The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional grouping with 15 Member States in West Africa (three landlocked and one island) with a population of about 300million and an annual economic growth rate of around 6%. The ECOWAS Commission is one of the eight Regional Economic Communities supporting the African Union to coordinate the implementation of continental and regional integration and development programmes in the West African region.
We are currently seeking to employ suitably qualified candidates to fill the vacant position below:

Job Title: Economist (Budget)
Reference: ECW-FIN-REC/P/005/2017
Location: ECOWAS Commission, Abuja, Nigeria
Department: Finance
Directorate: Finance
Grade: P3
Supervisor: Principal Accountant
Duration: Duration: Two years (with extension subject to “Staff Regulation” of the ECOWAS Commission, satisfactory performance and availability of funds)
Job Objective

Reporting directly to the Principal Accountant (Budget), the Economist has a responsibility for the execution of financial and budgeting policies and regulations in the area of Budget formulation, preparation, execution and monitoring for the ECOWAS Commission and Community.

General Description
A major responsibility of this position is the performing or managing of daily, weekly, and monthly Budget activities that are required for the proper review, approval and payment of expenditures and other commitments of the ECOWAS Commission.
The Economist will be responsible for generating accurate, timely and complete Budget information reports each month/quarter as required by the Financial Regulations highlighting variances as well as providing explanations for these variances.Revenue and expenditure forecasting will be a core competence for this task.
In addition, the Economist would spend time supervising the work of his staff, including providing solutions to expenditure processing problems as they arise from time to time. Providing guidance, motivating and mentoring of staff would be important to the success of this position.
He/She will play an active role both in reserve mobilisation and utilisation.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Assist in the formulation, preparation, coordination, execution and monitoring of the Budget.
Implement budgetary control procedures and ensure that expenditures approved for payment are properly committed in the Budget.
Prepare quarterly budgetary control reports including budget versus actual analysis.
Liaise with respective departments & directorates in providing information on the level of budget implementation.
Prepares comparative analyses of operating programs by analysing costs in relation to services performed during previous fiscal years and submits recommendations for budget revisions.
Assist in the development and implementation of the strategy of the Finance Department.
Participate in meetings on behalf of the Finance Department to provide substantive expertise on budgetry issues.
Ensure that all commitments are properly coded and reconciled with the Accounting codes to identify all outstanding commitments for subsequent monitoring and implementation.
Ensure that expenditures on any Budget Heads are checked and appropriate transfers are proposed within the limits allowed by the financial regulation as well as budget and expenditure reviews.
Participate in resources mobilisation endeavour.
Perform other related duties as required.

Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required
At least A Bachelor’s degree in Economics/Public Finance (or equivalent academic qualification) with additional 5 years of relevant record of professional experience.
Experience in resource mobilisation especially Customs operations will be an added advantage.
A higher degree will reduce the number of years of experience to three (3);
Excellent verbal and written communication skills (fluent) in one of the official languages of the ECOWAS Community (English, French and Portuguese). Good working knowledge of a second Community language will be an added advantage.
Familiarity with forecasting techniques and tools.
Excellent knowledge of financial accounting principles and concepts including the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
Good knowledge of general aspects of financial management software and of at least one ERP software. Previous specific experience with SAP will be an asset.
Previous experience in Budget-related activities will be a distinctive added value.
Good inter-personal skills and team working ability necessary to enable effective interaction in performing key financial and managerial activities of other team members and supervise their works, including peers.
Ability to make recommendations on key budgeting and managerial decisions.

Language:
Must be fluent in one of the official languages of the Commission; English, French and Portuguese. A working knowledge of another would be an advantage.

Annual Salary
USD 36,901 – USD 44,469.


Job Title: Accountant (Payables & Advances)
Reference: ECW-FIN-REC/P/001/2017
Location: ECOWAS Commission, Abuja, Nigeria
Department: Finance
Directorate: Finance
Grade: P3
Supervisor: Principal Accountant
Duration: Two years (with extension subject to “Staff Regulation” of the ECOWAS Commission, satisfactory performance and availability of funds)
Job Objective
Reporting directly to the Principal Accountant (Accounts payable), the Accountant has a responsibility for the execution of financial policies and regulations in the area of Accounts Payable and other contract expenditure processing including payment of advances and update of related books of accounts for the ECOWAS Commission.

General Description
A major responsibility of this position is supervising staff to review invoices as well as check payment requests;
Sort, organize and match bills and check demands;
Set invoices up for payment;
Monitor Institution accounts to ensure payments to be up to date;
Resolve bill discrepancies;
Vendor document maintenance;
Respond to vendor enquiries;
Put together and process Institution accounts payable check, reconciliation of obligations;
Prepare analysis associated with accounts;
Produce monthly reports;
Assist in month end and annual closing.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Responsible for creating and maintaining all vendor master records in the financial system;
Supervise and train Accounts Payable staff for maximum efficiency and output;
Review the work of Payables staff to ensure all payables are properly documented, properly approved, coded to active and valid codes in accordance with the ECOWAS Financial Regulations and the Manual of Accounting Procedures;
Act as liaison between Vendors, Consultants, Employees and/or Internal Sectors/Departments and Accounts Payable within the Finance Directorate and offer impeccable customer service;
Review/reconcile vendor statements on a regular basis;
Prepare and submit monthly reports for management review;
Investigate Vendor, Consultant and Employee inquiries and track down delinquent invoices;
Process all employee/consultant claims for travel-related and other expenses;
Monitor ageing and due dates of payables and arrange to account and pay in a timely manner;
Ensure accurate and timely filing of all AP related vouchers and records to enable easy retrieval of documents and ensure proper archiving of prior fiscal year documents;
Retrieve and furnish all relevant vouchers and details for internal and external audits.

Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required
A Bachelor’s degree in Accounting (or equivalent qualification) with additional 5 years of relevant record of professional experience. Being a professional accountant (CPA, ACCA, CIMA, CA etc.) will be an added advantage.
A higher degree will reduce the number of years of experience to three (3);
Excellent verbal and written communication skills (fluent) in one of the official languages of the ECOWAS Community (English, French and Portuguese). Good working knowledge of a second Community language will be an added advantage.
Excellent knowledge of financial accounting principles and concepts including the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Experience with EU Pillar Assessment on Internal Control and Accounting will be an added advantage.
Good knowledge of general aspects of financial management software and of at least one ERP software. Previous specific experience with SAP will be an asset.
Ability to operate standard Microsoft office software (Word, Excel, Power Point, Access).
Good inter-personal skills and team working ability necessary to enable effective interaction in performing key financial activities of other team members and supervise their works, including peers. Proven record of experience in multicultural environments will be an added advantage.
Ability to set and meet deadlines including strong ability to manage multiple tasks to completion and with set deadlines.
Ability to make recommendations on key financial and managerial issues.

Language:
Must be fluent in one of the official languages of the Commission; English, French and Portuguese. A working knowledge of another would be an advantage.



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