Senior Legal Officer (Governance Framework)

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 127,722 USD and 164,671 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

UNRWA, the largest United Nations operation in the Middle East with over 30,000 staff working across five areas of operation, is looking for highly committed personnel wishing to make a change.

UNRWA is currently engaged in the overhaul of its regulatory and policy governance framework. This post will provide specialist legal and policy advice in support of the review and reform of regulatory instruments in the Agency. This post will review, align and redraft UNRWA regulatory instruments in accordance with a reworked overall regulatory scheme and organizational design.

If you are looking for a rewarding opportunity to make a tangible difference for one of the most vulnerable communities in the world, UNRWA would like to hear from you.

The Senior Legal Officer (Governance Framework) reports to the Principal Legal Officer, General Law.

Responsibilities

• Reviews and updates of the Agency's governance framework, involving auditing the current regulatory system, collaborating with departments to understand their specific challenges, and drafting updated policies and regulations.

• Leads the development of policy recommendations and strategic advice to the Agency’s senior management on legal matters affecting the organization and guides the process of updating the Agency’s regulatory framework, ensuring all changes are legally sound and reflect the organization's strategic goals.

• Serves as a legal advisor to answer any queries related to the interpretation and application of the new organizational design and offers legal opinions and advice on the implications of regulatory changes on existing and future operations and agreements.

• Formulates clear definitions and hierarchies of norms, authorities, and accountabilities within UNRWA's regulatory framework and ensures that the new directive aligns with international legal standards, donor expectations, and accountability requirements.

• Helps identify potential legal risks associated with the transition to the new framework and advise on mitigation strategies and develops a legal compliance matrix to help the Agency monitor adherence to the revised regulatory framework.

• Establishes mechanisms for ongoing feedback from departments as they begin to implement new or revised regulations, to ensure that any issues are promptly addressed.

• Leads and supervises the development and maintenance of a comprehensive digital repository for UNRWA regulatory instruments, ensuring the project's completion is efficient, effective, and user-centric. Drives the legal team in the creation of streamlined processes aimed at enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of the repository to better meet the needs of UNRWA.

Competencies

UN Core Values of Integrity, Professionalism and Respect for Diversity, and Core Competencies of Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results apply by default.

• Engaging and Nurturing
• Creating and Maintaining Impact and Partnership
• Analyzing
• Planning and Organizing
• Relating and Networking
• Ability to develop and implement strategies and policies.
• Good English drafting skills.
• Ability to negotiate effectively.

For guidance on how to prepare for competency-based interviews: https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=AYI

Education

An advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) from an accredited educational institution in law, public international law, commercial international law or a related discipline. A first-level university degree in combination with additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Job - Specific Qualification

Not available.

Work Experience

At least seven years of progressively responsible and relevant professional experience as a lawyer in the United Nations, other international organization, government service, the commercial/private sector or NGO, including a period of experience in contract, commercial, administrative, or public law is required.

Unless already serving as an international staff member in the UN Common System, a candidate for an international post must have at least two continuous years of relevant international experience outside UNRWA, and outside the country(s) of which the candidate is a national or holds citizenship, a passport or a national identity number is required.

Familiarity with the UN system and practices is desirable.

Admission to practice law in a recognised jurisdiction is desirable.

Languages

Excellent command of written and spoken English is required.

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice

Type of Contract and duration: 1 year, project funded with the possibility of further extension subject to availability of funds and performance.

The incumbent of this post will be required to travel throughout the Agency's area of operations in the Middle East.

Applicants have to complete the Personal History Profile (PHP) in Inspira in order to be considered. The PHP should be completed with full relevant work experience as per the requirements in the Job Opening, in order to be considered.

UNRWA welcomes applications from qualified candidates with disabilities.

A roster may be created from the selection exercise, and successful candidates may become eligible for appointment to the same post or a similar post.

Join our eco-friendly organization dedicated to environment sustainability and targeting to be plastic free by 2025.

NB: work experience alone or formal qualifications with no relevant work experience are not considered an acceptable combination.

UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states, regional bodies, business foundations and individual contributions. The mission of UNRWA is to help Palestine refugees achieve their full potential in human development under the difficult circumstances in which they live.

For more details on UNRWA, please visit: https://www.unrwa.org/United Nations.

United Nations Considerations

Staff members are subject to the authority of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA and to assignment by him or her.

UNRWA is committed to achieving gender parity at all levels of staffing under the current UN-wide gender agenda and strongly encourages applications from qualified applicants from under-represented groups.

At UNRWA, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. UNRWA is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application.

UNRWA Considerations UNRWA staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of efficiency, competence, neutrality, impartiality and integrity. This includes respect for and commitment to human rights, diversity and non-violent means of dealing with all kinds of conflict. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for UNRWA jobs. Candidates will not be considered for employment with UNRWA 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. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. The Agency may disqualify applicants who have separated for reason of misconduct, who left a UN Agency while misconduct processes were pending, or who appear on the UN Sanctions List. UNRWA is a non-smoking work environment.

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.