Principal Accountant

Applications should be sent to: b47principalaccoutwaho@ecowas.int

Date limite de soumission des candidatures (date/mm/aa) – Deadline For Application  (date/mm/yy) – Prazo para apresentação de candidaturas (date/mm/ano) : 6/11/2024

ROLE OVERVIEW

Under the supervision of the Director of Administration and Finance, the Principal Accountant shall be responsible for providing financial and budgetary compliant services to the Institution. She/he shall provide supervisory, mentoring, and coaching roles to the division’s staff as well as provide technical support to all other directorates and staff on accounting and budgeting procedures matters.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Monitor and ensure compliance with generally accepted/established accounting principles in accordance with ECOWAS Procedures and Regulations.
• Ensure planning, coordination, and control of the finance unit’s
• Review, investigate, and correct errors and inconsistencies in financial entries, documents, and reports.
• Review financial transactional processes and develop actions for effective and efficient
• Review financial proposals, interpret them, and provide guidance on actions to be
• Ensure monthly payments of staff salaries into the relevant bank
• Ensure that all statutory deductions are remitted and related documents forwarded to the relevant authorities in a timely manner.
• Prepare work papers and supporting schedules for periodic financial
• Implement various accounting procedures to ensure the fluidity of work and reduce turnaround times.
• Ensure periodic preparation of bank reconciliation
• Approve transactions within duties and ensure proper handling of financial
• Ensure that dossiers are processed in a timely manner (internally and with partners)
• Coordinate the preparation of periodic and annual
• Ensure that statements of commitment are consistent with approved levels and
• Coordinate the preparation and passing on of documentation for internal and external

• Report, analyze and ensure integrity of all financial
• Maintain a foolproof accounting system and keep records on all organisational transactions and assets.
• Ensure internal and external visibility of the unit’s actions and
• Identify training needs for the staff of the finance division to address identified shortcomings in task execution.
• Supervise the preparation of Annual Work Plans for all supervisees,
• Supervise activities of the staff in his/her
• Provide regular performance feedback to ensure that performance targets are met,
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by the

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Master’s degree in Accounting, or Finance, or Business Administration, or Finance Management or relevant qualification in a similar field from a recognized university.

• Ten (10) years of professional experience in managing finance and budget operations, financial monitoring, accounting, and financial reporting, in international or multinational organizations, including 5 years at a supervisory level.
• In-depth knowledge of International Public Service Accounting Standards; budgeting and budget management skills as well as an acute and expert knowledge of institutional
• In-depth knowledge of corporate reporting, financial management, accounting and financial audit and taxation.
• demonstrated practical knowledge of relevant financial accounting principles and concepts to perform tasks in accordance with the generally accepted Accounting Principles and Standards of relevance to public sector and international
• demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; accounting best practices, ECOWAS financial policies (e.g. revenue, accounts payable).
• knowledge of financial and budgetary principles and practices, budget development and financial administration of resources.
  • Professional qualifications in accounting such as ACCA, CIMA, and ICA, will be an

AGE LIMIT

Be below 50 years old. This provision does not apply to internal candidates.

ECOWAS KEY COMPETENCIES

• Ability to lead in assigned programmes and projects by providing the necessary managerial and operational expertise required for the fulfillment of the organization’s
• Ability to lead by example and organize teamwork to encourage cooperation to achieve targeted results, champion and build momentum for change and to bring

about employee engagement, develops and implements internal controls for pilot program to manage potential barriers to implementation.

• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate
• Excellent self-management skills, demonstrating ethics and integrity, confidentiality and displaying due regards for internal controls of rules, delegations, and
• Ability to bring together complementary skills/expertise, assess individual contributions and recognize/address accomplishments and shortcomings in a manner that brings continued success to the organization.
• Knowledge of program management at the level usually acquired from a certification in program management.
• Ability to research benchmarks and trends to bring about the best recommendations for the development and improvement of programs/projects that will best serve the community/organization.
• Well-developed networking and interpersonal skills to seek feedback, information, and data from a network of professionals from multiple countries/sectors/organizations and to identify and prioritize the most critical community
• Ability to manage and coordinate client management initiatives and make
• Ability to develop and implement best practices in client
• Ability to develop and implement stakeholder management plans, programs, and initiatives to obtain buy-in on new initiatives, to better understand dissenting views, to obtain resources and to increase perceptions of
• Ability to be diplomatic, tactful, and respectful of other people from varied backgrounds, understanding diverse cultural views especially within West Africa with the ability to convert diversity into opportunities to improve program/operational
• Ability to create a diverse and inclusive interactive environment that benefits from diverse strengths bringing together innovative practices.
• Ability to remain objective in managing conflict regardless of cultural differences

/positions, gender differences, and encourage other staff to overcome cultural and gender bias and differences.

• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of
• Ability to serve the interest of culturally diverse multinational teams/organizations/communities and persons with disability without prejudice and
• Understanding of the ECOWAS organizational structure, associated dynamics and expectations as required to collaborate, participate, contribute, and lead effectively.
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS mandate, strategic plan/priorities as well as the economic, political, and social situation and trends in member states, as pertains to own scope of work.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS best practices, program management approaches and research techniques to lead and/or contribute to the development or assessment of programs, projects, or initiatives.
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS rules and procedures to appropriately interpret and apply directive text, provide technical advice, coach others, and assess
• Ability to analyze a situation by using indicators to assess the costs, benefits, risks, and chances for success, in making decisions.
• Ability to pull together information from different sources to identify the cause of problems, consequences of alternative causes of action, potential, obstacles, and ways to avoid the problem in the future.
• Ability to break down very complex situations/information into simple terms to explain recommendations and conclusions aimed at solving problems or improving operations/programs/projects.
• Ability to develop new insights into situations, apply innovative solutions to problems, and design new methods of addressing issues or disconnects where established methods and procedures are inapplicable or no longer
• Ability to communicate with impact, clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner conveying credibility & confidence when making presentations, setting expectations, and explaining complex issues.
• Ability to listen intently and correctly interpret messages from others and respond
• Accomplished technical writing and editing
• Exhibit active listening skills to encourage stronger communication amongst team members, to show care and make them feel valued and to drive employee engagement in all institutions and agencies.
• Ability to give constructive feedback, provide recognition, address shortcomings, and motivate direct reports to work at peak
• 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.
• Organizational and project/program management skills with significant experience identifying timelines, targets, costs and resources necessary to deliver on operational/program/project outputs in line with result-based management approach.
• Ability to set effective goals and targets for self, others, and the work unit and adjusting work or project priorities in response to changing circumstances.
• Ability to use participatory approach in project planning and identify gaps affecting the achievement of program/project expectations and to design and implement intervention plans required to build the desired task.
• Ability to implement rigorous monitoring and evaluation practices and to set in place regular reporting schedules relevant to key outputs.
• Ability to plan, organize, control resources, and to comply with policies, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Assessment method: Assessment of qualified candidates may include a written exercise and a competency-based interview.