Executive Secretary

The Executive Secretary will be based at the AMCOW Secretariat in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The successful candidate must have an excellent understanding of the institutional framework for the water and sanitation sector in Africa. The candidate, who will work with a wide range of stakeholders, must be a dynamic political mobilizer, an inspiring leader, and a manager with integrity, credibility, and strategic vision necessary to thrive in a complex, multicultural, and constantly evolving environment. The candidate must demonstrate a proven ability to build, maintain, and strengthen trust among member states, technical and financial partners, regional institutions, staff, and other stakeholders. He or she must promote an institutional culture based on mutual respect, social dialogue, inclusion, transparency, accountability, ethical values, and the highest standards of governance.

The candidate must also have a recognized professional reputation, demonstrate unifying leadership that fosters a healthy, respectful, and high-performing work environment, and show a proven ability to preserve AMCOW’s institutional credibility, strengthen the trust of development partners, and sustainably mobilize their support for the Organization’s strategic priorities.

The candidate must be able to represent AMCOW with authority and credibility before heads of state and government, ministers, heads of continental institutions, technical and financial partners, and international organizations, in order to strengthen AMCOW’s position, not only as the leading institution but also as a platform for policy dialogue, and a body that sets continental priorities for the African water and sanitation sector.

Grade : D1 or D2

Date : July 1, 2026

AMCOW is an inter-governmental, Pan-African, non-budgetary institution. AMCOW serves as a Ministerial Sectoral Committee for Water and Sanitation under the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, Water and Environment (ARBWE) of the African Union (AU).

AMCOW’s mission is to provide political leadership, policy direction and advocacy in the provision, use and management of water resources for sustainable social and economic development and maintenance of African ecosystems… For more information, refer to:

AMCOW is the continent’s policy and decision-making body on water and sanitation. The Executive Secretary serves as secretary to this body and is primarily responsible for liaising with all ministers in charge of water and sanitation affairs across the continent, as well as with other key stakeholders, in the performance of his or her duties.

The Executive Secretary, as the senior official reporting to the Governing Council, ensures effective alignment between AMCOW’s strategic directions and its delivery of the work programme.

Key Duties

• · Strategic direction and external relations.
• · Program implementation and operational management.
• · Institutional capacity building.
• · Support for the Governing Council to strengthen governance.
• - In close collaboration with the Governing Council, provide leadership in developing and implementing the organization’s mission and strategic direction.
• - Clearly articulate AMCOW’s strategic directions and secure buy-in from a broad range of internal and external stakeholders.
• - Lead the development of innovative approaches to leverage AMCOW’s brand within the African stakeholder landscape to mobilize resources.
• - Embody credibility and legitimacy as the organization’s primary spokesperson on all issues.
• - Provide leadership in developing long-term strategies and short-term strategic operational plans aligned with the continental and global agendas in the water and sanitation sector.
• - Lead the implementation of the organization’s strategy: effectively translate the organization’s strategic priorities into multi-year and annual work programs that are properly aligned with the budget and develop strategies for any necessary adjustments.
• - Lead and guide the organization’s day-to-day operations.
• - Oversee the implementation of AMCOW’s risk management strategy, ensuring that institutional, programmatic, and operational risks—including business continuity risk—are identified, managed, and mitigated.
• - Define and ensure the organization’s ethical standards, culture, and institutional commitment to zero tolerance for corruption, financial mismanagement, and any other form of professional misconduct.
• - Lead and embody the organization’s commitment to inclusion and tolerance in its vision, program implementation, and institutional operations.
• - Actively promote and foster an environment conducive to excellence in the performance of AMCOW’s staff and stakeholders.
• - Lead the development and implementation of strategies for resource mobilization and the organization’s financial sustainability.
• - Ensure that all aspects of the organization’s capacity are properly designed, adequately resourced, and of sufficient quality to effectively achieve results at both the organizational and program levels.
• - Ensure that the organization has effective systems in place to implement and monitor its project portfolio.
• - Promote the integration of gender perspectives into both programs and operations.
• - Ensure that the organization has an appropriate mix of high-quality talent to meet current and emerging needs; strive to motivate and retain talent through effective human resources management practices.
• - Promote an organizational culture aligned with AMCOW’s mandate, values and strategic direction.
• - Ensure that the Governing Councl receives appropriate management support to effectively fulfill its oversight responsibilities.
• - Provide leadership in implementing the Governing Council’ decisions.
• - Regularly brief the Governing Council on the organization’s risk management efforts, including strategic and operational risks.