ROLE OVERVIEW – Under the supervision of the Principal Officer Litigation & Internal Matters, the Litigation Officer will undertake legal advisory and dispute resolution roles and responsibilities as follows:

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

·       Prepare legal opinions and advise on next steps in respect of internal and external claims.

·       Carrie out thorough investigations with a view to gathering facts, other information and documents required for prosecution or defense of matters involving the Commission, its agencies and special representative offices.

·       Prepare and Reviews Court and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes.

·       Represent the Commission, its agencies and special representative offices in prosecution or defense of cases in court/ADR.

·       Liaise with external counsel to ensure adequate representation of the Commission, its agencies and special representative offices in all dispute resolution proceedings.

·       Assist in maintaining and updating a register of all disputes involving the Commission, its agencies and special representative offices.

·       Assist in the implementation of mechanisms for updating Management of progress in respect of litigation and ADR.

·       Assist in initiating and representing the Commission, its agencies and special representative offices in out-of-court settlement negotiations as required.

·       Assist in ensuring the implementation of court decisions and the awards/outcomes of arbitration/ADR proceedings.

·       Perform any other task assigned by his/her supervisor.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE 

·       Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Law, with a specialization in International, Administrative or Commercial law from a recognized university.

·       5 years progressively practice experience as a lawyer in the legal office of an intergovernmental organization or government.

·       Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to international law.

·       Knowledge and understanding of international law; theories, concepts and approaches relevant to organized crime, illicit trafficking, drug demand reduction, etc.

·       Knowledge of relevant regulations and rules of international organizations, as well as of applicable jurisprudence; legal and administrative expertise to analyze a diverse range of issues and problems, in the context of the disciplinary process, and to develop innovative and creative solutions and to litigate employment-related matters.

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 them and guide them.

·       Organizes and leads cross-divisional work group in developing creative solutions to address problems and or leads a small group of entry level professionals and administrative support staff.

·       Well-developed 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 employees and provides timely and consistent feedback regarding technical proficiency and effectiveness.

·       Knowledge of project management at the level usually acquired from a certification in Project Management (e.g. Prince2 or Project Management Professional PMP).

·       Ability to consider the impact of a shift in programmatic direction to the needs of internal and external clients.

·       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.

·       Well-developed 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, and timelines and service delivery, addressing client questions in a timely manner.

·       Ability to communicate openly with clients/stakeholders, keeping them informed of progress and issues requiring attention/resolutions.

·       Excellent judgement and ability to implement programmatic changes in a manner that ensures a bias-free work environment and fair and equitable application to new rules/regulations.

·       Demonstrated 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 build value from leveraging diverse capabilities and inputs from various cultures, staff and clients.

·       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.

·       Excellent knowledge of ECOWAS institutions and how the different organs relate to each other, particularly as it relates to own work sector/programs.

·       Broad knowledge of ECOWAS legal framework with a sound knowledge of approaches to policy and program development as well as project management normally acquired through certification.

·       Well-developed knowledge of the rules, processes and procedures of ECOWAS, of pertinence to tasks related to own position.

·       Broad knowledge of member states trends, indicators, challenges and opportunities as it relates to sector/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/programme; 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 sources and disseminates it to others in a logical.

·       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 (i.e. in specific sector or program area) using institution/agency guidelines and criteria.

·       Well-developed 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 such as email, word processing, excel, power point, collaborative software, graphic software.

·       Ability to convey information clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner through both writing and verbal means, either with electronic or print media.

·       Fluency in one of the three ECOWAS official languages (English, French & Portuguese)

·       Good 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 considers 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 sound and achievable plans.

·       Ability to conduct meetings with staff, stakeholders, colleagues and others to ascertain of organizational, program and/or project needs, adjusting plans and activities accordingly.

·       Ability to adjust project plans based on input from staff and stakeholders and/or ability to design and implements guidelines, tools and templates to accommodate new or revised programmes and services.