Senior Legal Officer – Dispute Resolution

Duties and Qualifications

Senior Legal Officer – Dispute Resolution
Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Senior Legal Officer – Dispute Resolution reports to the Senior Legal Adviser & Deputy Head of Service (LAS). The incumbent will function on a largely autonomous basis and will have supervisory responsibility. The incumbent serves as LAS¿s focal point for collaborative services to prevent, mitigate and resolve workplace challenges. In that role, the incumbent represents UNHCR in settlement negotiations and mediations with aggrieved personnel and coordinates LAS¿s engagement with UNHCR conflict management stakeholders like the Senior Advisor, Management Support, as well as the Regional HR Partners, the Ombudsman¿s Office, the Ethics Office, the Psychosocial Wellbeing Section, the Peer Advisor Network and other counterparts based in the Regional Bureaux or the field. S/he will provide expert advice on the triage and assessment of workplace challenges referred to Headquarters, including through the SpeakUp Helpline, and support outreach and capacity building activities in integrity, compliance, conflict management and general human resources matters. The incumbent provides senior level support on matters relating to the formal administration of justice system, in particular by coordinating the management evaluation intake system as well as the strategic follow-up on management evaluation decisions, by preparing legal opinions and advice on requests for management evaluation, drafting legal pleadings in response to applications to the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT), representing UNHCR as counsel at oral hearings before the UNDT, and providing expert advice on legal issues relating to investigations and disciplinary proceedings. The incumbent will also coordinate LAS’s collaboration with the HR Policy Section and ensure that lessons learned from the administration of justice system and regular LAS legal advice are fed into HR policy initiatives. The incumbent will support DHR in trainings and other staff development initiatives relating to informal and formal dispute resolution and human resources management. The incumbent will also contribute to the overall work of LAS, including in the areas of contracts and the status, privileges and immunities of UNHCR and its personnel.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

• Provide advice and guidance on a wide array of legal matters, with a special emphasis on the UN internal justice system and human resources legal issues.
• Represent UNHCR in settlement negotiations and mediations with aggrieved personnel.
• Prepare legal pleadings in response to applications before the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and represent the Organization as Counsel at oral hearings.
• Coordinate LAS’s engagement with other UNHCR dispute resolution stakeholders at Headquarters, in Regional Bureaux and in the field on collaborative initiatives regarding integrity, compliance and ethics as well as conflict/management interventions and outreach.
• Provide advice on the triage and assessment of cases referred to Headquarters, including through the SpeakUp Helpline.
• Review draft human resources policies and related technical proposals and ensure that they are aligned with established policy and standards.
• Guide DHR units at Headquarters locations and offices in the field to ensure that personnel matters are dealt with in accordance with relevant procedural guidelines.
• Analyse and advise on requests for management evaluations by UNHCR staff, and in particular manage intake of management evaluation requests with a view to identify cases suitable for informal dispute resolution as well as strategic follow-up on management evaluation decisions.
• Provide legal advice, as necessary, to the Inspector General’s Office on investigation procedures and to the Director, DHR on disciplinary proceedings.
• Design training material in the area of conflict management, administration of justice and human resources, including lessons learned and conduct workshops, webinars, presentations and other outreach and professional development initiatives in these areas.
• Manage personnel through regular performance appraisals, coaching, and assessments of training and development needs;
• Perform other related duties as required.
  Minimum Qualifications
  Education & Professional Work Experience
  Years of Experience / Degree Level
  For P4 – 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree
  Field(s) of Education
  *Law; International Law; Litigation Practice;
  or other relevant field.
  (Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)
  Certificates and/or Licenses
  *Law; Bar Examination; Mediation; International Law;
  (Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk are essential)
  Relevant Job Experience
  Essential
  Minimum 9 years of previous relevant work experience including in the field of litigation.
  In-depth knowledge and experience of international law, including, international administrative law as practiced in international organizations (in particular in the United Nations) and/or experience applying employment or administrative law in a national jurisdiction.
  Demonstrated ability in negotiation and conflict management.
  Experience with mediation and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
  Extensive knowledge of the internal justice system of the United Nations grievance mechanisms, the jurisprudence of the UNDT and UNAT, and the UN human resources machinery.
  Ability to conduct legal research on a range of complex and intricate issues.
  Experience in drafting a broad range of documents of a legal nature, including policies and administrative instructions, legal opinions, pleadings, contracts and/or briefing notes.
  Demonstrated ability to provide oral briefings on complex legal issues to legal and non-legal audiences.
  Bar exam or equivalent qualification to practice law in at least one national jurisdiction.
  Desirable
  Accreditation and/or certification as a mediator.
  Knowledge of the mechanisms in UNHCR.
  Prior exposure to, and demonstrated competence in, the conceptual development of strategic HR approaches and corporate HR policies.
  Proven experience in developing training material and facilitating workshops, webinars and other adult learning.
  Knowledge of the privileges and immunities of UN/HCR and its personnel.
  Knowledge of the principles of international commercial law and contract law as applied by the UN.
  Knowledge of UN/HCR field operations.
• Functional Skills
  LE-Legal Research
  LE-Draft legal settlement agreements
  LE-Litigation and case management
  LE-Contract law applied by the UN
  LE-Litigation and oral and written court advocacy skills
  IT-Computer Literacy
  CO-Cross-cultural communication
  (Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
• Language Requirements
  For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
  For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
  For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.
  All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.
  As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

Position Competencies

C001L3 – Accountability Level 3
C002L3 – Teamwork & Collaboration Level 3
C003L3 – Communication Level 3
C004L3 – Commitment to Continuous Learning Level 3
C005L3 – Client & Result Orientation Level 3
C006L3 – Organizational Awareness Level 3
M001L3 – Empowering and Building Trust Level 3
M005L3 – Leadership Level 3
M003L3 – Judgement and Decision Making Level 3
M002L3 – Managing Performance Level 3
X001L3 – Analytical Thinking Level 3
X004L3 – Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Level 3
X006L3 – Policy Development & Research Level 3