Organization: CGIAR System Organization
Location: Addis Ababa | Montpellier
Grade: Senior level – Senior
Occupational Groups:
Operations and Administrations
Legal – Broad
Democratic Governance
External Relations, Partnerships and Resource mobilization
Closing Date: 2025-02-06
About CGIAR
CGIAR is an international research collaboration aimed at ensuring future food security. The goals of CGIAR science are to improve natural resources and ecosystem services, decrease poverty, and increase food and nutrition security. Hundreds of partners, including academic institutions, development agencies, the commercial sector, national and regional research institutes, and civil society groups, collaborate closely on its research.
About the position
In a way that reduces legal risk and guarantees adherence to pertinent legal frameworks, the Legal Affairs section offers thorough legal advice and practical legal solutions to further the organization’s goal and scientific research program. Innovative funding mechanisms, grants, partnerships, compliance, sanctions, procurement, intellectual property, data protection, tax, employment, privileges and immunities, corporate governance, ethics, and policies are just a few of the many strategic, operational, and institutional issues on which it provides legal services. The legal integrity of CGIAR’s diverse operations and governance framework depends on these services.
Working in the Legal Affairs unit and collaborating with colleagues within CGIAR, you will deliver a broad variety of legal services as a Legal Adviser/Senior Legal Adviser, Institutional and Administrative Law, adjusting methods to guarantee responsiveness to business requirements and situations. Administrative and institutional legal issues will be your main area of concentration. However, you can be given work in other areas to promote collaboration across teams.
Responsibilities
- Address matters pertaining to the status and immunities of the organization and other questions of public international law related to the institutional framework of the organization and CGIAR.
- Review, adapt and draft policies and other internal rules for the organization and CGIAR ensuring they are legally sound and represent fit-for purpose solutions.
- Review, draft and negotiate agreements, including with vendors and consultants.
- Provide legal advice and support on corporate governance matters, including interpretation and drafting of decisions, policies, and procedures.
- Provide legal advice and support on employment and ethics-related matters, including advice on the interpretation and application of internal rules, grievances, disciplinary procedures, dispute resolution, and managing matters before the International Labour Organization’s Administrative Tribunal.
- Provide legal advice and support on data protection matters to ensure that the organization has appropriate standards in place and that its data processing activities comply with such standards.
- Promote engagement and collaboration mechanisms within CGIAR’s Global Legal Team to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of legal services across CGIAR.
- Optimize approaches and build consistency in legal services and outputs, sustaining delivery against established timelines while addressing evolving client needs, aligning to new legal frameworks, and procedures.
- Monitor the effectiveness of policies, guidelines, tools, processes and systems to ensure they remain relevant in mitigating legal risks and promoting compliance with applicable treaties, laws, contractual agreements and standards.
Requirement:
Education and Experience
- Advanced University Degree in Law (Masters or Master’s equivalent).
- Specialized experience at a top-tier law firm and/or in an in-house legal department within a complex international facing corporation or not-for-profit organization
- Specialized experience in providing legal support on corporate governance and institutional matters, administrative law and ethics-related matters, public international law including privileges and immunities, drafting agreements and policies.
Key Competences
- Substantive knowledge: Demonstrated capacity gained through education and experience in public international law, privileges & immunities, administrative law, dispute settlement, corporate governance, contract law, legal risk management, data protection law and intellectual property law, reflecting conceptual understanding in an operational setting.
- Communication skills: Demonstrated skill gained through exposure/experience in relationship management.
- Execution skills: Demonstrated achievement in the consistent delivery of advisory services and outputs through adaptation.
Languages
Fluency in English essential to communicate in writing and speaking. Knowledge of a second language desirable.
The selected staff member will be offered terms and conditions commensurate with the grade of the position.
How to apply
Simply click on the apply button, fill out of the form, upload your documents