International Consultant – Inland Waterways & Maritime Governance

About the role

The Economic Commission for Africa seeks an experienced International Consultant to support the Government of South Sudan in advancing inland waterways transport and strengthening maritime governance systems. The assignment will be based in Kigali and will last five months.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct an institutional capacity assessment of the maritime administration, identifying structural, staffing and functional gaps.
• Develop and validate standard operating procedures and operational guidelines with relevant stakeholders.
• Design and deliver training programmes on safety oversight, vessel inspection, port operations and multimodal transport management.
• Perform a legal gap analysis to compare national frameworks with IMO conventions.
• Draft legislative and regulatory instruments to facilitate domestication of priority IMO conventions.
• Organise stakeholder consultations and technical validation workshops on IMO accession.
• Prepare a comprehensive endorsement package with finalized legal instruments and recommendations for government consideration.

Required profile

• Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in economics, engineering, transport and logistics, international trade or related field (or first‑level degree with additional qualifying experience).
• At least ten years of experience in trade and logistics development, policy formulation and economic analysis with a focus on maritime transport.
• Minimum five years of experience delivering capacity‑building programmes in transport and logistics, including maritime transport.
• Three years of progressive experience providing high‑level institutional support and strategic advisory services to senior government officials.
• Fluency in English (required); French is a working language of the UN Secretariat.

Required skills