Parliamentary Research Officer at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Grade: P2 / P3 / P4
Status: Permanent
Institution: ECOWAS Parliament
Directorate: Parliamentary Affairs & Research
Division: Library, Documentation & Research
Line Supervisor: Principal Officer, Library, Documentation & Research

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the Principal Officer, Library, Documentation & Research, the incumbent shall assist Members of Parliament  by providing them relevant well researched information for their work.

Role and Responsibilities

• Respond in a timely manner to requests for information or enquiries from Committee members and other Members of Parliament;
• Undertake research, usually from readily available sources, on clearly defined subjects;
• Analyse and evaluate research and interpret data in order to identify the key issues;
• Prepare and present, in both written and oral forms, the results of research in a manner appropriate for answering parliamentary questions, providing briefings to Committee members, or for providing content for newspaper articles and press releases ;
• Prepare and provide briefings for Committee Clerks to be tabled at meetings of the Committee;
• Monitor motions, petitions, legislations, Hansard, and other parliamentary activity as appropriate;
• Monitor coverage in the media issues before the Committees;
• Advise and guide the Committees, Members of Parliament, the Secretary-General and Committee Clerks on relevant policy matters;
• Progress casework through liaison with local and national bodies, government agencies, lobby groups and other associated bodies;
• Develop knowledge of relevant legislation and ensure that knowledge is maintained and updated;
• Maintain precise, detailed records of each issue and ensure the confidentiality of data at all times;
• Develop knowledge in specialist areas as required by the Committees;
• Performs other tasks as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in International Relations, Political Science, Public Administration or a related field from a recognized University;
• 2 years of progressively responsible professional working experience in political science, political affairs, international relations, law, mediation, conflict resolution, or related area is required;
• Knowledge and understanding of ECOWAS agency or institutional mandate, international non-proliferation theories, concepts and developments and ECOWAS strategies, including cooperation with Member-States and international organizations;
• Knowledge and understanding of ECOWAS agency / institution’s relations with national and regional agencies, International organizations and other international and diplomatic institutions;
• Ability to liaise between ECOWAS members and Staff with the government of the country of residence, in focus areas;
• Classification of information of relevance to the human resources management functional areas.

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 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;
• Ability to work in teams to carry out semi-routine work including assigning work, training and checking work.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to engage with clients in positive exchanges that establishes mutual expectations, understanding and reduces uncertainties and conflicts;
• Ability to keep clients informed on matters of relevance to expectations, establishing “bring forward” systems and introducing other procedures/techniques to ensure that service standards are maintained;
• Ability to make decisions based on guidelines, procedures and precedents and maintain confidentiality and discretion with clients;
• Good judgement and demonstrated ability to be assertive – rather than passive or aggressive when interacting with clients;
• Well-developed problem-solving, critical thinking and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to perceive the moods and feelings of others, and to understand the attitude, interests, needs, and perspectives of others;
• Well-developed ability to relate well with people from varied backgrounds, open to understanding diverse cultural differences especially within West Africa;
• Ability to listen attentively to people’s ideas, requests and concerns and to explain to others the need for diversity management in every day workplace practices;
• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work;
• 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;
• Knowledge of ECOWAS semi-routine procedures, processes and practices as it relates to assigned responsibilities and information systems;
• 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 edit, check, track and review documents prepared by others and reorganize data or information according to instructions using latest technology;
• Efficiently retrieves, inputs, edits, formats, transmits and links electronic file data used for analysis and understands data management operations;
• 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;
• Ability to proofread, edit and revise documents to ensure they follow standard conventions for punctuation and mechanics and formatted in accordance to ECOWAS communication standards;
• Ability to relay / redirect complete and accurate messages to appropriate persons / departments;
• 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 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;
• Understanding and adherence to the policies, procedures and guidelines required to support the ECOWAS planning cycle at the individual and organizational level;
• Good initiative with an ability to identify what needs to be done and take action in a proactive manner.

Annual Salary     
UA42,916.53  /  USD67,713.70 - UA49,106.81  /  USD77,480.72 - UA56,591.37  /  USD89,289.87