Jobs at Universities Fund (UF)

Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required:

Academic Qualifications

• Have a Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree or equivalent qualification from a recognized institution;
• Post graduate diploma from Kenya School of Law or its equivalent;

Professional Qualifications / Membership to professional bodies

• Admission as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya;
• Valid Practicing Certificate;
• A member in good standing of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK);
• Relevant management programme lasting not less than two (2) weeks from a recognized institution;

Previous relevant work experience required

• At least four (4) years relevant work experience in public service or private sector

Functional Skills:

1. Good communication skills
2. Proposal development skills
3. Proficiency in computer applications

Behavioral Competencies/ Attributes:

1. Proactive
2. Transformative
3. Active listening
4. Trustworthiness
5. Emotional Intelligence
6. Meet the requirements of Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010

Responsibilities:

• An officer at this level will answer to the Principal Secretary and will be responsible for litigation and prosecution services, contractual services and Board services.

Managerial / Supervisory Responsibilities

• Litigation and Prosecutions
• Formulating legal policies, standards, guidelines and procedures on litigation, delegated criminal prosecution and Alternative Dispute Resolution for efficient prosecutions;
• Strengthening policy and law frameworks for prosecution and litigation for efficient service delivery;
• Formulating litigation, prosecution and ADR strategies for systematic approach to prosecutions, litigation and ADR;
• Coordinating investigations and supervising civil investigations for efficient evidence gathering;
• Coordinating administration and supervision of delegated prosecutorial powers
• Coordinating instituting and undertaking prosecution of criminal and civil matters;
• Monitoring compliance with policies, standards and procedures to avoid sanctions and litigations;
• Formulating mitigation strategies to contain identified legal risks to forestall possible instituting of criminal or civil cases against the Institutions;
• Providing statutory interpretation briefs and legal opinions on litigation, prosecution and ADR matters for clarity and ease of implementation;
• Overseeing adherence to departmental Quality Management System (QMS) for efficient operations and service delivery;
• Providing legal education and awareness programmes/clinics to staff on relevant legal frameworks for understanding, compliance and containment of misinformation and legal risks;
• Monitoring compliance to legal, statutory, administrative and regulatory frameworks to minimize legal risks exposure;
• Managing risks in line with Enterprise Risk Management Framework for efficient risk management for informed decision making;
• Participating in the implementation of the performance management system enhanced productivity.
• Developing the legal universe for structured reference on legal compliance;

Contractual Responsibilities

• Formulating policies, standards and guidelines on and contracts for systematic discharge of contractual obligations;
• Monitoring and executing contractual obligation for compliance and protection of institutional reputation;
• Managing the legal and contracts management module within the ICT System for integrated, faster and efficient delivery of service;
• Managing insurance placement, claims and sensitization of staff on their obligations; (preparing terms, liaising with underwriters   on insurance matters).

Board Services Responsibilities

• Formulating and reviewing Board policies, standards and guidelines for efficient governance
• Formulating and reviewing Board charter, committees’ terms of reference and other tools of the Board (Code of conduct and ethics, work plans, capacity development plans)
• Ensuring that principles of good corporate governance are adhered to for accountability and efficient service delivery;
• Supervising preparation of Board Papers to attain the required quality;
• Ensuring that Board Papers are released to Board Members within the stipulated timelines;

Operational Responsibilities / Tasks

• Litigation and Prosecutions
• Managing Litigation/other quasi-judicial processes for efficient dispute resolution;
• Undertaking Legal Research for alignment of litigation, prosecution and ADR functions to emerging issues;
• Conducting negotiations as appropriate for amicable understanding and resolution of contentious litigation and prosecution matters;
• Representing the institution in courts and quasi- judicial bodies to exact business know position and cost management;
• Preparing written and oral submissions for filing and presentation in court to highlight the key legal principles involved in the case;
• Monitoring compliance with court decisions to avoid contempt of court proceedings and sanctions;
• Conducting overall review and implementation of legal policies to keep abreast with emerging issues;
• Briefing and debriefing external lawyers to provide strategies for management of the cases and cost containment;
• Carrying out legal surveys on identified subject matters for in- depth analysis and for decision making.
• Coordinating preparation of legal advisories to various departments for informed decision making;
• Planning and developing departmental annual budget for structured financial management.
• Planning and budgeting for the Department’s annual financial requirements;
• Mentoring and coaching direct reports for succession planning and knowledge management;

