Legal Consultants, Office of the Executive Director, New York USA

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up.

For every child, rights

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

The Legal Consultant reports to one of the Senior Legal Affairs Specialist (P-5) or another member of the Legal Office as determined by the relevant Senior Legal Affairs Specialist. The position is in the Office of the Executive Director, New York, but may be performed remotely as indicated in the Terms of Reference or as determined at the discretion of the hiring manager.

For Legal Consultants Roster, with three immediate opportunities:

Position #1: General Legal Specialist for Parental Cover: from 15 August to 2 December 2022 (full time). Location: New York or remote at discretion of hiring manager

Position #2: Data and Financial Services Specialist for Payment Service Provider Project: from 15 August 2022 to 14 August 2023. Location: Remote

Position #3: Data Specialist for TRVST Digital Data Sharing Platform: from 15 August 2022 to 14 August 2023. Location: Remote

How can you make a difference?

Under the overall guidance of the Chief Legal Counsel and the direct supervision of the Senior Legal Affairs Specialist, and as part of a dedicated team, the Legal Consultant will provide guidance and advice on institutional and commercial procurement, donor agreements and contracts related to programme support and project implementation to ensure adherence to organizational financial, procurement, contracting and legal policies, rules and procedures; and to ensure that the organization is protected from legal exposure.

Expected results: (measurable results):

1. Assist in advising and providing support on contracts and other legal instruments, agreements, and arrangements (including but not limited to funding agreements with donors and other international organizations).
2. Assist in advising on the legal dimensions of establishment, structure and implementation of UNICEF collaborations with external partners including but not limited to other UN organisations (including international financial institutions), civil society, and the private sector.
3. Assist in advising on the implementation of evolving programme initiatives, strategies and operational practices, from the legal perspective, focusing on innovations to facilitate more efficient creation of partnerships.
4. Assist in advising on the resolution of disputes, particularly those disputes involving possible liability for the Organisation.
5. Other duties as directed, which may include contributing to the review and design of new legal instruments, promoting knowledge of legal issues and instruments with the organization

Duty Station

NYHQ, but may be remote-based at the discretion of the hiring manager. If remote-based is approved, the Legal Consultant may be required to attend meetings in person from time to time.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A post-graduate university law degree is required (for example. Ll. B post-graduate; Ll.M.; J.D.) in a relevant field of law (e.g. international law, commercial law); a first-level university degree in combination with one additional year of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of eight (8) years' professional experience is required as a lawyer practicing in a relevant field including as in-house counsel, a law firm, a government and/or an international organization’s legal office. Prior experience in the UN system is desirable.

• Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in one of the UN languages (French, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Russian) or Portuguese, Ukrainian, or another language is highly desirable. UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

• Desirable*:

  • Category A: Expertise and experience in advising on the legal aspects of data protection, data governance and data sharing, including both personal data and sensitive non-personal data (including, but not limited to, privacy policies and data sharing/processing agreements);
  • Category B: Expertise and experience in advising on the legal aspects of digital products and platforms and other IT products (including, for example, IT governance and contracting and partnerships for licensing, software development and hosting, Saas provision).
  • Category C: Expertise and experience in advising on contracting of financial service providers generally; ideally, including, contracting of payment aggregators/orchestrators, payment service providers and payment mechanisms and other aspects of digital and mobile payments.
• *Note:
  • For Position #2 (Data and Financial Services Specialist for Payment Service Provider Project): Experience in Categories A and C is required and category B is desirable.
  • For Position #3 (Data Specialist for TRVST Digital Data Sharing Platform): Experience in Category A is required (with a focus on sensitive non-personal data) and Category B is desirable.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.