Job description

The Ministry of Trade and Industry would like to inform the Public that the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is seeking to recruit the persons qualified for the following Job positions:

1. Job Title: Director Of Gender Social Affairs

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of the Assistant Secretary General (Programmes) and the overall supervision of the Secretary General, the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:

• Provide input into long-range strategic and policy priorities/ issues relating to COMESA’s role in supporting development in Member States in order to realize the regional integration agenda;
• Consolidate Divisional Annual work plans and budget inputs in order to gain management’s approval and funding of work plans required to execute division mandate;
• Monitor the implementation of Division work programs and budgets to ensure that the Division mandate is executed in line with COMESA’s strategy within approved budget limits;
• Develop and provide capacity building programs, tools, and technical advice to all key stakeholders to strengthen gender mainstreaming;
• Develop and distribute mainstreaming toolkits to all key stakeholders and play a strong role in advocacy and disseminate information on gender programmes through publications and press releases. Ensure the Gender website is updated and coordinate the publication of newsletter on key developments in the region every quarter;
• Facilitate and coordinate policy making in health, monitoring of its implementation, and networking with stakeholders at national, regional, continental, and global levels for seamless and well-coordinated programmes on health;
• Manage the performance management process in the Division to ensure the achievement of Division objectives that support COMESA strategy and ensure team and individual performance through technical monitoring, setting performance targets and standards, and supervision;
• Motivate, engage and build staff into a high performing team through coaching, effective communication and providing frequent feedback on work and promotes adherence to administrative procedures, processes and standards, and cultivates a culture of forward thinking, consultation, teamwork among staff; and
• Perform any other duties as assigned by Executive Management from time to time.

Academic Qualification:

• Master’s Degree in Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, or Human Rights Law and other related fields; and  Ph.D. in any of the above fields would be an added advantage. Professional Experience  Minimum fifteen (15) years’ experience in gender equality, women empowerment and youth engagement with at least five (5) years in a senior management role in an international, public, intergovernmental or regional institution.

Specialized Knowledge  

• Specialized knowledge in any of the following areas;
• Gender analysis and mainstreaming techniques;
• Regional and Global gender equality and women empowerment frameworks, protocols, and declarations;
• Knowledge of issues affecting youth and social development issues in Africa and strategic frameworks to address the issues;
• Regional and International Human Rights Legal Frameworks;
• Project management; and
• Lobbying and Advocacy.

2. Job Title: Chief of Strategy, Planning and Policy Harmonization

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of the Secretary General, the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:

• Develop and coordinate strategy and policy formulation processes within the Secretariat and COMESA Institutions in consultation with Member States;
• Coordinate development and review /change of policies and regulations towards regional integration, development and cooperation in consultations with stakeholder;
• Facilitate periodic Policy Dialogue Forums between Member States and other stakeholders on Strategic regional integration and development issues;
• Coordinate with external policymaking bodies in Member States to develop papers on issues that can inform policymaking and follow-up on domestication/ implementation of regional policies at national level;
• Identify priority areas/sectors for programming in Member States through aligning regional and national programs;
• Facilitate the conceptualization and development of programs with Divisional team, programming Divisions and other stakeholders including identifying potential program synergies and common objectives among program divisions emerging from the MTSP;
• Prepare reports, documents and annotated agenda for submission to various policy structures of COMESA;
• Consolidate annual Division/Unit work plans and budget inputs in order to gain Management’s approval and funding of work plans required to execute Division/Unit mandate;
• Monitor the implementation of Unit work programs and budgets to ensure that the Unit mandate is executed in line with COMESA strategy and within approved budget limits;
• Manage the performance management process in the Unit to ensure achievement of objectives supports COMESA strategy; and
• Perform any other duties as assigned by Executive Management from time to time.

