Interpreter (English Booth / French Booth / Portuguese Booth) 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: Interpreter (English Booth / French Booth / Portuguese Booth)

Job Code: 20000306
Location: Abuja
Institution: ECOWAS Commission
Grade: P3/P4
Agency: [Not Provided]
Status: Permanent
Department: Internal Services
Directorate: Conference and Protocol
Division: Conference
Line Supervisor: Principal Officer, Conference
Supervising: Bilingual Editorial Assistants

Role Overview

• The incumbent shall, in accordance with professional standards, provide interpretation services with the language combination of English A, French B/C, Portuguese B/C or French A, English B/C, Portuguese B/C or Portuguese A, English B/C, French B/C; according to the booth for which the interpreter is being recruited.
• These services shall be provided for meetings and events of the Commission, ensuring high linguistic and terminological quality and application of ECOWAS jargon. S/he shall be capable of providing high quality professional simultaneous and consecutive interpretation in particular.
• S/he shall facilitate the setting-up and updating of terminology database and compilation of glossaries while providing capacity building support to the Commission.

Role and Responsibilities

• Service all meetings as assigned by Language Coordinator; Be responsible for high quality interpretation for the team weighting management and delivery of meetings, workshops, seminars, trainings and interviews as assigned
• Interpret into the target language, ensuring consistency of target output
• Provide interpretation in relevant language combination, (simultaneous, consecutive, whispering, liaison) of speeches or statements.
• Take responsibility for delivering high quality output and managing self with highest professional standards when routinely assigned to sensitive meetings.
• Functions as language team leader when so assigned.
• Knowledge of coding languages and skills relating to AI’s application to the function
• Liaise with Conference and/or Protocol Divisions with regards to the need for interpreting services and perform required administrative task related to interpretation services
• Participates in establishment of terminology database, compilation of glossaries, etc.
• Provides technical support such as preparations of concept notes, TORs, budget and content as related to
• Assist the Head of Language Division, as appropriate, in the screening, training and conduct of testing for prospective interpreters, including young West Africans and candidates with rare language combinations.
• Establish and manage a linguistic or terminology and reference database ensuring grammatical accuracy and consistency in contextual, lexical and terminological appropriateness.
• Provide occasional out of hours support to meetings, conferences and other activities.
• Perform any other duties as may be required from time to time

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s Degree in Conference Interpretation from a recognized University or Institute.
• 10 years of experience in Interpretation (four of which should have been as a staff Interpreter)
• Exhibits highest standards of split-second accuracy, consistency and faithfulness to the style and nuances of the original and source languages
• Demonstrated understating of how to “weigh” Interpretation teams.
• Ability to maintain highest standard of confidentiality
• Knowledge of terminological and reference research techniques with ability to use wide variety of information
• Demonstrated professional competence and mastery of subject matter.
• Seeks to develop oneself professionally and personally and keep abreast of new developments in own occupation/profession.
• Demonstrated comprehension of every imaginable accent, in addition to coping with issues of speed and style.
• Ability to find proper cultural equivalents and take cultural context into account, thorough knowledge of both language and culture is thus required
• Demonstrated capacity to uphold team coherence and booth manners
• A perfect command of the target language and an excellent knowledge of the source language.

Ecowas Key Competencies:

