Applications should be sent to: assistantregistrararb@courtecowas.org

ROLE OVERVIEW

To assist in providing essential services to the Members of the Court in the discharge of their arbitral mandate in line with the provisions of the Revised Treaty and other legal text of the Community.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assist the Registrar in the discharge of his functions
• Attends all sessions.
• Ensures the verification of applications, receipt, processing and transmission of all applications lodged in the Arbitration Registry.
• Under the authority of the Registrar responsible for managing the activities of the Registry of the arbitration and therefore provide necessary services to the Arbitrators for the discharged of their functions.
• Responsible for the service of all processes to Arbitrators, Parties, Counsel, Translators, and Research Division and ensure the drawing up the list of cases.
• Submits monthly reports to the Registrar in respect of sessions.
• Ensure preparations for hearings in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the Court.
• Assist to certify the accurate record of the summary of the proceedings in the Record Book of Sessions.
• To assist in the preparation of the Minutes of the Proceedings
• Assist in the signing of Arbitral awards.
• Ensure that staff in charge of equipment and facilities attend all Court sessions.
• Performs any other related tasks as may be assigned by the President or the Chief Registrar.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Education:

• A minimum of bachelor’s degree in law.
• Possession of higher Degree in Law (master’s degree in law) would be an advantage

Experience:

• Three (3) years relevant professional experience in court of law functioning, including two (2) years relevant international experience.
• Possession in Court process or Court Registry functioning experience.
• Possession of higher Degree would be an advantage.
• Experience in a variety of private and public institutions preferably in a multi-cultural setting and in an international institution would be an advantage.
• Knowledge and Information about different Enforcement Agencies in Member States.

AGE LIMIT

• Candidates should not be over 50 years old at the point of recruitment and must be a citizen of one of the ECOWAS Member States. This is not applied for internal candidates

ECOWAS KEY COMPETENCES

• 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 organizational 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 users (lawyers) and build strong trusting relationships based on mutual respect and regular discussions;
• Ability to establish and sustain professional credibility with users/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 users/lawyers 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 unbiased and transparent manner.
• 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.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS institutions, sectors, programs 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/program 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;
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate 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 work goals;
• 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