Academic Qualification:

• Master’s Degree in Business Administration/ Management, Economics, Public Policy and other related fields; and
• A Ph.D. in any of the above fields would be an added advantage. Professional Experience  Ten (10) years of working experience with at least 5 of those in a management role with exposure to developing and implementing strategic plans, policy reforms.  
• Experience of working in an intergovernmental organization interacting with multiple stakeholders, including governments, non-state actors and regional or international organizations is preferred. Professional

Certifications /Qualifications:  

• Professional certification on Balanced Scorecard, Strategic management and planning is required

Specialized Knowledge  

• Specialized knowledge in any of the following areas; i) Policy Analysis and Development ;
• Strategic planning and implementation ; and
• Exposure to Performance management approaches, frameworks or methodology

3. Job Title: Chief of Resource Mobilization and International Cooperation

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of the Secretary General, the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:

• Consolidate annual Unit work plans and budget inputs in order to gain Management’s approval and funding of work plans required to execute Unit mandate;
• Coordinate high-level partnerships events and consultative meetings and missions with key strategic funding partners.
• Maintains ongoing dialogue and cooperation with the international Development Partners/Donor Community and other Cooperating Partners with a view to getting support and mobilizing resources for COMESA programs;
• Establish and/or enhance ongoing, close cooperation with the African Regional Economic communities
• Provision of technical support and Intergovernmental Organizations and Specialized agencies with a view to rationalizing and harmonizing their activities;
• Facilitate regional integration by Identifying areas of collaboration and joint action/interests, conduct regular consultations, prepare progress reports and attend relevant meetings, negotiate new, review and/or revise the existing cooperation agreements to reflect current realities, exchanging and sharing of experiences and information and taking common positions and approaching donors jointly;
• Coordinate the negotiation and formalization of the Secretariat’s institutional partnerships arrangements with ICPs and development partners through Partnerships MOUs and Technical Cooperation Agreements; and solicit/coordinate the involvement of program directorates in this process;
• Co-ordinate and harmonize regional Aid for Trade programs with other RECs, particularly within the ESA-IO region, as well as at the Continental level with the AUC, NEPAD, and AFDB;
• Manage the performance management process in the Unit to ensure achievement of Unit objectives supports COMESA strategy;
• Motivate, engage and build staff into a high performing team through coaching, effective communication and providing frequent feedback on work; and
• Perform any other duties as assigned by Executive Management from time to time.

Academic Qualification:

• Master’s Degree in any of the following: Economics, Business Administration (Finance option), International Trade Law, Development Studies or International Relations;
• A Ph.D. in any of the above fields would be an added advantage. Professional Experience  Ten (10) years of working experience, with at least 5 of those as a manager handling resource mobilization activity; managing international partnerships. Working experience in resource mobilization at an international level and managing teams in regional or international organizations

Professional Certifications /Qualifications: 

• Professional certification on the below listed area is desirable i) Training in Project Planning and management or
• International Relations and Diplomacy, or
• International Relations and Negotiations is desirable

Specialized Knowledge 

• Specialized knowledge in any of the following areas;
• Exposure to and understanding of trends and developments with respect to International Negotiations, Trade law and Diplomacy;
• Development Partners relations ; and
• Negotiations Management

4. Job Title: Information Technology System Expert – Local Area Network

Main Duties And Accountabilities

• Under the direct supervision of the Director of Information and Communication Technology and the overall supervision of the Assistant Secretary General (Administration and Finance), the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties: Install, configure and administer network devices (routers, switches and firewalls) to ensure full availability of the network and Internet access from all installed devices;
• Install, maintain and administer virtual server on a virtual environment (Hyper V and VMware) and cloud;
• Maintain, configure and monitor Antivirus, Exchange server, DNS, Active Directory and other services iv. Configure servers and storage infrastructure including systems and applications software, hardware. (Servers are currently running on Windows and Linux);
• Undertake backup and disaster recovery solution to protect data from loss and ensure high uptime;
• Coordinate, plan and implement proper (Physical and logical) security measures in order to protect and secure data, software, and hardware;
• Implement communication mechanisms using audio and video with a good awareness of VoIP and videoconferencing facility;
• Support users in the use of PCs, network access, software and hardware, using appropriate Held Desk software;
• Manage the performance management process in the section to ensure achievement of the divisional objectives supporting the COMESA strategy; and
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor from time to time.

