Legal Officer, Nairobi, Kenya

## Legal Officer, Nairobi, Kenya - Organization:OAJ - Office of Administration of Justice - Office:OAJ Nairobi, Kenya Organizational Setting and Reporting The Office of Staff Legal Assistance is headed by a Chief, who without prejudice to his responsibility to provide legal assistance to staff members in an independent and impartial manner is accountable to the Executive Director. Under the authority of the Executive Director, the Chief is responsible for the management and proper functioning of the programme of legal assistance to staff members in the internal justice system, including in administrative, disciplinary and appellate proceedings before the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal. These posts are located in the Office of Staff Legal Assistance (OSLA), Office of Administration of Justice (OAJ) one each in Nairobi, Kenya and New York, USA. The Legal Officer will report to the Chief of OSLA. Within delegated authority the Legal Officer may be responsible for the following duties: - Serves as a lead officer in one or more areas of concentration, and independently handles a wide range of multi-discipline and complex legal matters involving issues of international, public, private and administrative law. - Provides legal advice on diverse substantive and procedural questions of considerable complexity, including challenges against administrative decisions, disciplinary matters and general legal matters related to conditions of service by the Organization, its Funds and Programmes and specialized agencies. - Performs extensive legal research and analysis and prepares legal opinions, studies, briefs, reports, and correspondence; provides legal advice to the Office and clients (staff members, former staff members and other individuals eligible for legal assistance). - Prepares written legal and oral submissions/motions as necessary in the course of challenges to administrative decisions and disciplinary processes. - Reviews, advises on and drafts complex agreements, institutional and operational modalities, or legal motions/submissions and other legal documents; develops new legal modalities to meet unique needs/circumstances. - Advises on and participates in negotiations and settlement of claims and disputes. - Provides legal advice on the interpretation and application of staff regulations and rules, including the review of administrative decisions;. - Represents clients before the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal, as well as in management evaluation requests, disciplinary processes and other recourse mechanism. - Represents the Office in meetings with staff and stakeholders and the General Assembly, as required. - Coordinates and direct teams of other legal officers dealing with significant problems as required, and/or mentors and supervises the work of junior officers on specific projects. - Contributes to review and design of new legal instruments, internal policies and systems. - Collects and analyzes data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting. - Acts as Officer in Charge of the Office when necessary. - Performs other duties as assigned. - Professionalism: Knowledge of international legal procedures and instruments, including international administrative law, both substantive and procedural. Ability to apply legal expertise to analyzing a diverse range of complex and unusual legal issues and problems and in developing innovative and creative solutions in prosecuting complex criminal cases. Strong analytical skills and ability to conduct comprehensive legal research on a range of issues, including those of a unique and/or complex nature; proficiency in legal writing and expression and ability to prepare legal briefs, opinions, indictments or legal submissions/motions, and a variety of legal instruments and related documents. Ability to lead and cross-examine witnesses and make substantial legal arguments before Tribunals. Discretion and sound judgment in applying legal expertise to sensitive, complex legal issues. Strong negotiating skills and ability to influence others to reach agreement. Ability to work to tight deadlines and handle multiple concurrent projects/cases. Knowledge of contemporary international relations and of UN system, organization and interrelationships. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. - Planning& Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently. - Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client. - Judgement/Decision-making: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; gathers relevant information before making a decision; considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; checks assumptions against facts; determines the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; makes tough decisions when necessary. An Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent degree) in international law or other related area is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Job - Specific Qualification A minimum of seven years of experience in law, including legal analysis, research and writing is required. Three years of litigation experience at the national or international level including first-hand experience in appearing and leading the evidence of witnesses before a court or tribunal is required. Experience within the United Nations system or other similar international organization is desirable. English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this job opening, English is required. Either ArabicorChinese (Mandarin)orRussianorFrenchorSpanish is desirable. The table below shows the minimum required level for each skill in these languages, according to the UN Language Framework (please consult https://languages.un.org for details). Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by a competency-based interview. - The appointment against this position is limited to the Office of Administration of Justice. - External candidate selected through this job opening will be granted a fixed-term appointment limited to the entity (“FTA-limited”) in accordance with sect