Program Officer, Payment Systems at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Institution: ECOWAS Commission
Grade: P3 / P4
Status: Permanent
Directorate: Private Sector
Department: Industry And Private Sector
Division: Investment Promotion/Financial Markets Development
Line Supervisor: PPO Investment Promotion & Payment Settlement

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the PPO, Investment Promotions and Payment /Settlement Systems, the incumbent will support the formulation and implementation of programs and action plans to facilitate the emergence of an integrated financial markets in the region.

Role and Responsibilities

• Develop short, medium and long-term work programs and action plans to facilitate the integration and development of financial markets in the region
• Facilitate networking among financial sector participants in the region and develop linkages to the global financial market to increase investment and access to finance;
• Facilitate interconnectivity of financial markets infrastructure in member-states to engender free flow of capital across borders and promote financial inclusion;
• Support implementation of short, medium and long-term work programs and action plans for regional investment facilitation through enhancement of financial intermediation in the region;
• Facilitate the harmonization of regulations on capital issues, listing and trading requirements on the stock exchanges in the region;
• Collaborate with associations and institutions in the regional and international financial sector to facilitate the adoption of best practices on the stock exchanges and other segments of financial markets in the region;
• Collaborate with financial markets stakeholders to promote cross listings and the establishment of a regional stock exchange with diversified linkages in members states;
• Promote activities that will increase the use of diverse financial market instruments and institutions in raising capital for business in the region;
• Collaborate with stakeholders in the insurance industry to promote a regional risk mitigation and management framework and instruments for cross border business risks management in the region.
• Collaborate and organize meetings with experts and donors as necessary to promote the Regional financial markets;
• Perform other related duties as may be assigned by the PPO Investment Promotion and Financial Markets Development.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Business Administration / Management, Economics, Finance, Banking or in a related field from a recognized University.
• 5 years of professional experience in industry, private sector or in an international organization in the area of industry and private sector promotion;
• Understanding of the functioning and operation of financial markets and respective financial markets infrastructure;
• Understanding of best practice financial markets and financial markets infrastructure governance and regulatory frameworks in a regional environment;
• Knowledge of institutional capacity building initiatives and experience in program planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation;
• Experience in establishing linkages to improve access to finance, employment and business advisory services in a regional environment;
• Understanding of the development sector;
• Technical capacity to lead formulation and implementation of comprehensive policy framework for financial markets governance in a regional environment;
• A professional qualification in finance, banking and allied professions will be an added advantage.

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 organizational 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 establishedclient 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 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 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 makerecommendations;
• 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;
• 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 work  goals;
• 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
UA49,106.81, USD77480.72 / UA56,591.37, USD89,289.87