Academic Qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree in the following fields:
• Computer Science, Information Technology or Computer Engineering
• A Postgraduate qualification in any of the above fields would be an added advantage. Professional Experience  A minimum of eight (8) years’ experience in IT and a similar environment at the national or international level.

Professional Certifications / Qualification

• Certification in Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and CCNA Security is desirable

Specialized Knowledge  

• Specialized knowledge in any of the following areas;
• In depth knowledge of Networking
• In depth knowledge of Server and storage management
• knowledge and practical experience on virtualization (Hyper V- VMware) iv. Detailed knowledge of physical and logical security
• Good experience in Exchanges server administration; and
• Knowledge and experience in cloud environment

5. Job Title: Information Technology System Expert – Website

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Information and Communication Technology and the overall supervision of the Assistant Secretary General (Admin and Finance), the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties: 

• Develop Terms of Reference for engagement of consultants and software vendors to develop new information systems;
• Develop Systems Specifications for development of New information Systems;
• Install and configure open-source solutions for adoption by the Secretariat;
• Configure and manage on-premises and cloud web-hosting servers;
• Develop small internal information systems on opensource technologies;
• Maintain database front-end for all databases accessible via web;
• Support Financial Systems, Human Resource System, Audit Management System Users to effectively carry out their tasks;
• Supervise Information Systems Vendor Annual Maintenance contracts to ensure conformance with the contracts;
• Support regional Digital Free Trade Area programs to achieve COMESA Strategy towards digital economic integration
• Train information systems users to effectively use the systems internally and within the region;
• Establish a list server and set-up appropriate lists for distribution of email to subscribers;
• Manage the performance management process in the section to ensure achievement of the divisional objectives support the COMESA strategy; and
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor from time to time.

Academic Qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree in the following fields: Computer Science, Information Technology or Computer Engineering.
• A Postgraduate qualification in any of the above fields would be an added advantage. Professional Experience  A minimum of eight (8) years’ experience in IT and in a similar environment at the national or international level.

Professional Certifications / Qualification

• Certification in CCNA and CCNA Security is desirable.

Specialized Knowledge  

• Specialized knowledge in any of the following areas;
• Business Analysis
• Systems Development
• Software Projects management
• Database Management

6. Job Title: Tourism Expert

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Agriculture and Industry and the overall supervision of the Assistant Secretary General (Programmes), the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:

• Support the initiation, development and implementation of regional tourism policies, strategies, and relevant frameworks;
• Provide technical advice on aligning national tourism policies and strategies with COMESA’s regional integration agenda and international tourism standards;
• Promoting the development of cross border tourism as a means of fostering regional and socio?economic development;
• Support the establishment of a regional tourism coalition to foster collaboration within the tourism sector;
• Organize training programs and workshops to enhance skills and knowledge in the tourism sector;
• Identify and facilitate opportunities for investment in the tourism sector within the COMESA region;
• Establish strategic partnerships with national, regional, and international stakeholders to support tourism growth;
• Conduct research on tourism trends, market dynamics, and emerging opportunities;
• Support member states in adopting innovative tourism technologies and digital marketing strategies
• Track and evaluate the impact of regional tourism initiatives and projects;
• Prepare regular reports and recommendations to guide COMESA’s tourism agenda; and
• Performs any other duties as assigned by the Supervisor from time to time.

Academic Qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management, Hospitality, Travel, Marketing Economics, or a related field;
• A Postgraduate qualification in any of the above fields will be an added advantage. Professional Experience  Minimum of eight (8) years of professional experience in the tourism industry, with expertise in policy development, marketing, or project management. 

Specialized Knowledge  

• Proven track record in promoting sustainable and inclusive tourism practices.
• Knowledge of the tourism landscape, policies, and opportunities in COMESA member states.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking abilities.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Proficiency in project management and program evaluation.
• Familiarity with digital marketing tools and tourism technologies.
• Commitment to sustainability and inclusive growth principles.