Contractual Obligation Responsibilities

• Executing contract management processes and procedures (drafting, amending/reviewing, vetting and enforcing all contracts, MoUs and Service Level agreements).
• Developing and maintaining contract register for ease of reference and proactive ascertaining of expiry dates for initiation of prompt procurement process;
• Carrying out contractual negotiations to achieve amicable understanding and seamless execution;
• Preparing reports on the status of contract processes and procedures to inform respective departments on the status of implementation;
• Monitoring contract performance to ascertain conformity and compliance with parties’ obligations;
• Liaising with external lawyers on matters relating to contracts for proactive service delivery;
• Liaising with departments for technical details on the contract to ensure that the departmental input is provided for;
• Preparing and maintaining insurance placement and claims registers for ascertaining efficiency on timelines in settlement, trends in   loss or destruction of assets for decision making;
• Implementing realization of securities and collateral for protection of the fund;
• Providing legal opinions on legal issues for guidance and understanding/ management of legal risks;
• Executing staff loans legal processes (advising on conveyancing processes in liaison with financial institutions);

Board Services Responsibilities

• Liaising with relevant bodies dealing with governance issues to create harmony in execution of governance guidelines and processes;
• Sensitizing liaison persons in departments on governance audit implementation requirements
• Monitoring implementation of governance and legal audits findings and recommendations;
• Implementation of Board policies for seamless Board functioning;
• Preparing and coordinating release of meeting notices and agenda for sufficient notice giving;
• Supervising preparation and dispatch of Board papers for pre- reading for informed decision making;
• Ensuring that the conflict-of-interest register is fully updated.
• Preparing and updating matrices on release of notices and agenda and status of Board decisions implementations for reference and decision making;
• Managing all logistics relating to Board services for effective Board facilitation;

Financial Responsibility:

1. Developing departmental budgets
2. Monitoring implementation of the budget;

Responsibility for physical assets around the area of work:

Responsible for maintenance of assets assigned to the department

Problem Solving:

 The job holder will be required to solve the following type of problems:

1. Complex and open ended
2. legal and policy problems in the Universities Fund and its external operations;
3. Problems are broad and complex, involving more than one area of the Government. Solutions will often
4. be arrived at through the stakeholder involvement, involve significant legal
5. risk and require Board approval.
6. Problems are strategic,
7. affecting more than one area of the Government. Consultations will be required.
8. Solutions will involve significant strategic and legal risk, and be decided by
9. the Board Problems are highly complex, requiring significant research and creative thinking. Consultations will be required. Solutions could contribute to the body of research / knowledge in this area.

Communication

The job holder will need to understand the following information to discharge his/her mandate:

1. Detailed verbal instructions or requests from universities, students, the Ministry of Education on matters of university education financing;
2. Participating in the
3. development of Laws, regulations and Universities Fund internal policy
4. documents as well as external policies that affect the operations of the Fund;
5. In depth legal reports,
6. proposals or briefs affecting the universities, the Ministry of Education and
7. the Auditor General’s Office; 
8. Reports and briefs on legal proceedings that involve the Universities Fund.

Decision Making/ Job Influence:

• Makes operational decisions on court cases and ADR management
• Planning and assigning work to direct reports;
• Makes decisions on which evidence to admit for presentation to court;
• Monitoring and evaluating work performance of direct reports;

go to method of application »

Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required:

Academic Qualifications

1. Have a Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree or equivalent qualification from a recognized institution;
2. Masters of Law (LL.B) degree or equivalent qualification from a recognized institution is an added advantage;
3.  Post graduate diploma from Kenya School of Law or its equivalent;

Professional Qualifications / Membership to professional bodies

1. Admission as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya;
2. Valid Practicing Certificate;
3. A member in good standing of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK);
4. Certified Secretary;
5. A member in good standing of the Institute of Certified Secretaries (ICS);
6. Relevant management programme lasting not less than two (2) weeks from a recognized institution;

Previous relevant work experience required

• At least Eight (8) years relevant work experience Public Service or Private Sector, three (3) of which must be in a management position.

