Employment Opportunities at The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
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. Considered one of the pillars of the African Economic Community, the organization was founded in order to achieve collective self-sufficiency for its member states by creating a single large trading bloc through an economic and trading union. It also serves as a peacekeeping force in the region. The organization operates officially in three co-equal languages French, English, and Portuguese.
We are currently recruiting for the vacant positions below:
Job Title: Bilingual Secretary
Reference: ECW/PRG/BSEC-G2018
Location: Banjul, The Gambia
Supervisor: The Permanent Representative of the President of ECOWAS Commission to The Gambia
Grade: G5
Duration: Contract 1 year (renewable)
Duties And Responsibilities
- Book and schedule appointments for the Permanent Representative;
- Make telephone calls, verify incoming calls to ensure their importance and possibility to respond
- Receive and guide visitors to the office of the Permanent Representative;
- Create a recording system of in-coming and out-going mails; ensure archiving and filing of documents;
- Keep records of important files and documents for the Permanent Representative and make them available for reference as and when needed;
- Ensure follow-up on documents submitted to the Permanent Representative for signature;
- Drafts, prepares, types letters, reports, memos and general correspondence for Permanent Representative;
- Organise and take minutes of Meetings;
- Performs any other relevant duties as may be assigned
Qualifications
- A minimum of Higher National Diploma or equivalent in Secretarial Administration or related field.
Experience And Skills:
- Six (6) years work experience
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Sense of confidentiality
- Excellent operational and administrative skills
- Must be computer literate and possess excellent command of computer applications: MS-office (word, Excel, powerpoint, Access)
- Document and database management skills
- Experience in electronic and physical filing of documents
- Ability to work under pressure in a multicultural environment
Language Requirements:
- Fluency (written and oral) in two of the official languages of ECOWAS: French, English and Portuguese. Aworking knowledge of a third ECOWAS language would be an advantage
Salary
Annual Salary: USD 12,465 – USD 16,575
Application Deadline 9th March, 2018.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their applications to:
[email protected]
Note: Locally recruited post; candidates to this position should be a Gambian or ECOWAS citizens legally resident in The Gambia.
Job Title: Conference Interpreter (English A/French B or C)
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Department: General Administration and Conference
Directorate: Conference and Protocol
Grade: P5
Supervisor: Director, Conferences and Protocol
Duration: Permanent
Duties and Responsibilities
Under the Authority of the Commissioner for General Administration and Conference and the supervision of the Director Conference and Protocol, the Interpreter will be responsible for the following duties:
- Services all meetings as assigned by Language Coordinator and Management; Provides interpretation in relevant language combination, (simultaneous, consecutive, whispering, liaison) of speeches or statements;
- Routinely assigned to sensitive meetings;
- May be required to function as language team leader when assigned to a given meeting;
- Assists the Head of Language Division, as appropriate, in the screening, training and examining of prospective interpreters;
- Participates in establishment of terminology database, glossaries, etc.
- May perform other related duties as required.
Competencies
Technical Expertise and Professionalism:
- Ability to demonstrate a high level of concentration;
- Split-second accuracy;
- Ability to work under continuous stress and deliver clear interpretation on an exceedingly broad range of subjects;
- Understands how to prepare meetings and work with meeting documents.
- Understands how to 'weigh' interpretation teams;
- Shows pride in work and achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter;
- Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines, confidentiality and achieving results;
- Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns;
- Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges;
- Remains calm in stressful situations and ability to travel at short notice.
Teamwork:
- Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals;
- Demonstrates booth manners and upholds team coherence;
- Solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise;
- Is willing to learn from others;
- Places team agenda before personal agenda.
- Supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position;
- Shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
- Keeps abreast of new developments in own occupation/profession;
- Actively seeks to develop oneself professionally and personally;
- Contributes to the learning of colleagues and subordinates;
- Shows willingness to learn from others.
- Seeks feedback to learn and improve.
Qualifications/Experience/Skills
Education:
- Minimum of a Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in Conference Interpretation
Work Experience:
- At least 4 years of professional interpreting experience;
- Experience with international organizations would be an advantage.
