Corporation Secretary / Senior Legal Officer at Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI)

Purpose:

Responsible for ensuring Institute’s compliance with the required legal standards and maintenance of good corporate governance through Provision of Board Secretarial services, Legal advice, and compliance to operations within the Public Service.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide high quality, professional Board secretarial and legal support to enhance the administration of good governance functions and ensure compliance with relevant statutory obligations;
• Develop and operationalize effective and efficient institutional corporate and legal system;
• Establish and implement mechanism for dealing with litigation matters;
• Liaising with the Board Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer in scheduling of meetings and preparation of agenda for Board meetings;
• Coordinating Board matters by preparing, confirming, filing and dispatching Board Agenda, Board minutes and Board action reports;
• Advising the Institute and staff on new legislations, best legal practices and likely impacts on the Institute’s operations;
• Act as the legal custodian and use of Institute’s seal, legal documents, board and Board
• Committee minutes;
• Provide legal advisory services to all areas of the operations with regard to contracts, Compliance, procurement, Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs), and other areas of potential risk to the Institute to ensure compliance with existing law and regulatory requirements;
• Offer legal advice during negotiations and interpreting documents within the Institute;
• Coordinate the preparation and review of contractual agreements and (MOUs) within the
• Institute;
• Lead, advise and manage litigations and disputes between various stakeholders and the
• Institute to protect the Institute’s assets & reputation;
• Liaise with the Attorney General’s office on legal suits against the Institute;
• Advise on appointment of external lawyers to represent the Institute or handling court cases on behalf of the Institute;

Requirements for appointment:

• Minimum nine (9) years’ relevant legal experience with at least three (3) years in senior management.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Law (LLB) from a recognized University
• A post Graduate qualification in Law from the Kenya School of law
• An advocate of the High Court of Kenya
• Valid Membership to the Law Society of Kenya
• Certified Public Secretary of Kenya CPS (K)
• Valid Membership to the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK)
• Should have experience in property rights and patents
• Certificate in computer applications skills from a recognized institution;
• Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education mean grade C+ (plus) or its equivalent from a recognized Institution; and
• Have clearance certificates as contained in Chapter six of the Kenya Constitution 2010 from
• Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Ethics and Ant-Corruption Commission (EACC), Police,
• Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), an approved Credit Reference Bureau and
• Commission on University Education (CUE) for degrees obtained outside Kenya.