Functional Skills:

• Good communication skills
• Proposal development skills
• Proficiency in computer applications

Behavioral Competencies/ Attributes:

1. Proactive
2. Transformative
3. Active listening
4. Trustworthiness
5. Emotional Intelligence
6. Interpersonal
7. Meet the requirements of Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010

Responsibilities:

An officer at this level will answer to the Corporation Secretary and Deputy Director Legal Services and will be responsible for facilitating secretarial services to the Board and in offering legal opinions and legal advice to the Director/CEO, legal services and effective management of the Legal division.

Contractual Responsibilities

• Formulating policies, standards and guidelines on and contracts for systematic discharge of contractual obligations;
• Drawing, vetting, reviewing and enforcing contracts, MoUs, and Service Level Agreements for clarity of obligations of the parties;
• Monitoring and executing contractual obligation for compliance and protection of institutional reputation;
• Managing the legal and contracts management module within the ICT System for integrated, faster and efficient delivery of service;
• Monitoring service level agreements both internally and externally for clarity on administrative requirements on implementation for early identification of non-performance and prompt remedial action;
• Managing insurance placement, claims and sensitization of staff on their obligations; (preparing terms, liaising with underwriters   on insurance matters).
• Board Secretarial Service (Governance)

Formulating and reviewing Board policies, standards and guidelines for efficient governance

• Formulating and reviewing Board charter, committees’ terms of reference and other tools of the Board (Code of conduct and ethics, work plans, capacity development plans)
• Ensuring that principles of good corporate governance are adhered to for accountability and efficient service delivery;
• Monitoring implementation of the governance audit recommendations;
• Participating in sourcing for recognized governance audit and legal audit service providers to assist the procurement process in identifying the desired service provider
• Managing administrative and logistical issues in Corporate Secretarial services
• Preparing quarterly reports to the Board for consideration and decision making;
• Supervising preparation of Board Papers to attain the required quality;
• Ensuring that Board Papers are released to Board Members within the stipulated timelines;

Litigation and Prosecution

• Executing litigation, prosecution and ADR strategies and processes for efficient services;
• Implementing policies, rules and regulations;
• Maintaining communication with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and external lawyers on legal matters on litigation and prosecution for guidance and direction;
• Preparing reports on litigation status of civil and criminal prosecutions for planning and decision making’
• Managing investigations on legal issues for collection of evidence for decision informed making;

Operational Responsibilities / Tasks

Contractual Obligation Responsibilities

• Executing contract management processes and procedures (drafting, amending/reviewing, vetting and enforcing all contracts, MoUs and Service Level agreements).
• Developing and maintaining contract register for ease of reference and proactive ascertaining of expiry dates for initiation of prompt procurement process;
• Carrying out contractual negotiations to achieve amicable understanding and seamless execution;
• Preparing reports on the status of contract processes and procedures to inform respective departments on the status of implementation;
• Monitoring contract performance to ascertain conformity and compliance with parties’ obligations;
• Liaising with external lawyers on matters relating to contracts for proactive service delivery;
• Liaising with departments for technical details on the contract to ensure that the departmental input is provided for;
• Preparing and maintaining insurance placement and claims registers for ascertaining efficiency on timelines in settlement, trends in   loss or destruction of assets for decision making;
• Implementing realization of securities and collateral for protection of the fund;
• Providing legal opinions on legal issues for guidance and understanding/ management of legal risks;
• Executing staff loans legal processes (advising on conveyancing processes in liaison with financial institutions);
• Board Secretarial Service (Governance)

Liaising with relevant bodies dealing with governance issues to create harmony in execution of governance guidelines and processes;

