Junior Accountant, Financial Reporting (P1 / P2) At The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) In Abuja

Job Vacancy Description

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: Junior Accountant, Financial Reporting

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Grade: P1 / P2
Status: Permanent
Departement: Finance
Directorate: Financial Reporting  & Grants
Division: Financial Reporting
Line Supervisor: Accountant, Financial Reporting & Reconciliation
Supervising: Accounting Assistant

Role Overview

• Under the supervision of the Accountant, Financial Reporting & Reconciliation, the incumbent has a responsibility for the execution of the financial policies and regulations in the area of production of financial statement including income & Expenditure statement, Balance sheet and other reports as may be required by IPSAS and Financial Regulation. Ensure all ledger reconciliations and maintain an update record of all account.

Role and Responsibilities

• Ensure an up to date reconciliation and analysis of all ledgers so as to certify the validity of financial statements in accordance with existent regulations;
• Review posting of transactions into the accounting software;
• Liaise with the banks to provide weekly and monthly bank statements for all the bank

Accounts:

• Check and certify the correctness of the bank reconciliation statements and ensure that they are filed safely for the review of both internal and external auditors;
• Liaise with the bank for any errors or misstatements found on the bank statements;
• Supervise the staff working under him/her;
• Assist in the year end closing of accounts and preparation of the ECOWAS Commission financial statements;
• Monthly exports and review of the trial balance of the year in review and note areas with issues;
• Assist Analyzing of all general ledger accounts (Payables, receivables, Income & expenses) and adjust/propose corrections where necessary;
• Preparation of journal vouchers and post into accounting system;
• Amortization/expensing of utilized prepaid accounts;
• Clearing of GL open items ;
• Respond and provide requested information/documents to external auditors on issues raised during the year-end audit and recommend/ propose ways to correct them;
• Assist the Accountant to liaise with external auditors in closing of accounts and preparation of reports;
• Assist other divisions (accounts payables, bank reconciliation, receivables and grants)with issues/proposed adjustments raised during the financial year audit;
• Listings of manual journal entries/adjusting entries booked during the year under review and maintaining of all audit files.

Academic Qualification and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in Accounting or Finance from a recognized university.
• 2 years relevant work experience in accounting, finance, administration, budget, business administration or related area, is required;
• Familiarity with administrative and financial policies and procedures with a basic practical understanding of broad theories, concepts and approaches;
• Ability to provide support services in collecting and analyzing data for anomalies, trends, errors, and answers using various methods and techniques.

Age Limit:

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

Ecowas Key Competencies

• Ability to motivate self and/or others to engage in and successfully complete tasks at hand;
• Demonstrated experience leading conversations that will either provide participants with new information, ideas or awareness or elicit feedback;
• Ability to positively influence co-workers when faced with challenges and work problems to help trigger solutions and build confidence;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Ability to lead in the management of own career and performance and to seek assistance/coaching when required.
• Well-developed client service skills including a positive  attitude, creative thinking skills, good work ethic, teamwork experience, time management skills, flexibility;
• Ability to take initiative to resolve problems and improve quality and/or quantity of work by identifying alternative solutions and discussing appropriateness/approach with supervisor;
• Strong desire to help others and capacity to empathize to generate mutual understanding;
• Ability to work as part of a team in supporting and addressing the needs of clients and stakeholders;
• Ability to multitask and to meet client service/stakeholder management standards and objectives of pertinence to assigned responsibilities.
• Ability to perceive the moods and feelings of others from various cultural backgrounds, and to understand interests, needs, and perspectives so as to prevent/address misunderstandings and complaints;
• Well-developed ability to relate well with people from varied backgrounds and sound understanding of diverse cultural differences especially within west Africa;
• Ability to listen attentively to people’s ideas, requests and concerns and to understand and internalize 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 ECOWAS programs and projects relevant to tasks and demonstrated understanding of data used by the department/institution/agency, including knowing where data resides in the system, the ability to see how the data in the system interrelate and how data entries and changes may impact data in other parts of the system.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS routine procedures and practices as it relates to assigned responsibilities;
• Ability to apply ECOWAS standards in emailing, reporting, correspondence, etc. and to accept and implement changes as directed.
• Excellent numeracy skills with the ability to collect, collate, classify and summarize data systematically.
• Demonstrated ability to assist in conducting primary and secondary research activities in accordance with instructions and/or best practices in research techniques (e.g. interviews, tests, desk research);
• Ability to identify inconsistencies in reasoning and to articulate findings clearly;
• Ability to use creativity and initiative in the generation of alternative solutions to a problem;
• Ability to gather, analyze and arrange information in a logical sequence.
• Ability to provide useful feedback when asked and to use feedback constructively when given;
• Demonstrated ability to use computers with superior word-processing skills and proficiency in the use of data base (e.g. access), spreadsheets (e.g. excel), inter/intranet, email and social media;
• Tact, diplomacy and well-developed interpersonal skills;
• Ability to write accurate, clear and well-organized text;
• 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.
• Well established time management skills with the ability to make well considered/reasoned decisions regarding own work and to follow them through;
• Ability to use action planning skills, set priorities, develop work goals and identify the steps needed to achieve goals of relevance to own work area;
• Ability to work well and meet objectives of tasks when under pressure or when exposed to uncertainties, challenges and/or changing work environments;
• Ability to understand and contribute to team/work unit goals and plans as well as to collective decision-making.

Annual Salary

• UA36,929.06, USD58,266.68 (P1)
• UA42,916.53, USD67,713.70 (P2)

Application Closing Date
22nd April, 2020.

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: b6jaccount@ecowas.int  using the Job Title as the subject of the email.