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

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]^[1]

Click here to download
Application Form (Ms
Word)^[2]

Click here for more
Information^[3]

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