• Sensitizing liaison persons in departments on governance audit implementation requirements
• Monitoring implementation of governance and legal audits findings and recommendations;
• Implementation of Board policies for seamless Board functioning;
• Preparing and coordinating release of meeting notices and agenda for sufficient notice giving;
• Supervising preparation and dispatch of Board papers for pre- reading for informed decision making;
• Ensuring that the conflict-of-interest register is fully updated.
• Managing the e-board system for paperless and efficient functioning of the Board;
• Preparing and updating matrices on release of notices and agenda and status of Board decisions implementations for reference and decision making;
• Managing all logistics relating to Board services for effective Board facilitation;
• Managing correspondence relating to Board Services for timely responses
• Litigation and Prosecution

Preparing and perusing court pleadings and identifying issues for determination;

• Preparing, reviewing and analyzing summons, charge sheets, plaints, defenses, to ascertain legality and defects;
• Drafting affidavits and instructions relating to litigation, prosecution and ADR to support and strengthen cases;
• Maintaining current communication with parties in each case for information;
• Representing the institution in courts, tribunals and quasi-judicial bodies for business know how approach and cost containment;
• Ensuring prompt filing of pleadings in court to avoid being time barred as regulated by court rules and procedures;
• Ensuring prompt service of the pleadings on concerned parties to facilitate their response and speedy resolution;
• Initiating out of court settlement discussions for amicable resolution of dispute;
• Maintaining court cases register for tracking status of each case for decision making;
• Enforcing litigation, prosecution and ADR processes for efficient dispute resolutions;
• Preparing witness statements to support prosecution and defense of cases;
• lReceiving and court pleadings and all correspondence relating to litigation, prosecution and ADR and ensuring that they appropriately filed and responded to;
• Participating in formulation and review of legal policies and procedures to align them with the mandate of the institution and emerging issues;
• Adhering to performance management requirements for productivity;
• Initiating proposals for enactment/review of relevant legal and regulatory frameworks for alignment to the mandate, vision and mission of the Institution;
• Holding pre- hearing conferences with witnesses in readiness for court and quasi-judicial hearing;
• Ensuring compliance with departmental Quality Management System (QMS) procedures;
• Participating in development of departmental budget;
• Drafting briefing material and maintaining contact with external providers of legal;
• Checking, confirming and availing the court cause list for confirmation of listing
• Ensuring that witnesses and exhibits are available when required for proving the case.

Financial Responsibility:

1. Developing departmental budgets.
2. Monitoring implementation of the budget;

Responsibility for physical assets around the area of work

Responsible for maintenance of assets assigned to the department

Problem Solving:

The job holder will be required to solve the following type of problems:

1. Complex and open ended
2. legal and policy problems in the Universities Fund and its external
3. operations;
4. Problems are broad and
5. complex, involving more than one area of the Government. Solutions will often
6. be arrived at through the stakeholder involvement, involve significant legal
7. risk and require Board approval.
8. Problems are strategic,
9. affecting more than one area of the Government. Consultations will be required.
10. Solutions will involve significant strategic and legal risk, and be decided by
11. the Board.
12. Problems are highly complex, requiring significant research and creative thinking. Consultations will be required. Solutions could contribute to the body of research / knowledge in this area.

Communication

The job holder will need to understand the following information to discharge his/her mandate:

1. Detailed verbal instructions or requests from universities, students, the Ministry of Education on matters of university education financing;
2. Participating in the
3. development of Laws, regulations and Universities Fund internal policy
4. documents as well as external policies that affect the operations of the Fund;
5. In depth legal reports,
6. proposals or briefs affecting the universities, the Ministry of Education and
7. the Auditor General’s Office.

