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a Motivation Letter and send to: b13consularoff@ecowas.int using the Job Title as the subject of the email.

Click here to download Application Form (Ms Word)

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