Principal Officer, Capacity Building & Best Practices at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Grade: P2 / P3
Status: Permanent
Department: Political Affairs Peace And Security
Directorate: Political Affairs
Division: Electoral Assistance
Line Supervisor: PPO Electoral Assistance

Role Overview

• Under the guidance and direct supervision of the PPO Electoral Assistance, the incumbent will support the Division in implementing programmes and activities of the Division Electoral Assistance, in line with the provisions of ECOWAS extant Protocols and Decisions, in particular, the 1999 Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Peacekeeping and Regional Security, the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework.

Role and Responsibilities

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

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in Political Science, International Relations, Social Science, Economics, Law, Public Administration, or a related field from a recognized University.
• 3 years of progressively responsible experience in political affairs, international relations, law, conflict resolution, or related field;
• Ability to prepare technical summary and 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  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