Director of Human Resources at ECOWAS Commission

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is recruiting for Director of Human Resources

Job Title: Director of Human Resources
Reference: ECW-COMM/REC/HRD-D/001/2012

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Department: Administration and Finance
Directorate: Human Resources
Grade: D1
Annual Salary: USD 60,372 - USD 75,005
Supervisor: Commissioner for Administration and Finance


Following the restructuring of the ECOWAS Commission from an Executive Secretariat in 2006, the number of Directorates was increased from 16 to 25. A Directorate in ECOWAS Community Institutions is a subset of Departments headed by Commissioners. Directorates are headed by Directors.

Directors are responsible within the Commission for providing the technical expertise in particular technical areas for the design and implementation of technical projects within the region in line with ECOWAS objectives.

Directors in ECOWAS provide leadership and management to major sector(s) of technical activities which are substantively important to the accomplishment of the Institution’s mandate. They are responsible for interpreting governing bodies’, the President’s and the Commissioner’s broad visions and policy guidelines, and for developing and managing goals and objectives to meet that mandate. D1 positions typically supervise 10 or more professionals some of who may be Division Chiefs at the P5 level and who supervise other professional staff.

Duties and Responsibilities

1.) Leadership Tasks

• Directors report directly to respective Commissioners who head Departments. As the principal link between the Directorate and the wider public, the Director is responsible for:
• Clearly communicating 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;
• Staying on top of fast-moving technical, political, social or economic changes;
• Being in frequent contact with the other Directors in the Institution to ensure that the work is harmonized with that of other Directorates as needed;

2.) Managerial Tasks
The Director will supervise staff of the Directorate including Professional and General staff. He or she will utilize a range of transactional managerial skills to ensure that staff of the Directorate perform efficiently and effectively, and that they deliver the regular outputs needed at sufficient quality and in a timely manner.

Managerial tasks will include:

• Planning annual goals, objectives, activities and budget tied to the Commission’s overall plans; measuring and monitoring goal achievement; negotiating suitable adjustments to goals and budgets;
• Implementing performance-based budgeting within the Directorate;
• Organizing the Directorate in an efficient way with clear reporting lines, minimal bureaucracy and optimal delegation of responsibilities and authority;
• Working with the relevant Directorate to ensure efficient and effective services such as recruitment, action on performance decisions, promotions and related matters;
• Setting standards of work and creating mechanisms to monitor staff output and ensure that standards are maintained and deadlines met without compromising quality of work;
• Managing the system of setting individual performance planning and standards through available Performance Planning and Evaluation systems;
• Providing regular and prompt performance feedback to direct reports;
• Actively engaging in the development of staff to ensure skills are built to match plans, goals and existing structures;
• Creating productive working atmosphere within the Directorate to encourage staff participation.

3.) Use of Personal Expertise

• While the Director will have a staff of skilled professionals to draw upon, he or she may at times be called upon to apply his or her personal expertise directly in the relevant technical field in any of the following ways:
• Direct technical guidance on programme design or implementation in an area where he or she has high-level technical expertise;
• Represent ECOWAS in professional meetings or working groups; make speeches, negotiate agreements, mediate disputes;
• Lead or participate in technical missions to develop projects and programmes;
• Advise President, Vice President and Commissioner on issues relating to his or her area of technical expertise;
• Work with the relevant specialized Parliamentary Committee on regional legislation, as needed.

4.) Technical Tasks

• Develop and put into place machinery for the effective and efficient implementation of the HR strategic vision in line with the Commissions strategic vision.
• Develop and maintain an effective employee relations strategy for the Commission and its institutions.
• Develop and implement an effective recruitment life span for the Commission and its institutions as required.
• Develop and put into place a HR operations strategy for the Commission and its institutions.
• Develop and implement and maintain a training process and procedure for the Commission and its institutions.
• Develop a mechanism for the proper staffing of the departments of the commission.
• Provide advice and services on strategic HR issues to the Commission and its institutions.
• Pool resources with Senior Management and other Directors of the Commission to support their efforts at organizational change.
• Provides advisory services to the Commission and management in line with policies and best practices related to HR functions

Qualifications/Experience/Skills

• Minimum of a Master’s degree in the Humanities, Law, Business or any related field.
• Minimum of 12 years progressively responsible and relevant experience in human resources management
• Minimum of 5 years work experience managing others, preferably in a supervisory capacity within an international organization;
• Broad and deep knowledge in areas related to staffing, human resource strategy, employee relations, staff development and career management;
• Membership of a related professional body would be an advantage.
• Candidates should not be 50 years old or over at the point of recruitment and must be a citizen of one of the ECOWAS member states.
• Must be fluent in one of the official languages of the Commission; English, French and Portuguese. A working knowledge of another would be an advantage.

Application Closing Date
31st October 2012

Method of Application
Interested and Qualified Candidates Should
Click Here To Apply Online