PO, Capacity Support and Best Practices at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Role Overview

• Within delegated authority and supervision of the Head of Division, Electoral Assistance, the Programme Officer will be responsible for assisting the Head of Division in the execution of the mandate of the Division.

Role and Responsibilities

• Facilitate the development of modules for Election training.
• Organize workshops, seminars, and conferences for Election experts.
• Facilitate exchange programmes for Electoral Commissions.
• Prepare policy papers and talking points for senior ECOWAS Officials on Election fields.
• Provide substantive inputs into the operational activities of the Division, mainly guiding training sessions during elections observation missions.
• Assist in preparing statements, talking points, speeches and other documents for the Director of Political Affairs and Regional Cooperation.
• Participate in discussions and formulation of training modules for Electoral Commissions.
• Coordinate training of election observers alongside ECOWAS Centers of Excellence.
• Coordinate and exchange extensively with Directors in charge of training within Electoral Commissions.
• Carry out administrative functions with the Head of Unit relating to the staffing, planning and budget of electoral operations, and training, including a selection of staff assigned for electoral missions.
• Carry out any other assigned duty as assigned by the supervisor

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• At least a bachelor’s degree in political science, Development Studies, International Law, Human Rights, Social Sciences, or a related field from a recognised university.
• A minimum of three (3) years of relevant experience in electoral matters
• Experience in the formulation of operational planning and budgeting of electoral operations.
• Ability to prepare technical summaries, analytical briefing notes, and reports on political issues.
• Demonstrated knowledge of peacekeeping operations, including in the field of mediation

AGE LIMIT

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

ECOWAS KEY COMPETENCIES:

• Ability to lead in executing tasks, contacting colleagues and contributors as needed, and making decisions to ensure tasks are completed as expected.
• 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 the job done, coupled with an ability to influence positive teamwork and cooperation.
• Ability to lead small teams to carry out semi-routine work, including assigning, training, and checking work.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to engage clients in positive exchanges that establish mutual expectations and understandings and reduce uncertainties and conflicts.
• Ability to keep a client informed on matters relevant to expectations, establish “bring forward” systems and introduce other procedures/techniques to maintain service standards.
• Ability to make decisions based on guidelines, procedures and precedents and maintain confidentiality and discretion with clients/stakeholders.
• 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 attitudes, 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 everyday workplace practices.
• 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, correspondence, 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 relevant to own work (e.g. travels, purchases, accounts, meetings, etc.) 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 the latest technology.
• Efficiently retrieves, inputs, edits, formats, transmits, and links electronic file data used for analysis and understands basic data management operations.
• Ability to condense information and/or produce concise summary notes to help others with decision-making, problem-solving and/or assessment work.
• Proficiency in communicating orally and in writing in English and French languages.
• Demonstrated computer skills to communicate using tools such as email, Skype, word processing, excel, social media, etc. and 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 are grammatically correct, follow standard conventions for punctuation and mechanics, and are formatted per ECOWAS communication standards.
• Ability to relay/redirect complete and accurate messages to appropriate persons/departments.
• Fluency in one of the three ECOWAS official languages (English, French & Portuguese)
• Ability to organize information or materials for others, solve minor problems, and check for completeness and compliance with standards or instructions.
• Knowledge of techniques to prioritize tasks in a fast-paced workplace with frequent interruptions, 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 act before being asked or required to.