Legal Consultant (General Legal Affairs) Roster

Closing date: Wednesday, 30 September 2015

Description

Job Title: Legal Consultant (General Legal Affairs) Roster - Professional

Location: ROME,IT

Organization Name: General Legal Affairs Service (LEGA)

Deadline for Applications: 30-Sep-2015

Duration: Notes

Department Description

FAO's vision is a world free of hunger and malnutrition where food and agriculture contributes to improving the living standards of all, especially the poorest, in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner.

The General Legal Affairs Service (LEGA) within the Office of the Legal Counsel provides advice to the Director-General, the technical units of the Organization and its Governing Bodies on legal matters relating to the Organization's programmatic and operational activities, including on constitutional questions, the drafting of international treaties, the legal aspects of relations with the Host Government, with other Governments and with other international organizations. It represents FAO in judicial proceedings and in settlements of disputes.

Duties and Responsibilities

FAO is looking for individuals interested in short-term assignments with relevant education and experience, of varying levels of experience, to support the work of LEGA in the provision of oral and written advice in areas of public international law, including administrative law, within the framework of the FAO Basic Texts and the decisions adopted by the FAO Governing Bodies. Specifically, the assignments may require expertise in the following areas:

• Agreements and other legal arrangements with Governments, NGOs and other public and private entities, establishing frameworks for collaboration in areas falling within FAO's mandate, addressing matters related to institutional mechanisms for collaboration, copyright, confidentiality of information, applicable law, privileges and immunities, dispute settlement, etc.;
• Funding and co-operation agreements and related project documents, which are often complex in nature, with Governments, international organizations, funding agencies and NGOs;
• Commercial contractual and procurement issues, in particular related to contracts with suppliers of goods and services (from the private and public sector), including the interpretation and application of the Organization's internal rules, and the negotiation and settlement of claims and disputes;
• Matters relating to privileges and immunities of the Organization, including the provision of advice to the Decentralized Offices and negotiation of agreements with Governments;
• Human resources and personnel matters, including the interpretation and application of the Organization's internal rules and international administrative law;
• Intellectual property and protection of the Organization's legal interests, such as use of the FAO name and emblem, the application of the Organization's policies and rules concerning engagement with the private commercial sector and civil society;
• Support and advice to the Governing and Statutory bodies of the Organization, related to their mandates and procedures;
• Other areas of law as required for the Service to discharge its functions.

Job Requirements

Candidates should meet the following general requirements:

• Advanced university degree in Public International Law, Law of International Organization or other areas of law relevant to the functions of the General Legal Affairs Service;
• Working knowledge (oral and written ability) in English and working knowledge of a second official FAO working language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish);
• Experience in working for an intergovernmental organization such as FAO would be an asset.
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable.
• Good computer/word processing skills.

Candidates should meet the following general competencies:

• Ability to carry out legal research and analysis.
• Ability to draft legal opinions, background papers, studies, agreements, pleadings, contracts and other legal instruments.
• Ability to work in cross-sectoral and cross-cultural environments.
• Ability to work well in teams and independently.

Additional Details

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.

All candidates must adhere to FAO values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.

The Call for Expressions of Interests is made with a view to establishing a pool of potential candidates who may be suitable for short-term assignments that may arise from time to time. There is no guarantee that such assignments will arise. When short-term assignments do arise, candidates will be selected on the basis of the specific requirements LEGA at the relevant time. Applicants identified as potential candidates for specific short-term assignments will be contacted directly by the Office of the Legal Counsel and invited to participate in an interview and/or assessment.

Applications will be screened based on the information provided in the iRecruitment online profile (see 'How to Apply'). The information provided must, therefore, be accurate and complete, including employment record, academic qualifications and language skills.

How To Apply

Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile.

Vacancies will be removed from iRecruitment at 23:59 Central European Time (CET) on the deadline for applications date. We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

Before applying, please ensure that you have completed all sections of your account. Incomplete applications will not be evaluated.

If you need help or have queries, please contact: iRecruitment@fao.org