Director, Legal Affairs at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Role Overview

• Under the overall guidance and supervision of the President he/ she shall oversee the affairs of the Directorate of Legal Affairs. He/She shall supervise and establish guidelines for the provision of legal opinions or advice on issues relating to the functions, structure and activities of the Organization.

Role and Responsibilities

• Communicate clearly the President’s and Commissioner’s vision to staff, explaining how the Directorate’s activities align with them and how the Director expects the Directorate to carry out set tasks on it.
• Provide a unified central legal service for ECOWAS including all its organs and institutions.
• Ensure that decision-making processes are compliant with ECOWAS legal frameworks, as well as providing and ensuring consistency in interpretation of legal instruments, such as the statutes, treaties, agreements, regulations and rules, resolutions and other legal text adopted by or under the auspices of the organization.
• Provide legal advice on cooperation with international organisations and international judicial, and legal services also for special political missions, peacekeeping operations and other field missions on matters such as diplomatic privileges and immunities and the legal status of the organisation.
• Collaborate with the other Directors in the Institution to ensure that the work is harmonized with that of other Directorates as needed.
• Maintain a network of peer technical specialists and decision-makers in Member States, which is needed to ensure the smooth introduction of ECOWAS programmes.
• Plan annual goals, objectives, directorate activities and ensures budget is tied to the Commission’s overall plans; measures and monitors goal achievement; negotiates suitable adjustments to goals and budgets.
• Implement performance-based budgeting within the Directorate.
• Organize the Directorate in an efficient way with clear reporting lines, minimal bureaucracy and optimal delegation of responsibilities and authority.
• Work with other Directorates to ensure efficient and effective services such as recruitment, promotions, and related matters.
• Set standards of work and creates mechanisms to monitor staff output and ensure that standards are maintained, and deadlines are met without compromising the quality of work.
• Actively engage in the development of staff to ensure skills are built to match plans, goals and existing structures.
• Create a productive working atmosphere within the Directorate to encourage staff participation.
• Direct technical guidance on program design or implementation in an area where he or she has high-level technical expertise.
• Represents ECOWAS in professional meetings or working groups; make speeches, negotiate agreements, mediate disputes.
• Lead or participate in technical missions to develop projects and programs.
• Advise the President, Vice President and Commissioners on issues relating to his or her area of technical expertise.
• Work with the Parliamentary Committees at the ECOWAS Parliament.
• Provide guidelines for, or direct, the conduct of research and preparation of opinions, studies, reports, and correspondence on legal issues relating to the functions, structure, and activities of the Organization.  Such issues may bear upon constitutional, international, public, private and administrative law.
• Examine precedents and carry out research on complex, highly specialized or sensitive issues, which may have a major impact on the Organization or its work.
• Provide advice and assistance in resolving procedural and substantive questions at meetings, conferences, and committees, in particular to the main organs of the organization.
• Supervise and coordinate the drafting of legal instruments, such as contracts and agreements, internal rules and regulations and other legislative material.
• Undertake consultations and participate in negotiations with high-level representatives of Member States or other organizations.
• Represent the Organization in conferences and at meetings of other organizations and bodies.
• Review and revise draft letters, agreements, and other texts of a sensitive nature, which have been passed to the office for review and comments.
• Coordinate the preparation and review of briefs for representing the Organization in proceedings before courts of law, administrative tribunals, and any other judicial body.
• Represent the office at specialized meetings and on internal bodies, boards, or committees on issues of importance to the organization.
• Initiate and participate in meetings with senior officers and legal advisers of other agencies on matters of common concern.
• Perform any other tasks as assigned by the Supervisor.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s Degree (or equivalent) in Law from a recognized University.
• 12 years progressively responsible experience in Law, including Legal analysis, research and writing with experience as a lawyer in the legal office of an Intergovernmental Organization or Government with at least five (5) years at a supervisory level.
• At least 5 years’ experience as a legal Practitioner.
• Demonstrated in-depth knowledge and understanding of the political, social, and economic environment and their impact on the implementation of ECOWAS mandate.
• Extensive knowledge of all relevant rules and regulations, policies, procedures, and operations of ECOWAS, as well as applicable jurisprudence.
• Knowledge of the substantive role of ECOWAS on the rule of law in general and of ECOWAS interventions on specific areas/themes related to the rule of law.

