Senior Research and Legal Affairs Officer at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen West African countries. Founded on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Research and Legal Affairs Officer - P4

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Institution: Community Court of Justice, Ecowas
Directorate: Research And Documentation
Division: Legal Services And Research
Line Supervisor: Hod Legal Services And Research
Status: Permanent
Grade: P4

Role Overview

• Under the overall supervision of the Director, Research and Documentation and the direct supervision of the HOD Legal Services and Research, the incumbent shall, in accordance with the Staff Regulations and professional standards, undertake legal research and analysis, write legal opinions and reports on various issues pertaining to the judicial work of the Court and its day-to-day functioning, while providing legal support to the Staff and other services of the Court, as required.

Role and Responsibilities

• Study and advise on the rules, practice and jurisprudence of the Court;
• Undertake and supervise legal research and analysis on pending cases before the Court;
• Draft legal briefs and opinions on various legal issues of Community interest;
• Produce thematic reports and a subject-matter Index of the jurisprudence of the Court;
• Prepare and review draft contracts and partnership agreements involving the Court;
• Produce academic papers and presentations on the work of the Court;
• Provide legal support to the Staff and other services of the Court, as required;
• Assist and Represent the HOD and the Director, as required;
• Perform any other assigned tasks.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Law, with a specialization in international, administrative or economic law from a recognized university;
• 7 years of relevant professional experience in legal practice, including legal research, analysis and writing within the judicial system, a law firm, a legal office of an intergovernmental organization or Government;
• Excellent knowledge of international law and ability to apply legal expertise in analyzing complex legal issues and developing innovative legal solutions;
• Proven knowledge of the practice and procedure of international Courts and Tribunals;
• Knowledge of Legal issues arising out of regional integration and international human rights protection;
• Strong analytical and drafting skills and ability to prepare sound legal briefs, submissions and opinions;
• Fluency in any one of the three-official language of ECOWAS (English French and Portuguese); and a good knowledge/command of a second one.
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational and managerial skills.

Age Limit:

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

Ecowas Key Competencies

• Ability to get groups to work together cooperatively, by enlisting active involvement, creating a climate for respect and openness, and applying effective techniques for group facilitation, explore their potentials, motivate and guide them;
• Organize and lead cross-divisional work group in developing creative solutions to address problems and or lead a small group of entry level professionals and administrative support staff;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Develop on-the-job training techniques paired with excellent coaching and mentoring skills; knowledge of new staff orientation approaches to facilitate understanding of the position and organization;
• Ability to assign work to direct reports and provide timely and consistent feedback regarding technical proficiency and effectiveness;
• Ability to represent the organization effectively before external parties.
• Ability to consider the impact of a shift in programmatic direction to the needs of internal and external stakeholders;
• Ability to promote and consider staff feedback to streamline processes in order to meet deadlines of relevance to client expectations;
• Ability to consistently maintain composure and direction in high- pressure situations;
• Develop problem solving, mediation and conflict resolution skills to address discrepancies, complaints, bottle necks, time constraints affecting quality and quantity of client services;
• Ability to anticipate growing client needs and expectations to continuously improve quality, timelines, service delivery and addressing client questions in a timely manner;
• Ability to communicate openly with clients, keeping them informed of progress and issues requiring attention/resolutions.
• Ability to implement programmatic changes in a manner that ensures a biased-free work environment, fair and equitable application to new rules/regulations;
• Experience and ability to adhere to policies, goals, objectives, and principles of valuing diversity in performing everyday duties and responsibilities; promoting/modeling behaviors that demonstrate tolerance and understanding of various cultures;
• Ability to remain objective in managing conflict regardless of cultural differences /positions, gender differences, and encourage other staff to overcome cultural and gender bias and differences;
• Ability to build value from leveraging diverse capabilities and inputs from various cultures, staff and clients;
• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work;
• Ability to create a diverse and inclusive interactive environment that benefits from diverse strengths bringing together innovative practices;
• Ability to seek out best practices to make organizational decisions of relevance to diversity management, ensuring that project and program activities identify vulnerable areas and contain systemic checks.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS institutions and how the different organs relate to each other, particularly as it relates to own work sector/programs;
• Knowledge of approaches to policy and program development of an international organization as well as project management;
• Knowledge of the rules, processes and procedures of an international organization, of pertinence to tasks related to own position;
• Knowledge of member states development trends, indicators, challenges and opportunities as it relates to project/program assigned to own position.
• Creativity and flexibility to deviate from traditional methods in developing new procedures, processes and tools, using technology to simplify methods and approaches whenever possible;
• Ability to revaluate current procedures and suggest improvements to ensure an effective, streamlined process;
• Ability to gather and summarize information to predict stakeholder views on a new policy/programs; and excellent analytical skills to assess external policies and trends when reviewing policy/program options, pros, cons and recommendations;
• Ability to synthesize complex information gathered from a variety of external and internal sources and disseminate it to others in a logical manner;
• Ability to apply appropriate methodology to discover or identify policy issues and resource concerns.
• Ability to evaluate, incorporate, and communicate the latest developments in specialty area using institution/agency guidelines and criteria;
• Develop interpersonal, negotiation, networking and presentation skills with proven abilities to influence, explain complex information and demonstrate empathy and open-mindedness;
• Ability to demonstrate operational proficiency in the use of computer in communicating using technology tools;
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner through both written and verbal expressions;
• Exhibit active listening skills to encourage stronger communication amongst team members, to show care and make them feel valued and to drive employee engagement in all institutions and agencies;
• Proficiency in information communication technologies (ICT);
• Knowledge of internal planning cycles and ability to contribute to the development and to implement Community-wide or institution policy by determining target audience, building coalitions with the appropriate population, and monitor progress;
• Ability to consider external circumstances, factors and trends when organizing project activities to ensure the best outcomes;
• Ability to review process outcomes, correspondence, reports, and policy documents to develop achievable plans;
• Ability to conduct meetings with staff, stakeholders, colleagues and others to ascertain organizational program and/or project needs, making adjustments to plans and activities accordingly;
• Ability to adjust project plans based on input from staff and stakeholders and/or ability to design and implement guidelines, tools and templates to accommodate new or revised programs and services.

Annual Salary
UA 56,591.37 - USD 89,289.87.

Application Closing Date
26th September, 2019.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should download the Application Form below, fill it out correctly; attach a Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a Motivation Letter and send to: [email protected]

Click here to download Application Form (Ms Word)

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