Legal Officer (French & Portuguese) at 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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Legal Officer (French & Portuguese)

Location: Dakar, Senegal
Slots: 2
Institution: GIABA
Grade: P2/P3    
Directorate: Evaluation And Compliance
Division: Legal & Law Enforcement
Line Supervisor: Senior Legal Adviser
Supervising: None
Duration: Permanent

Role Overview

• Under the supervision and guidance of the Senior Legal Officer, Civil Law shall Provide support role and/or participate (when required) in GIABA mutual evaluation exercises and draft reports on sections of the mutual evaluation reports (MERs) covering relevant FATF recommendations and immediate outcomes.

Role and Responsibilities

• Provide support role and/or participate (when required) in GIABA mutual evaluation exercises and draft reports on sections of the mutual evaluation reports (MERs) covering relevant FATF Recommendations and Immediate Outcomes;
• Provide support roles in the organization of GIABA assessors training; pre-assessment training; training on FATF Standards and Methodology organized for Member States;
• Analyze follow up reports by member States;
• Provide inputs and participate in the assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks;
• Undertake the identification, design and implementation of training and capacity building activities in the legal sector;
• Produce draft reports for GIABA Statutory meetings (TC/Plenary; GMC and any other fora)
• Provide the inputs into GIABA Annual reports, Strategic Plans; Annual Work Plan or any other relevant publications of GIABA and/or Members of the AML/CFT Global Network
• Participate in the mutual evaluations and training activities by other assessment bodies either as an expert or delegate as the case may be;
• Participate in the technical assistance needs assessments of Member States in the area of legal issues relating to AML/CFT compliance;
• Serve as part of the in-house legal team to GIABA Secretariat;
• Provide support in the organization of the GIABA Evaluation and Compliance Group meetings;
• Provide inputs in the identification, design and implementation of capacity building activities in the legal sector;;
• Support the organization of capacity building activities on issues in Legal area for relevant stakeholders in Member States;
• Assist in the development and revision AML/CFT legal framework at national, supranational and regional levels;
• Participate in other capacity building activities organized by other units or divisions other than legal unit ;
• Provide inputs into revision of FATF Standards; Methodology; Guidance and Best Practice papers; Universal Mutual Evaluation (ME) Procedures; and GIABA ME Processes and Procedure and other instruments for the purpose of improving the AML/CFT compliance by Member States;
• Perform any other functions as maybe assigned by the supervisor.

Academic Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Law with a specialization in International, Criminal, Administrative, Civil, or Commercial Law from a recognized University.
• Knowledge and understanding of relevant ECOWAS treaties, Security Resolutions and Conventions relating to money laundering and the financing of terrorism
• Ability to foster regional and international contacts and cooperation for the continuous monitoring of risks in GIABA member states and to the effective operation of a country’s AML/CFT/financial/economic regime;
• Familiarity with the conduct of AML/CFT Mutual Evaluation.
• 3 years of progressively responsible experience in AML/CFT and risks monitoring.
• Knowledge of the AML/CFT strategic surveillance operational framework and FATF standards and instruments used in conducting national risk assessment.
• Knowledge and understanding of the relevant aspects of anti-money laundering, combating terrorism finance (AML/CFT), proceeds of crime, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, and extradition legislation.

Age Limit:

• To be at least 24 years and less than 50 years old. This age limit 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 chain of command in an appropriate manner;
• Ability to respect 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 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 model and advocate for compliance, good work ethics, flexibility and persistence to get 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 judgement 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 every day workplace practices;
• Ability to carefully review and check the accuracy of 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 to 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.

Annual Salary
UA 37,674.89 - USD 59,443.44
UA 43,414.62 - USD 68,499.59

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications to:  [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the email.

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Application Deadline  11th May, 2022.