Regional Legal Counsel - Africa at International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Within the Office of Corporate Legal Affairs (OCLA) team and the Corporate Legal Function ecosystem, the Regional Legal Counsel is in charge of providing substantive advice and ad hoc support to the various internal clients in the AFRICA region and in delegations, as well as coordinating corporate legal activities, building up and ensuring an efficient service delivery, including by providing support and awareness to the regions and delegations.

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provides legal advice and support in all areas impacting the ICRC (HR, logistics, procurement, administration, operations, data protection, governance, fundraising, innovation, intellectual property, privileges and immunities, regulatory issues, etc.), with a specific focus on either HR/employment/contractual matters or any corporate legal issue;
• Drafts, reviews and negotiates contracts for the ICRC in all areas needed, and drafts legal opinions;
• Advises in the context of the adoption of various types of documents (policies, memos, position papers, risk assessments, etc.);
• Follows and contributes to decision making processes and internal procedures (notably in the area of compliance, information security, risk management);
• Represents the ICRC before judicial and administrative bodies for all matters pertaining to his/her areas of responsibility;
• Liaises with, supervises and manages external counsel;
• Promotes change and assists all stakeholders or services impacted within the ICRC by the evolution of OCLA (e.g. advising management teams, assisting services/units or delivering trainings);
• Advises on and provides legal services regarding the ICRC’s activities and operations in the regions covered, including to the regional offices and country offices at the technical and managerial levels, in relation to the management of legal risks in the areas of expertise mentioned under “general duties” section;
• Provides legal advice principally on contracts, employment law, diplomatic law, administrative law of international organizations, regulatory matters and in general on all legal claims, commitments, and liabilities of the organization in the region covered;
• The Regional Legal Counsel is placed under the hierarchical supervision of the General Counsel, Head of Corporate Legal Affairs. Whenever needed, she/he supports other Regional and Legal Counsel on activities within the OCLA remit.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AND COMPETENCIES

• University degree in law (Master of Arts minimum; Master of Laws Degree (L.L.M.) would be an asset);
• Oral and written fluency in English and French mandatory; professional knowledge of Arabic, Russian or Spanish a strong asset;
• Minimum 10 to 12 years of overall professional experience;
• Minimum five (5) years as a corporate legal adviser required, with Human Resource/employment related practice or contractual practice;
• National bar exam a strong asset;
• Solid experience in contract law, employment law, business law, the law of international civil service or equivalent experience in applicable administrative law required;
• Solid experience either in-house or in a law firm on corporate legal matters with a multinational dimension required;
• Field experience handling legal issues, a strong asset;
• Experience in the legal sector with International Organization/Non-Governmental Organization entities a strong asset;
• Good knowledge of the non-profit and international organization sector;
• Knowledge or experience of the ICRC an asset.

Closing: 14th October 2022