• Ability to lead in assigned programmes and projects by providing the necessary managerial and operational expertise required for the fulfilment of the organization’s mandate (e.g. establish networks, benchmarks).
• Ability to lead by example and organize teamwork to encourage cooperation to achieve targeted results, champion and build momentum for change and to bring about employee engagement; develops and implements internal controls for pilot program to manage potential barriers to implementation.
• Excellent self-management skills, demonstrating ethics and integrity and displaying due regards for internal controls of rules, delegations and transparency.
• Ability to bring together complementary skills/expertise, assess individual contributions and recognize/address accomplishments and shortcomings in a manner that brings continued success to the organization.
• Knowledge of program management at the level usually acquired from a certification in program management (e.g. Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) or Program Management Professional PgMP).
• Ability to research benchmarks and trends to bring about the best recommendations for the development and improvement of programs/projects that will best serve the community/organization.
• Well-developed networking and interpersonal skills to seek feedback, information and data from a network of professionals from multiple countries/sectors/organizations and to identify and prioritize the most critical community requirements.
• Ability to manage and co-ordinate client management initiatives (e.g. feedback loops, surveys, studies, needs assessments) and make recommendations.
• Ability to develop and implement best practices in client services (e.g. dashboards, incentive management, feedback mechanisms).
• Ability to develop and implement stakeholder management plans, programs and initiatives to obtain buy-in on new initiatives, to better understand dissenting views, to obtain resources and to increase perceptions of success.
• Diplomacy, tact and respect of other people from varied backgrounds, understanding diverse cultural views especially within west Africa with the ability to convert diversity into opportunities to improve program/operational outcomes.
• Ability to create a diverse and inclusive interactive environment that benefits from diverse strengths bringing together innovative practices.
• Ability to remain objective in appraisals, evaluations and in managing conflict regardless of cultural differences positions, gender issues or opinions, and encourages staff to overcome cultural and gender barriers and background differences.
• Ability to serve the interest of a culturally diverse multinational teams/organizations/communities and some disable groups without prejudice, bias or sympathy to a select group.
• Solid understanding of the ECOWAS organizational structure, associated dynamics and expectations as required to collaborate, participate, contribute and lead effectively.
• Applied knowledge of the Community mandate, strategic plan/priorities as well as the economic, political and social state/trends of member states, especially as pertains to own scope of work.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS best practices, program management approaches and research techniques to lead and/or contribute to the development or assessment of programs, projects or initiatives.
• Superior knowledge of the rules and procedures of ECOWAS to appropriately interpret and apply directive text, provide technical advice, coach others and assess performance.
• Ability to analyze a situation by way of indicators (e.g. performance, technical) to assess the costs, benefits, risks, and chances for success, in making a decision.
• Ability to pull together information from different sources to identify the source of problems, consequences of alternative courses of action, potential obstacles and ways to avoid the problem in the future.
• Ability to break down very complex situations/information into simple terms (using charts, diagrams, effective expository writing) to explain recommendations and conclusions aimed at solving problems or improving operations/programs/projects.
• Ability to develop new insights into situations, apply innovative solutions to problems and to design new methods of addressing issues/disconnects where established methods and procedures are inapplicable, unavailable or no longer effective.
• Proficiency in oral and written French and English languages.
• Ability to communicate with impact, clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner conveying credibility & confidence when making presentations, setting expectations and explaining complex issues.
• Ability to listen intently and correctly interpret messages from others and respond appropriately.
• Accomplished technical writing skills (e.g. proposals, terms of reference, program assessments, blueprints, business processes) with well-developed editing.
• Ability to give honest feedback, provide recognition, address shortcomings and motivate direct reports to work at peak performance.
• Fluency in one of the three ECOWAS official languages (English, French & Portuguese)
• Superior organizational and project/program management skills with significant experience identifying timelines, targets, costs and resources necessary to deliver on operational/program/project outputs.
• Ability to set effective goals and targets for self, others, and the work unit and adjusting work or project priorities in response to changing circumstances.
• Ability to identify gaps affecting the achievement of program/project expectations and to design and implement intervention plans required to build the desired capacity (e.g. training, structural realignment, partnerships, reallocation of resources.
• Ability to implement rigorous monitoring, and evaluation practices and to set in place regular reporting schedules relevant to key outputs (e.g. management indicators, project milestones, program results, processing targets).
• Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Age Limit:

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

Salary
UA 66,123.98 / USD 104,330.42 annually.

Application Closing Date
30th March 2025.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications to: b50interpreterengfrptbooth@ecowas.int using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

Click here to download the application form (Docx.)

Note

• Special notice: Female applications are strongly encouraged.
• Assessment method: Assessment of qualified candidates may include a written exercise and a competency-based interview.