LEGAL OFFICER

Contract

This is a P-4 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 143,096 USD and 184,492 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

Org. Setting and Reporting The post is located within the Office of the Legal Affairs at the Headquarters of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) located in Kingston, Jamaica, and reports directly to the Legal Counsel.

Responsibilities Within delegated authority, the incumbent will be responsible for the following:

1. Serve as a lead officer in one or more areas of concentration, and handle a wide range of highly complex, and often sensitive and/or conflicting legal matters involving issues relating to international, public, commercial and administrative law, to include interpretation and application of instruments in that area of concentration.

2. Provide legal advice on diverse substantive and procedural questions of considerable complexity, and in particular, advice and support in resolving disputes arising out of contracts or third-party claims of a private law character involving the operations and activities of ISA, its governing bodies or subsidiary organs.

3. Performs extensive legal research and analysis and prepares legal opinions, studies, briefs, reports and correspondence; provides legal advice to the unit/division.

4. Service task forces, expert groups and other bodies, including preparation of background materials, summaries of issues and views of delegations, meeting reports.

5. Review, advise on and draft complex contracts, agreements, institutional and operational modalities, or legal motions/submissions and other legal documents; develops new legal modalities to meet unique needs/circumstances.

6. Advise on and participate in negotiations and settlement of claims and disputes, to include establishing strategy and approach, deciding on the legal text for terms and conditions of contracts, on the recommendations on the merit of claims.

7. Provide legal advice on the interpretation and application of staff regulations and rules, including the review of administrative decisions; reviews draft amendments to the staff regulations and rules; prepares draft administrative issuances or amendments thereto and verifies their consistency with the existing staff regulation and rules; prepares analyses and evaluations of human resources policies and practices.

8. Serve on various standing boards, committees, ad hoc working groups and task forces, as required; promotes the work of ISA and represents the organization at meetings, conferences, seminars, etc.

9. Coordinate teams of other legal officers dealing with significant problems as required, and/or mentors and supervises the work of junior officers on specific projects.

10. Contribute to review and design of new, or new applications of, legal instruments, policy, guidelines, etc.

11. Perform other duties as assigned.

Competencies Professionalism: Knowledge of, and ability to apply, legal principles, concepts and procedures and terminology for review, examination, and processing of a range of legal documents. Ability to conduct legal research and analyze information from various resources on a wide range of legal issues. Knowledge of the civil law and/or common law legal systems and principles. Ability to interpret and apply legislative instruments, develop and present results, recommendations, and opinions clearly and concisely. Ability to draft legal papers and work under pressure. Ability to apply legal judgment in the context of assignments given. Ability to negotiate and influence others to reach agreements. Ability to work and meet tight deadlines and handle multiple concurrent projects/case.

Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; Solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; Places team agenda before personal agenda; Supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; Shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; Supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable

Education Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent degree) in law with emphasis in the area of public international law.

A first-level university degree, in combination with two additional years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Admitted to the bar of a member State of the Authority, or otherwise qualified to practice law is preferable.

Work Experience Minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible professional experience in the practice of law is required.

Experience in the legal office of an international organization or the legal office of a Government is required.

Experience in presenting and representing the work of an organization both in writing and orally is required.

Experience in international law and the law of the sea, contract law, international organizations law, international administrative law (including staff regulations and rules) is desirable.

Experience in liaising with Member States, Corporate, UN agencies, UNAT, Foundations is desirable.

Experience working with the status and the privileges and immunities of International Organizations is desirable.

Languages English and French are the working languages of ISA. For this post, fluency in written and oral English is required. Knowledge of other United Nations official languages is highly desirable.

Assessment Candidates may undergo a substantive and a competency-based interview. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Special Notice Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her. In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers in accordance with established rules and procedures.

1. The selected candidate will be subject to a reference verification process in accordance with the ISA policy. The process will include but is not limited to, verification of the information provided in the personal history form and a criminal record check. All candidates should be in a position to submit electronic copy of their passport and all diplomas listed on their profile when requested;

2. Applicants may check the status of vacancies on ISA web-site;

3. Only nationals of ISA Member States are eligible for consideration;

4. Consideration is given to achieving diverse gender, geographical and economic representation at the ISA, to the extent possible;

5. The ISA reserves the right to not make any appointment to the vacancy, and/or to make an appointment at a lower level from the one advertised.

United Nations Considerations According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.

Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.

The paramount consideration in the appointment, transfer, or promotion of staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. By accepting an offer of appointment, United Nations staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and assignment by him or her to any activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). In this context, all internationally recruited staff members shall be required to move periodically to discharge new functions within or across duty stations under conditions established by the Secretary-General.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.