7. Job Title: Mining Expert  

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Agriculture and Industry and the overall supervision of the Assistant Secretary General (Programmes), the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:

• Advice on the formulation of regional mining and mineral beneficiation vision, strategies, and policies;
• Promote environmentally friendly and socially responsible mining practices;
• Design and implement training programs for stakeholders in the mining sector, including government officials and private sector actors;
• Facilitate knowledge sharing and best practices among COMESA member states;
• Develop strategies to improve downstream links with other sectors to maximize socio-economic benefits;
• Provide technical advice on creating an enabling environment for private sector participation;
• Conduct and coordinate research on mineral resource potential, mining technologies, and market trends;
• Support innovation in mineral processing and value chain development;
• Facilitate collaboration and partnerships among member states to address cross-cutting mining challenges;
• Representing COMESA in regional and international forums related to mining and natural resources management; and
• Performs any other duties assigned by the supervisor from time to time.

Academic Qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Processes Engineering, Mining Engineering, Geophysics Engineering, Mineral Economics, or a related field;
• A Postgraduate qualification in any of the above fields will be an added advantage. Professional Experience  \ Minimum of eight (8) years of professional experience in the upstream value chain of mining sector and mineral processing, with a focus on economic policy, technical advisory, or project management.

Specialized Knowledge  

• Proven expertise in sustainable mining practices and mineral resource management.
• Familiarity with emerging technologies in mining and mineral processing.
• Knowledge of COMESA member states’ mining sectors and regulatory frameworks.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to lead capacitybuilding initiatives.
• Proficiency in project management and report writing.

8. Job Title: Economic Statistician  

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Statistics and Research and the overall supervision of the Assistant Secretary General (Programmes), the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:

• Provide and coordinate technical support in Member States on the implementation of economic statistics programs to ensure they are implemented within the context of the COMESA Statistics Strategy and related MTSP Strategic Objectives;
• Provide statistical technical advice to COMESA operations Divisions and COMESA Institutions in order to support economic policy related work and in designing monitoring and evaluation systems;
• Undertake statistical capacity building work in Member states to generate quality, reliable and timely national accounts, trade in services statistics and other balance of payments statistics, price statistics and the International Comparison Program, industrial and business statistics, monetary and financial statistics and labour migration statistics and infrastructure and ICT statistics;
• Contribute to the work of relevant Statistical Technical Groups (STGs) on national accounts, trade in services statistics and other balance of payments statistics, price

Academic Qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree in any of the following fields: Statistics, Economics, Demography, Data Science or Mathematics or related field with a strong background in quantitative methods.
• A Postgraduate qualification in any of the above fields will be an added advantage. Professional Experience  Minimum eight (8) years working experience in an economic statistics environment generally and on national accounts or price statistics in particular.

Professional Certifications / Qualification

• Certification /training in the areas of national accounts or price statistics is desirable

Specialized Knowledge 

• Core competence in national accounts and price statistics. Experience in the use of statistical analysis tools such as STATA, R, Python, SPSS, SAS, NADABAS, ERETRES etc. is essential; and use of standard desktop operational software applications (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint) is desirable.

9. Job Title: Customs Expert

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of Senior Customs Officer and the overall supervision of the Director of Trade and Customs, the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:

• Provide substantive support for planning, implementation, coordination, supervising and evaluation of the implementation of projects and programs in COMESA Customs Cooperation, Customs laws and Procedures, Non-Tariff Barriers, Customs Reforms and Modernization, Customs Capacity Building, Free Trade Area (FTA) as well as Trade facilitation and Regional Integration;
• Provide technical support or advice regarding the interpretation and implementation of the Protocol on Rules of Origin and electronic Certificate of Origin (e-CO) as well as uniform application of tariff classification and valuation where this is required by a member State and assisting in the settlement of disputes as and when they arise;
• Assist in the preparation and delivering capacity building training programmes on customs and trade P3 facilitation matters to public and private officials of the Member

Academic Qualification:

• Bachelor’s degree in any of the following fields: Customs Administration, Economics, International Trade Policy, Business Administration from an internationally recognized University is required.
• Specialization in trade and customs matters is desirable;
• A Postgraduate qualification in any of the above fields will be an added advantage.
• Professional Experience  Minimum eight (8) years of practical experience in the field of Customs administration of a Member States, regional or international organization.

