Senior Counsel

Provide legal advice and support to clients in development scenarios.

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Wednesday 2 Apr 2025 at 00:00 UTC

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Overview

Provide legal advice and support to clients in development scenarios.

You have:

  • JD or LLM degree is required.
  • Be admitted or qualified to practice law in at least one jurisdiction.
  • At least 8 years of relevant experience is required.
  • Demonstrated commitment to the World Bank's core values.
  • Ability to work collaboratively in a diverse team environment.
  • Strong results-oriented mindset is required.

Senior Counsel

Job #: req32358 Organization: World Bank Sector: Legal Grade: GG Term Duration: 3 years 0 months Recruitment Type: International Recruitment Location: New Delhi,India Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s): French, Spanish, Arabic or Portuguese Closing Date: 4/1/2025 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

Legal Vice Presidency

In the context of the World Bank's broad development agenda, the Legal Vice Presidency (LEG), under the Senior Vice President and Group General Counsel (SVP-GC), is responsible for providing legal advice and support to internal and external Bank clients on operational, advisory, financial, administration, and institutional matters.

LEGAS is the unit within LEG that works on Bank operations in the South Asian Region and the East Asia and Pacific Region.

LEGAS invites qualified candidates to apply for a Senior Counsel position based at New Delhi, India. The Senior Counsel will be assigned to work on operations in the South Asia region.

Selected candidates will work under the general supervision of the Chief Counsel. The Senior Counsel will be a lawyer who can operate independently to handle legal and policy issues related to the Bank’s work while working collaboratively with other lawyers within LEGAS and LEG as a whole.

Job Description

The Senior Counsel position requires demonstrated technical depth, ability to apply rigorous analytical skills, to work harmoniously in a team, and to exercise good judgment within a broad range of contexts on increasingly complex projects. The level and quality of these skills will be a determining factor in the selection for the position, and references will be given consideration in this determination.

The Senior Counsel will function as a principal legal advisor to one or more assigned internal World Bank clients. The Senior Counsel will be expected to handle the following areas of responsibility:

•Draft, review, negotiate and finalize legal documents under the Senior Counsel’s portfolio.

•Cover a broad portfolio of countries, providing advice to management and staff on legal and policy issues in operations.

•Identify, assess and provide advice to management and staff under the legal risk management framework being developed, including rating and reporting of legal risks, and serve as a champion as that framework is developed and fully implemented.

•Play a leading role on initiatives or teams, through coordination of portfolios or programs, management of client relationships, participating in dialogue on corporate priorities and other areas relevant to the assigned functional scope.

•Supervise and guide Counsels, Associate Counsels, Legal Analysts and Paralegals and provide training and advice to them to ensure effective transfer of knowledge and skills.

•Develop innovative approaches and share best practices with colleagues.

•Develop knowledge products and manage tasks independently and as a leader of a team of colleagues.

•Handle issues within an area of specialization to enable clients to create solutions.

•Provide legal advice to ongoing projects and programs, including reviewing project and program documents, for adherence to World Bank Group policies, procedures and business objectives.

•Conduct comparative legal analyses on a range of issues within operations, identify legal and policy issues, research relevant precedents, and propose appropriate solutions to colleagues and clients.

•Engage in policy discussions and negotiations with officials internally and externally, developing relationships with members of the legal profession and lawyers working in development partner agencies or other counterparty organizations.

•Protect World Bank’s interests and promote its goals and values.

•Write and review policy papers, undertake legal research on topics in an area of concentration and contribute to dissemination of policy and best practices in a given field.

•Prepare legal briefs on diverse topics, as required.

•Ability to serve in an acting capacity for supervisor.

•Work to advance the LEGVP’s knowledge management agenda and use of technology.

•Perform ad hoc assignments as requested by the Chief Counsel or designated Lead Counsel.

Selection Criteria

1.Law degree: JD or LLM (required)

2.Be admitted/qualified to practice law in at least one jurisdiction

3.At least 8 years of relevant experience

Values, Leadership Potential

•Demonstrated commitment to the World Bank Core Values for WBG and a proven track record of fostering a strong and healthy culture of diversity, inclusion, teamwork, honesty, trust, openness, integrity, and accountability.

•Demonstrated ability to be sensitive to issues around race, gender, ethnicity, inclusion, and intersectionality.

•Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and foster a positive working environment.

•Demonstrated commitment to the Bank’s mission, and ability to work towards WBG's corporate targets for successful outcomes.

•A strong results-oriented mindset.

Employment Value Proposition

The World Bank Group (WBG) offers comprehensive benefits including a retirement plan; health (medical dental, pharmacy, vision), life and disability insurance; generous annual leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Please note that certain benefits may vary based on appointment type (Term or Extended-Term Consultant/Temporary; HQ or Country Office appointment). We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

The WBG aspires to remain competitive in all markets by providing compensation that attracts and retains top talent to deliver on the WBG mission of reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development.

WBG entry salaries are determined based on the grade, years of relevant experience and internal comparators. Consistent with our entry salary methodology, new hires are likely to be offered a salary between the minimum and midpoint of the salary scale for the advertised grade.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.

Potential interview questions

Can you give an example of a challenging legal issue you've faced? This question assesses your problem-solving skills and ability to navigate complex legal matters. Discuss a specific example where you successfully handled a legal challenge, focusing on your analytical approach.
How do you ensure compliance with legal frameworks in your work? Interviewers want to know about your understanding and application of legal standards. Pro members can see the explanation.
Describe a situation where you had to work with a diverse team. What was your role? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
How would you handle a disagreement with a client over legal advice? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
What strategies do you use to stay updated on legal developments and best practices? Pro members can see the explanation. Pro members can see the explanation.
Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: worldbank.org