Decision Making/ Job Influence:

Makes strategic decisions on:

1. Legal matters that have impact internally and externally;
2. Amendment of governing legal and other relevant frameworks;
3. Contractual obligations on review of terms and termination and termination of contracts;
4. Terms of engagement of external lawyers;
5. Termination/withdrawal of cases from Court.
6. Makes operational decisions on
7. Litigation and prosecution (instituting and defending cases in court);
8. Invoking ADR mechanism for dispute resolution;
9. Provides governance and legal advisory to the Board and Management;
10. Makes operational decisions on court cases and ADR management
11. Planning and assigning work to direct reports;
12. Makes decisions on which evidence to admit for presentation to court;
13. Monitoring and evaluating work performance of direct reports;

Working Conditions:

1. Works in an office environment;
2. Travels out of the workstation across the country to attend court on litigation and ADR engagements, negotiations with strategic partners on guiding partnership legal instruments (Service contracts and MoUs);
3. Occasional international assignments;
4. Works under exposure to hostile parties in contentious legal matters;

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Qualifications

• Kenya certificate of secondary education minimum of D+ or its equivalent.
• Have valid Driving License (Class B,C,E).
• Valid driving license free from any current endorsements and valid for any of the classes of vehicles which the Officer is required to drive;
• Defensive driving certificate from Automobile Association (AA) of Kenya or its equivalent qualification from a recognized Institution;
• Passed the Suitability Test for Drivers Grade I from the Ministry of Roads and Public Works;
• A course in First Aid lasting not less than one (1) week from St. John Ambulance or Kenya Institute of Highway and Building Technology (KIHBT) or any other recognized institution;
• Any other qualifications that may be adjudged as equivalent by the Institution
• Previous relevant work experience required.
• At least 9 years’ relevant driving experience;
• Conversant with use of GPS maps.

Responsibilities:

• The job holder is responsible for driving official institutional vehicle assigned to the Chief Executive Officer to facilitate business of the institution.

Operational Responsibilities / Tasks

• Driving institution’s assigned motor vehicles 
• Ensuring the safety of staff and other road users by obeying traffic rules 
• Adhering to work schedules and timelines for efficient service delivery.
• Liaising with transport service providers e.g. motor vehicle dealers, fuel providers and specified garages to enhance motor vehicle service. 
• Providing regular updates on motor vehicle condition.
• Ensuring compliance with transport legal requirements through adherence to the transport regulations and guidelines for compliance and cost management;
• Collaborating with traffic enforcement agencies (Government Vehicle Check Unit and National Transport & Safety Authority) to enhance road safety;
• Ensuring timely motor vehicle servicing and maintenance to enhance cost efficiency;
• Conducting day today routine check of the assigned motor vehicle to ensure the vehicle is in sound mechanical condition.
• Maintaining cleanliness of motor vehicles for comfort of passengers and to reduce depreciation
• Timely reporting of all accidents and incidents to facilitate necessary decision and action; 
• Ensuring security of the assigned vehicle to reduce losses and damage;
• Maintaining accurate transport related documents which include work tickets, fuel receipts, fuel cards and authorization letters to ensure compliance with transport requirements;
• Adhering to the approved guidelines of the Institution’s vehicles to ensure effective use; and
• Reporting on vehicle insurance expiry to facilitate timely renewals;
• Ensuring the vehicle has safety, first aid a kit and other items that include spare business cards, pens and note-book, drinking water and other appropriate utilities;
• Managing the Chief Executive Officer’s movements by familiarizing himself with all routes to be able to get the Chief Executive from one point to another in a secure and convenient manner traffic congestion, roads under construction and other movement inhibiting factors notwithstanding;
• Maintaining confidentiality at all times under whatever circumstances;
• Maintaining etiquette at all times.
• Financial Responsibility:
• Responsible for monitoring of fuel utilization and fuel cards of the assigned vehicle. 
• Minimizing vehicle running costs through safe driving

Responsibility for physical assets around the area of work:

• Responsible for the assigned Institution vehicles.
• Responsible for motor vehicle documents and fuel card.

Communication

• The job holder will need to understand the following information to discharge his/her mandate:
• Verbal and written instructions or requests from the CEO;
• Written email instructions from the CEO.

Decision Making/ Job Influence:

Makes decisions using standard operating procedures;
Functional Skills:

• Proficiency Driving 
• Basic motor vehicle maintenance 
• knowledge of traffic rules and guidelines 
• Knowledge of protocols
• Defensive driving
• Communication skills

Behavioral Competencies/ Attributes:

• Interpersonal skills,
• Fulfil the requirements of Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Kenya.
• Good grooming
• Time management
• Organizational skills