Age:
- Candidates must not be over fifty (50) years of age at the point of recruitment.
Languages:
- English A/French B or C
- Assessment Method
- Candidates must pass the ECOWAS Competitive Examination for Conference Interpreters (eliminatory), which will be followed by a competency-based interview.
Remuneration
UA 33,607 - UA 37,998
Application Deadline 17th March, 2018.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications to:
[email protected]
Job Title: Translator
Reference: ECW-COMM/REC/CON-P/002
Location: Abuja
Department: General Administration and Conference
Directorate: Conference and Protocol
Grade: P4
Supervisor: Director, Conference and Protocol
Duration: Permanent
Description of Duties
- Under the Authority of the Commissioner for General Administration and Conference and the supervision of the Language Coordinator, the incumbent shall be responsible for, among others, the following assigned duties:
Duties and Responsibilities
- Translates a wide variety of texts documents for ECOWAS conferences and meetings, working papers, scientific articles, speeches, programme statements, web materials, reports, correspondence, etc;
- Performs the terminological and conceptual research required in order to produce high-quality translations of scientific, technical, legal, and administrative texts;
- Translates and self-revises from texts of considerable difficulty, using computer assisted translation tools were possible;
- Assists in providing support for terminology and style; respond to queries about terminology, nomenclature, translation, and writing posed by staff; conducts linguistic research and assist in the maintenance of glossaries;
- Contributes to the establishment of accurate terminology and to promote the terminology data base;
- Assists in review of external translators for the ECOWAS roster;
- Provides translation support in emergencies, including working under tight deadlines and quick turnaround of translated documents;
- Provides feedback for machine translation dictionaries;
- Participates in professional forums, conferences and seminars; shares knowledge and practices with translators of other international organizations; keeps abreast of specialized terminology and best translation practices;
- Performs other related duties, as required.
- Competencies Technical Expertise and Professionalism
IT Skills:
- A high degree of specialization in Translation in A language in particular;
- Full command of all the skills involved in preparing technical translations, including the use of terminology databases, electronic dictionaries, research tools, and post editing of raw machine-translated output;
- Ability to acquire knowledge and information about a wide range of subjects and apply it to translation tasks;
- Ability to respect deadlines without sacrificing quality;
- Ability to work under pressure in order to meet tight deadlines;
- Familiarity with the principles and practices of documentary translation;
- Excellent organizational and analytical skills, complemented by excellent communication and interpersonal skills combined with the ability to write, speak, and present in a clear and concise, diplomatic, tactful, and courteous manner.
- Ability to perform on sight translation and liaison interpretation.
- Demonstrated ability to effectively use a computer and utilize software programs such as Microsoft Office Suite, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and SharePoint.
- Experience with computer assisted translation tools, translation memory and other computer-aided translation software would be highly desirable.
- Receptive to review by Revisor and imbibes lessons learnt.
- Works collaboratively with colleagues on large translation projects, fulfilling responsibilities so as not to undermine group effort;
- Upholds team coherence.
- Solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise;
- Is willing to learn from others.
- Supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position;
- Shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
- Keeps abreast of new developments in own occupation/profession;
- Actively seeks to develop oneself professionally and personally.
- Contributes to the learning of colleagues and subordinates;
- Shows willingness to learn from others.
- Seeks feedback to learn and improve.
Qualifications/Experience/Skills
Education Essential:
- Minimum of a Bachelor's Degree in Translation or Bachelors of Arts Degree and a Certificate in Translation from a recognized school.
Desirable:
- A master’s degree in Translation
Work Experience:
- At least three (3) years of professional translation experience;
- Experience with international organizations would be an advantage.
Desirable:
- To have at least three years translation experience in the ECOWAS System
Age:
- Candidates must not be over fifty (50) years of age at the point of recruitment.
Languages:
- Excellent command of A language;
- Ability to work into other languages of working combination would be an asset
Assessment Method:
- Candidates must pass the ECOWAS Competitive Examination for Staff Translators (eliminatory), which will be followed by a competency-based interview.
Salary
Annual Salary: UA 28,499 - UA 33,198
Application Deadline 17th March, 2018.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their applications to:
[email protected]