Age Limit:

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

Key ECOWAS Competences

• Recent and progressive senior leadership experience in establishing strategic partnerships, working collaboratively, and building consensus with multiple internal and/or external stakeholders on complex issues in a multi-disciplinary governmental or international organization.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with Heads of Institutions, elected officials and statutory employees to facilitate compliance, build engagement, resolve conflicts, and obtain support for change; develops a culture where people hold themselves personally accountable for results.
• Ability to provide leadership, management, and technical oversight for all project activities and program deliverables in accordance with ECOWAS legal and administrative practices and standards. (e.g. Code of Ethics, Procurement Code, legal institutional framework).
• Ability to conduct periodic reviews of staff performance in keeping with the ECOWAS performance management system and to mentor staff to ensure high levels of motivation, commitment, capacity, and teamwork.
• Ability to oversee project management, internal controls, and stewardship of financial resources and to address issues in a confident and capable manner whilst making decisions that exemplifies impartial and non-partisan decision-making.
• Ability to exercise the initiative and resourcefulness necessary for simultaneously addressing a variety of stakeholder needs, pursuing multiple tasks, and achieving positive outcomes.
• Ability to create synergies with client groups (e.g. ECOWAS institutions/specialized agencies, management cadre, member-state representatives, programme interest groups) and other to achieve objectives in setting and monitoring service standards and indicators.
• Ability to motivate and engage others in promoting or adopting best practices in client services (e.g. dashboards, incentive management, feedback mechanisms);
• Well-developed ability to identify and improve services and client interactions through appropriate networks and to create innovative ways of addressing these in an accountable and transparent manner. (e.g. public/private partnerships, service level agreement, feedback loops, surveys).
• Knowledge of anti-discriminatory/human rights regulatory environment and ability to advance strategies to foster an inclusive, healthy organization, respectful of the cultural diversity and gender of people and their skills and free from harassment and discrimination.
• Sound understanding of diverse cultural views especially within west Africa, being sensitive to group differences, gender issues and ability to contribute to, advocate for, and/or develop policies which are gender neutral and sensitive to various cultures.
• Ability to create a diverse and inclusive interactive work environment that can effectively bring together a wide spectrum of ideas and experiences to solve problems, develop projects/programs and improve results.
• Ability to remain objective during appraisals, evaluations and when managing conflict regardless of cultural differences positions or opinions while encouraging staff to overcome cultural barriers and background differences.
• Practical understanding of the ECOWAS organizational structure, workplace culture and dynamics with a keen ability to identify/address strengths and weaknesses, stimulate creativity, reduce resistance to change and improve the achievement of strategic objectives.
• Ability to apply knowledge of ECOWAS legal framework, strategic priorities, and operational standards to develop/modernize policies and programs and/or to implement policies and programs in a sustainable and effective manner.
• Well-developed business, social and political acumen, demonstrating a strong commitment to the vision and mandate of ECOWAS coupled with a broad knowledge of the economic, political, and social state/trends of member states.
• Sound judgment and decision-making skills on matters relating to policy and strategy development important to the realization of the ECOWAS mandate and the improvement of outcomes for Western Africa and its member-states.
• Ability to analyze reports/dashboards as well as dynamics between people and between organizations and recognize areas of potential obstacle or challenge and develop solutions or alternatives to remove barriers and achieve strategic/operational priorities.
• Ability to anticipate the effects of environmental changes (e.g. economic trends, social crisis), interpret context and implications of key issues and develop and make sound recommendations.
• Ability to inform an analysis by way of a thorough understanding of the environment, of well thought out insights and meaningful dialogues.
• Ability to make prudent decisions relating to the management of human, financial and material resources, considering both quantitative and qualitative sources of information.
• Ability to actively listen to understand the impact of issues and perspectives of others before making assertions, decisions, or recommendations.
• Builds multiple external collaborative relationships to support strategic and operational objectives; identifies the key issues and accommodates the key players with well thought out communication and stakeholder management plans.
• Ability to communicate with clarity and conviction, make compelling presentations which promote new insights, ideas and perspectives and a better understanding of issues/challenges.
• Proficiency in oral and written French and English languages with the ability to give honest feedback, recognize performance and manage non-performance while creating opportunities for open and constructive dialogue.
• Excellent negotiation and conflict management skills focusing on building and nurturing effective and collaborative relationships.
• Fluency in one of the three ECOWAS official languages (English, French & Portuguese).
• Superior planning skills exemplified by setting clear expectations and conducting consistent and effective oversight of performance management practices to ensure goals and standards are met.
• Ability to set effective goals/results and manage change in a manner that demonstrates resilience, composure, and a positive outlook in an environment of uncertainty and ambiguity.
• Ability to enable the development of organizational and individual talent throughout the implementation of strategic, operational, programme, project and individual plans.
• Ability to implement plans, mobilizing/engaging people, identifying critical success factors, mitigating risks, monitoring indicators and feedback, initiating course corrections and building capacities for sustainability.
• Ability to institute rigorous monitoring, and evaluation practices and to learn from setbacks and mistakes to ensure continuous improvement.