Specialized Knowledge 

• Knowledge of the COMESA Treaty, Custom laws, rules of origin, trade facilitation instruments such as electronic certificate of origin, AEO Programme, electronic single window, tariff classification, valuation.
• Proven knowledge and experience in developing and implementing projects related to customs and trade facilitation instruments in the COMESA region.
• Proficiency in computer applications with hands-on skills in a customs automation management system and other related systems is desirable.
• Rules of Origin, tariff classification, Customs Automation and Electric Single window and coordinated border management, international standards and best practices in customs fields.
• Ability to develop, implement and report an individual action plan for achieving specific work goals.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills

10. Job Title: Head of Knowledge and Information Centre  

Main Duties And Accountabilities

Under the direct supervision of Director Human Capital Management and Administration, the incumbent of the post will perform the following duties:

• Provide input into long-range strategic and policy priorities/ issues relating to COMESA’s role in supporting development in Member states in order to realize the regional integration agenda
• Consolidate annual Unit work plans and budget inputs in order to gain Management’s approval and funding of work plans required to execute Unit mandate
• Monitor the implementation of Unit work programs and budgets to ensure that the Unit mandate is executed in line with COMESA strategy and within approved budget limits
• Systematically coordinate acquisition, technical processing of all COMESA Secretariat Knowledge and Information Resources in terms of classification, cataloguing, barcoding and indexing, including custody of intellectual capital metadata to facilitate access and retrieval of these resources;
• Maintain an active Master file index of all Secretariat Records, databases and knowledge resources, including critical policy documents for proper management and administration of COMESA Secretariat intellectual Capital;
• Establish COMESA Archives and explores relevant technologies to orchestrate access and retrieval to preserve historical memory of the Secretariat;
• Manage and coordinate the recruitment, training and development of Unit staff to achieve key mandates;
• Manage the performance management process in the Unit to ensure achievement of Unit objectives supports COMESA strategy;
• Motivate, engage and build staff into a high performing team through coaching, effective communication and providing frequent feedback on work; and
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor from time to time

Minimum Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in any of the following fields: Information Science, Library Science, Records Management, Archives Administration and Information Technology
• A Postgraduate qualification in any of the above fields will be an added advantage.

Professional Experience  

• Minimum six (6) years of professional work experience on similar area in national, regional or international institutions, of which at least three (3) years in a managerial role.

Professional Certifications / Qualification

• Certification in Information Technology, Database Management; Networking; or IT diploma is desirable. SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE
• Strong background in Information processing: cataloguing and knowledge descriptive standards such as AACRII /RDA, MARC authorities and tools such as OCLC and expertise in organizing and manipulating data using spreadsheet applications, skills in database management, information technology networking.
• Strong background in Records Management 15489 I & II and Archives description using internationally accepted standards, Records classification and indexing; Records and Archives management systems

Working Language Requirement For All The Ten (10) Positions  

• Applicants must be fluent in English and/or French and/or Arabic (speaking and writing). A combination of any two (2) or all these languages will be an added advantage.

Eligibility For Application

• Applicants must be citizens of a COMESA Member country and aged below fifty-five (55) years at the time of submitting the application. 

Mode Of Application

All applications MUST be submitted to the COMESA Coordinating Ministry of the respective Member States on the prescribed COMESA APPLICATION FORM which can be accessed at the following COMESA website: Comesa Forms .

Applications submitted directly to the Secretariat will not be considered and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

Women are highly encouraged to apply.

Applications must be submitted to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) (Central secretariat) not later than  04th July 2025. 

The details of this advertised post are available on the COMESA website mentioned above or MINICOM Website http:www.minicom.gov.rw