Legal Officer (General Legal)(P3)

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING APPLICATION DEADLINE: Please note that the closing date for submission of applications is indicated in local time as per the time zone of the applicant’s location.

Organizational Setting

The Office of Legal Affairs, which reports directly to the Director General, provides legal services of the highest possible standards to the Director General, the Secretariat and to the organs and bodies of the IAEA, as well as to Member States, regarding the implementation of the IAEA’s activities.
The General Legal Section is primarily responsible for providing legal advice and support to all areas of the Secretariat to ensure that the IAEA’s activities (particularly administrative and corporate matters relating to, inter alia, human resources; audits; contracts and other commercial agreements; financial regulations and rules; procurements; and relationship agreements with Member States, the United Nations, cooperating institutions and other international organizations) are in line with applicable agreements, regulations, rules, policies and relevant jurisprudence.

Main Purpose

Under the supervision and guidance of the Section Head, the Legal Officer prepares legal opinions, legal instruments and documents and provides legal advice on the application and interpretation of such documents, primarily in connection with administrative and policy matters relating to, inter alia, personnel issues, privileges and immunities, confidentiality, finance and procurement. In this context, the Legal Officer may at times be asked to assist with matters concerning administrative litigation and internal appeals, contracts and other commercial agreements, financial regulations and rules, budget, audit, banking, insurance, contract law and general financial issues. The Legal Officer also conducts research and provides inputs with respect to agreements with Member States, the United Nations, cooperating institutions and other international organizations.

Role

The incumbent is a team member, providing high-quality professional inputs to support advice given to, inter alia, the Division of Human Resources, the Office of Procurement Services, the Division of Budget and Finance, and the Division of General Services, as required.

Functions / Key Results Expected

Draft legal advice on the application and interpretation of Staff Regulations and Staff Rules.
Provide advice concerning the form and substance of administrative issuances.
Provide advice concerning the confidentiality regimes applicable to the work of the IAEA.
Advise on contracts and other commercial agreements, including licensing issues.
Draft advice on the legal aspects of the privileges and immunities applicable to the IAEA and its activities.
Draft advice on the legal aspects of insurance policies, including issues relating to the status of the IAEA as an international organization.
Advise, as required, on the development and application of the IAEA’s Financial Regulations, Rules and associated policies, including relating to procurement.

Competencies and Expertise

Core Competencies(Competency Framework)

Name	Definition
Planning and Organizing	Plans and organizes his/her own work in support of achieving the team or Section’s priorities. Takes into account potential changes and proposes contingency plans.
Communication	Communicates orally and in writing in a clear, concise and impartial manner. Takes time to listen to and understand the perspectives of others and proposes solutions.
Achieving Results	Takes initiative in defining realistic outputs and clarifying roles, responsibilities and expected results in the context of the Department/Division’s programme. Evaluates his/her results realistically, drawing conclusions from lessons learned.
Teamwork	Actively contributes to achieving team results. Supports team decisions.

Functional Competencies

Name	Definition
Analytical thinking	Analyses information to identify cause and effect relationships and correlations. Identifies critical elements and assesses consequences of different courses of action and proposes solutions.
Judgement/decision making	Consults with supervisor/manager and takes decisions in full compliance with the Agency’s regulations and rules. Makes decisions reflecting best practice and professional theories and standards.
Technical/scientific credibility	Ensures that work is in compliance with internationally accepted professional standards and scientific methods. Provides scientifically/technically accepted information that is credible and reliable.

Required Expertise

Function	Name	Expertise Description
Legal	Administrative Law	Knowledge of and experience with administrative law.
Legal	Agency’s Statute, Rules of Procedures, Regulations, Practices and Precedents	Knowledge of and ability to analyse and apply the Agency’s Statute, Rules of Procedure, Regulations, Practices and Precedent.
Legal	Contract Law	Knowledge of and experience with contract law.
Legal	International Law	Knowledge of broad principles of Public International law.
Legal	Legal Drafts	Ability to draft clear, concise documents setting out facts and arguments in an accurate manner.
Legal	Policy Development	Legal Support for Policy Development.

Qualifications, Experience and Language skills

• University degree in Law with good academic record; admitted to practice in a national bar or equivalent.
• Minimum of five years of relevant experience at the international level.
• Very good knowledge and experience of financial rules, policies and practices in the UN Common System.
• Excellent oral and written command of English. Knowledge of other official IAEA languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is an asset.

Remuneration

The IAEA offers an attractive remuneration package including a tax-free annual net base salary starting at US $64121 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance), a variable post adjustment which currently amounts to US $ 31868, dependency benefits, rental subsidy, education grant, relocation and repatriation expenses; Other benefits include 6 weeks’ annual leave, home leave travel, pension plan and health insurance. More information on the conditions of employment can be found at: https://www.iaea.org/about/employment/professional-staff/conditions

General Information

• The IAEA’s paramount consideration in the recruitment of staff member is to secure employees of the highest standards of efficiency, technical competence and integrity.
• Staff Members shall be selected without any unfair treatment or arbitrary distinction based on a person’s race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, disability, age, language, social origin or other similar shared characteristic or trait.
• The IAEA is committed to gender equality and to promoting a diverse workforce. Applications from qualified women and candidates from developing countries are strongly encouraged.
• Applicants should be aware that IAEA staff members are international civil servants and may not accept instructions from any other authority. The IAEA is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. As part of the United Nations common system, the IAEA subscribes to the following core ethical standards (or values): Integrity, Professionalism and Respect for diversity.
• The IAEA has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and the IAEA, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.

Evaluation process

• The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the selection criteria stated in the vacancy announcement. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information. Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise, which may be followed by a competency-based interview.
• Candidates under serious consideration for selection may be subject to reference and background checks as part of the recruitment process.

Appointment information

• Appointment is subject to a satisfactory medical report.
• Staff members may be assigned to any location.
• Candidates appointed to posts in the Professional and higher categories are subject to IAEA rotation policy and their maximum tour of service shall normally be seven years.
• The IAEA retains the discretion not to make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade or with a different contract type, or to make an appointment with a modified job description or for shorter duration than indicated above.