Consular Officer At The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

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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: Consular Officer

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Grade: P3 / P4
Department: General Administration And Conference
Directorate: Conference And Protocol
Division: Protocol
Line Supervisor: Principal Protocol Officer
Slot: 2 Openings

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the Principal Officer Protocol, the incumbent will provide day-to-day protocol support services with issuing visas, resident permits resolving challenges and ensuring the smooth delivery of services whilst providing needed support to the Principal Protocol Officer.

Role and Responsibilities

• Facilitate liaison between the Commission and the host Government counterparts as well as the diplomatic community.
• Undertake protocol activities of the Protocol Division in the Commission and provide protocol services and advice to the Commission, its staff and guests;
• Delivers consular and passport services to the Staff of the Commission, including responses to client enquiries with requests for information and forms
• Process passport applications and conduct personal interviews
• Perform security checks and follow procedures for centralised passport operations
• Maintain passport databases for the Commission’s staff
• Update schedule of fees and printed instructions as required
• Maintain stock levels of all passport related materials including application forms, travel documents and laminates
• Manage consular cases, update and maintain consular case records, including welfare, whereabouts, repatriations, visa refusals and denials.
• Communicate and co-ordinate with hospitals, police, lawyers, social services, airlines, government and non-government authorities and other contacts as required
• Execute notarial acts using ECOWAS guidelines
• Organise and execute accreditation of diplomats and heads of missions as well as multilateral organizations that partner with the commission.
• Coordinate and provide protocol services during the ECOWAS Statutory and technical meetings and important events organised by the Commission or those being held under its auspices;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Academic Qualifications And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Arts, Social sciences from a recognised University;
• 5 years of progressively responsible experience in protocol, travels, tourism, hospitality or any related area;
• knowledge of accepted norms, rules and customs of international diplomatic protocols, including practices developed within ECOWAS system or similar international organisations;
• knowledge of diplomatic and travel services in a governmental or international organisation including experience in developing constructive working relationships with host governments;
• Proven experience in the organisation of international conferences/events;
• knowledge of accepted norms, rules and customs of international travel logistics, including practices developed within international organisations;
• knowledge of the airline industry, travel planning in a governmental or international organisation including experience in developing constructive working relationships.

Age Limit:

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

Ecowas Key Competencies

• Ability to persuade/influence others to consider a certain point of view, adopt a new idea or implement new methods and practices;
• Ability to lead a team of trainees/junior staff and instill a spirit of teamwork to engage employees and achieve a well-defined set of activities;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Ability to resolve challenges that occur with minimal direction and/or to recommend and explain solutions or alternatives for approval;
• Ability to utilize the Code of Ethics to manage self, others, information and resources;
• Ability to mentor others and create feedback loops with supervisors, colleagues and the subordinates to build strong working relationships and improve performance.
• Contribute to maintaining organisational unit’s performance goals and standards.
• Interpersonal skills with ability to keep a client informed of progress or setbacks in projects of relevance to timeline, quality and quantity;
• Ability to proactively interact with clients and build strong trusting relationships based on mutual respect and regular discussions;
• Ability to establish and sustain professional credibility with clients/stakeholders in a manner that anticipates their need, mitigates issues and that carefully balances professional obligations with the need to be sensitive and responsive to their needs;
• Ability to counsel, advise, consult and guide others on matters pertaining to assigned client service responsibilities and established client service standards;
• Demonstrate respect for cultural differences, fairness and ability to relate well with people from varied backgrounds, nationality, gender, ethnicity, race and religion;
• Understanding of diverse cultural views especially within West Africa, with sensitivity to group differences; ability to challenge bias and to practice tolerance and empathy;
• Ability to listen actively, consider people’s concerns and apply judgement, tact and diplomacy;
• Ability to work in a diverse and inclusive interactive environment that benefits from diverse strengths;
• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work;
• Ability to encourage, empower, and advocate for people in an unbias and transparent manner.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS institutions, sectors, programmes and policies;
• Knowledge of ecowas internal operational requirements of programs, projects, services and systems required to achieve work assignments and meet performance goals;
• Knowledge of rules and procedures of ECOWAS associated assigned responsibilities and ability to explain these clearly to others;
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS culture, structures and performance issues and priorities impacting assigned responsibilities;
• Knowledge of member states development trends, indicators, challenges and opportunities as it relates to project/programme assigned to own position.
• Ability to study data/information from a variety of sources, identify anomalies, trends and issues, present findings, and make recommendations;
• Ability to break down problems or processes into key parts to identify and solve gaps in service, quality assurance, compliance and performance targets;
• Knowledge of and ability to apply techniques to generate creative ideas and new approaches to meeting goals;
• Ability to use evidence and research to inform policies and programs and identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including stakeholders, regional institutions and/or internal committees.
• Demonstrate operational computer proficiency using appropriate tools;
• Ability to make sound use of graphics and tables to effectively present numerical data to write semi-complex technical reports/proposals and edit/check templates, letters, etc.
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner through both writing and verbal means, ;
• Exhibit interpersonal skills, make presentations, express opinions and debate ideas with others in a constructive manner;
• 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 develop, implement an individual action plan for achieving specific workgoals;
•  Identify ,organize and monitor tasks throughout to facilitate execution;
• Ability to contribute and/or lead on projects as per accepted project management standards and techniques, to co-ordinate contributions by others to set and meet deadlines;
• Ability to organize work, set priorities, and work within timelines, giving attention to details, stakeholders, indicators and risks;
• Ability to identify, collect and assess indicators to monitor performance and to take proactive remedial action as required.

Annual Salary

• P3: UA49,106.81, USD77480.72
• P4: UA56,591.37, USD89,289.87

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: b13consularoff@ecowas.int using the Job Title as the subject of the email.