Overview
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.
- Job Position: Parliamentary Research Officer
- Job Location: Abuja, Nigeria
- Grade: P2 / P3 / P4
- Status: Permanent
- Institution: ECOWAS Parliament
- Directorate: Parliamentary Affairs & Research
- Division: Library, Documentation & Research
- Line Supervisor: Principal Officer, Library, Documentation & Research
Job Description
- Under the supervision of the Principal Officer, Library, Documentation & Research, the incumbent shall assist Members of Parliament by providing them relevant well researched information for their work.
Job Responsibilities
- Respond in a timely manner to requests for information or inquiries from Committee members and other Members of Parliament;
- Undertake research, usually from readily available sources, on clearly defined subjects;
- Analyse and evaluate research and interpret data in order to identify the key issues;
- Prepare and present, in both written and oral forms, the results of research in a manner appropriate for answering parliamentary questions, providing briefings to Committee members, or for providing content for newspaper articles and press releases ;
- Prepare and provide briefings for Committee Clerks to be tabled at meetings of the Committee;
- Monitor motions, petitions, legislation, Hansard, and other parliamentary activity as appropriate;
- Monitor coverage in the media issues before the Committees;
- Advice and guide the Committees, Members of Parliament, the Secretary-General and Committee Clerks on relevant policy matters;
- Progress casework through liaison with local and national bodies, government agencies, lobby groups, and other associated bodies;
- Develop knowledge of relevant legislation and ensure that knowledge is maintained and updated;
- Maintain precise, detailed records of each issue and ensure the confidentiality of data at all times;
- Develop knowledge in specialist areas as required by the Committees;
- Performs other tasks as may be assigned by the supervisor.
Job Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in International Relations, Political Science, Public Administration or a related field from a recognized University;
- 2 years of progressively responsible professional working experience in political science, political affairs, international relations, law, mediation, conflict resolution, or related area is required;
- Knowledge and understanding of ECOWAS agency or institutional mandate, international non-proliferation theories, concepts and developments and ECOWAS strategies, including cooperation with Member-States and international organizations;
- Knowledge and understanding of ECOWAS agency/institution’s relations with national and regional agencies, international organizations, and other international and diplomatic institutions;
- Ability to liaise between ECOWAS members and Staff with the government of the country of residence, in-focus areas;
- Classification of information of relevance to the human resources management functional areas.
Age Limit:
- Be below 50 years old. This provision does not apply to internal candidates.
ECOWAS Key Competencies:
- Ability to execute tasks, contact colleagues and contribute as needed towards decision making to ensure tasks are completed in a timely manner;
- Ability to respect the chain of command in an appropriate manner;
- Ability to respect the chain of command in an appropriate manner;
- Ability to guide own work by setting and monitoring goals with strong personal initiative and commitment to ECOWAS;
- Ability to model and advocate for compliance, good work ethics, flexibility, and persistence to get the job done coupled with an ability to influence positive teamwork and cooperation;
- Ability to work in teams to carry out semi-routine work including assigning work, training and checking work.
- Excellent interpersonal skills to engage with clients in positive exchanges that establishes mutual expectations, understanding and reduces uncertainties and conflicts;
- Ability to keep clients informed on matters of relevance to expectations, establishing “bring forward” systems and introducing other procedures/techniques to ensure that service standards are maintained;
- Ability to make decisions based on guidelines, procedures and precedents and maintain confidentiality and discretion with clients;
- Good judgment and demonstrated ability to be assertive – rather than passive or aggressive when interacting with clients;
- Well-developed problem-solving, critical thinking and conflict resolution skills.
- Ability to perceive the moods and feelings of others, and to understand the attitude, interests, needs, and perspectives of others;
- Well-developed ability to relate well with people from varied backgrounds, open to understanding diverse cultural differences especially within West Africa;
- Ability to listen attentively to people’s ideas, requests and concerns and to explain to others the need for diversity management in everyday workplace practices;
- Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work;
- Ability to factor in diversity when providing services, responding to requests, recognizing and releasing preconceived notions and stereotypical views of certain groups and individuals;
- Basic understanding of the ECOWAS organization mandate and its functions;
- Ability to explain the functional area assigned to and the contributions it makes to the organization and its mandate;
- Knowledge of ECOWAS semi-routine procedures, processes and practices as it relates to assigned responsibilities and information systems;
- Ability to apply ECOWAS standards in emailing, reporting, correspondences, etc. and to contribute to implementing associated changes as directed;
- Ability to carefully review and check the accuracy of the information in work reports provided by management, management information systems or other individuals;
- Good knowledge of office monitoring indicators of relevance to own work and ability to provide brief reports or updates;
- Ability to edit, check, track and review documents prepared by others and reorganize data or information according to instructions using latest technology;
- Efficiently retrieves, inputs, edits, formats, transmits, and links electronic file data used for analysis and understands data management operations;
- Ability to condense information and/or produce concise summary notes to help others with decision-making, problem solving and / or assessment of work;
- Demonstrated computer skills to communicate using tools, to write and format documents appropriately for presentation, the web, proposals, reports, and other documents;
- Ability to proofread, edit and revise documents to ensure they follow standard conventions for punctuation and mechanics and formatted in accordance with ECOWAS communication standards;
- Ability to relay/redirect complete and accurate messages to appropriate persons/departments;
- 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 an additional one will be an added advantage.
- Ability to organize information and materials for others, solving minor problems and checking for completeness and compliance to standards and instructions;
- Knowledge of techniques to prioritize tasks in a fast-paced workplace with frequent interruptions and moving deadlines and adaptability/flexibility to meet work expectations;
- Understanding and adherence to the policies, procedures and guidelines required to support the ECOWAS planning cycle at the individual and organizational level;
- Good initiative with an ability to identify what needs to be done and take action in a proactive manner.
Annual Salary
UA42,916.53 / USD67,713.70 – UA49,106.81 / USD77,480.72 – UA56,591.37 / USD89,289.87
Closing Date
13th April, 2021.
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: b1p_parlreserchoff@parl.ecowas.int using the “Job Title” as the subject of the email.
Click here to download Application Form (Ms Word)
