Legal Consultant Lazio

Legal Consultant
Roma
Lazio, Lazio

Job Title**:Legal Consultant

**Type of Contract**:Regular Consultant Level II

**Division**:LEG

**Duty Station (City, Country)**: Rome HQ, Italy

**Duration**:6 months

**BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT**:

This position is located in the Legal Office (LEG) of the World Food Programme's Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The Legal Consultant will be assigned to the Contractual & Constitutional Law Branch (LEGC).

The position will primarily focus on matters relating to:

- relations and agreements with external parties, such as public-sector donors, other UN agencies and international organizations, international financial institutions, NGOs, and cooperating partners;

- legal aspects of the governance of WFP and the interpretation of WFP's institutional legal framework, such as WFP General Regulations, General Rules, Financial Regulations, and Financial Rules, and other administrative issuances; and

- International law, including WFP's institutional privileges and immunities and humanitarian law.

The Legal Consultant may, however, work on assignments in other areas of activity within LEG based on business needs and expressed personal interests.

At this level, job holders are fully qualified Legal Officers operating across an assigned area of work preparing and finalizing legal opinions and advice, except for complex and sensitive legal issues seeking clearance of more senior Legal Officers.

Job holders normally work directly with more senior Legal Officers and may have responsibility of supervising more junior colleagues.

Work requires a complete understanding of the aforementioned focus areas in the context of the program.

The job holder will produce concise analysis and advice that is easy to understand.

At this level, there is the ability to adapt policies, approaches and models to meet emerging needs of the target client community.

Job holders exercise a high degree of independence and are expected to deliver high-quality work with integrity in an emergency-response environment.

**ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES**:

Under the general supervision of the Senior Legal Officer, the Legal Consultant will be responsible for the following key duties:

- Review legal documents, identify important issues and present findings for internal review to facilitate the decision-making process.

- Prepare legal opinions/advice on a wide range of legal issues, background papers, studies, memoranda, reports and other legal documents to facilitate coherence and quality of legal documents.

- Prepare and/or review agreements and contracts with public entities including participation in negotiation and settlement of claims and disputes to meet unique client needs.

- Identify potential liabilities, particularly vis-à-vis other parties, and assist in the management of risks in WFP's activities to facilitate well-informed decisions.

- Prepare and assess briefs of evidence and draw recommendations to facilitate legal analysis and solutions.

- Service committees, task forces, expert working groups and other bodies with legal advice and preparation or review of legal documents to facilitate the formulation of WFP's position.

- Other as required.

**QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED**:

**Education**:

Advanced University degree in Law, or First University degree in Law with additional relevant experience and training.

**Experience**:

At least 8 years of relevant progressively responsible experience as a lawyer.

At least one year's experience in the legal office of an international organization is required.

Strong Experience in international public law is also desirable.

Experience in advising on governance matters of international organizations or private sector companies is desirable.

**Knowledge and Skills**:

- Demonstrated ability to draft contracts;

- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills;

- Demonstrated ability to take independent decisions;

- Business acumen and ability to think strategically;

- Solid communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills;

- Solid time management and priorities management skills;

- Adaptability and ability to work on a wide range of legal issues and under tight deadlines.

- General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures, desirable.

**Languages**:

Fluency (level C) in oral and written English is required and in oral and written French and/or Spanish is an advantage.

Intermediate knowledge (level B) of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, and Russian) is an asset.

**Terms and Conditions

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

- No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with overs