Graduate Jobs at ECOWAS – Economic Community of West African States

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 work under pressure.
• 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/programme 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 reevaluate 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/programmes; and excellent analytical skills to assess external policies and trends when reviewing policy/programme 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);
• Fluency in oral and written expressions in one of the ECOWAS official languages of the Community (English, French & Portuguese). Knowledge of any additional one will be an added advantage.
• 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 programmes and services.