IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING APPLICATION DEADLINE: Please note that the closing date for submission of applications is indicated in local time as per the time zone of the applicant’s location.

Organizational Setting

The Office of Legal Affairs, which reports directly to the Director General, provides legal services of the highest possible standards to the Director General, the Secretariat and to the organs and bodies of the IAEA, as well as to Member States, regarding the implementation of the IAEA’s activities.

The General Legal Section is primarily responsible for providing legal advice and support to all areas of the Secretariat to ensure that the IAEA’s activities (particularly administrative and corporate matters relating to, inter alia, human resources; audits; contracts and other commercial agreements; financial regulations and rules; procurements; and relationship agreements with Member States, the United Nations, cooperating institutions and other international organizations) are in line with applicable agreements, regulations, rules, policies and relevant jurisprudence.

Main Purpose

Under the guidance of the Section Head, the Legal Officer, Institutional Law Lead prepares legal opinions and analysis, legal instruments and documents and prepares and reviews legal advice including to senior management on the drafting, application and interpretation of such documents, primarily in connection with institutional and administrative law matters relating to human resources, privileges and immunities, intellectual property, data privacy and data protection, etc.

Role

The incumbent is a member of the General Legal Section and provides professional inputs to, inter alia, the Director General’s Office, the Division of Human Resources, the Division of General Services, the Office of Procurement Services and other Divisions and Offices in the IAEA.

Functions / Key Results Expected

In consultation with the Section Head, the Legal Officer, Institutional Law Lead:

• Acts as focal point for Institutional Law issues, including managing the workflow, prioritizing and assigning tasks, supervising the workload of and coordinating the work of the Legal Officers and other colleagues in the Section. S/He also performs initial review of the work of other Legal Officers to ensure quality and consistency in work product;
• Represents the Section and provides legal advice at specialized meetings, and participates in inter-departmental committees and working groups, providing expertise on relevant policy issues;
• Provides professional adivce and analysis and drafts reports and documents related to the IAEA’s Headquarters Agreement and to other agreements concerning the privileges and immunities framework of the IAEA. The Legal Officer, Institutional Law Lead also conducts research and provides inputs with respect to agreements with Member States, the United Nations, cooperating institutions and other international organizations;
• Acts as Section focal point for human resources and data protection issues;
• Develops and maintains strong working relationships with critical stakeholders both within and outside the IAEA. Liaises with external and internal stakeholders, including consultations and negotiations with representatives of Member States or other organizations on matters of common concern;
• Advises and drafts advice for senior management on the legal aspects of human resources matters, including the interpretation of IAEA Staff Regulations and Staff Rules and personnel policies, internal appeals, compensation claims and disciplinary cases;
• Analyses and advises on appeals submitted to the ILO Administrative Tribunal, including preparing the IAEA’s pleadings and submissions in cases before the Tribunal;
• Drafts advice on the legal aspects of the IAEA’s Headquarters Agreement and applicable agreements regarding the privileges and immunities of the IAEA;
• Drafts advice on other matters of administrative law;
• Drafts and reviews licensing and publishing agreements, and provides advice on intellectual property rights matters;
• As required, draft contracts, agreements and other legal instruments and provides advice on general matters of contract law as well as regarding commercial and non-commercial matters relating to procurement, cooperation and partnerships, and with respect to budget and finance matters including the Financial Regulations and Financial Rules, budget, audit, banking, insurance, contract law and general financial issues.

Competencies and Expertise

Core Competencies(Competency Framework)

Functional Competencies

Required Expertise

Qualifications, Experience and Language skills

• Advanced university degree in Law.
• Minimum of seven years of relevant experience, including several years at the international level.
• Proven ability to prepare legal drafts.
• Excellent oral and written command of English. Knowledge of other official IAEA languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) is an asset.

Remuneration

The IAEA offers an attractive remuneration package including a tax-free annual net base salary starting at US $77326 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance), a variable post adjustment which currently amounts to US $ 38044*, dependency benefits, rental subsidy, education grant, relocation and repatriation expenses; Other benefits include 6 weeks’ annual leave, home leave travel, pension plan and health insurance. More information on the conditions of employment can be found at: https://www.iaea.org/about/employment/professional-staff/conditions

General Information

• The IAEA’s paramount consideration in the recruitment of staff member is to secure employees of the highest standards of efficiency, technical competence and integrity.
• Staff Members shall be selected without any unfair treatment or arbitrary distinction based on a person’s race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, disability, age, language, social origin or other similar shared characteristic or trait.
• The IAEA is committed to gender equality and to promoting a diverse workforce. Applications from qualified women and candidates from developing countries are strongly encouraged.
• Applicants should be aware that IAEA staff members are international civil servants and may not accept instructions from any other authority. The IAEA is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. As part of the United Nations common system, the IAEA subscribes to the following core ethical standards (or values): Integrity, Professionalism and Respect for diversity.
• The IAEA has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and the IAEA, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.

Evaluation process

• The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the selection criteria stated in the vacancy announcement. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information. Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise, which may be followed by a competency-based interview.
• Candidates under serious consideration for selection may be subject to reference and background checks as part of the recruitment process.

Appointment information

• Appointment is subject to a satisfactory medical report.
• Staff members may be assigned to any location.
• Candidates appointed to posts in the Professional and higher categories are subject to IAEA rotation policy and their maximum tour of service shall normally be seven years.
• The IAEA retains the discretion not to make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade or with a different contract type, or to make an appointment with a modified job description or for shorter duration than indicated above.