The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC or “the Federation”) is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network. The Federation is a membership organization established by and comprised of its member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Along with National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Federation is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the “RCRC Movement”). The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” It works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.
The Federation is served by a Secretariat based in Geneva, with regional and country offices throughout the world. The Secretariat is led by the IFRC Secretary General and provides the central capacity of the Federation to serve, connect, and represent National Societies. The Secretariat’s focus includes providing support to the IFRC governance mechanisms; setting norms and standards; providing guidance; ensuring consistency, coordination, and accountability for performance; knowledge sharing; promoting collaboration within and respect for the RCRC Movement; and expanding engagement with partners. The Secretariat’s headquarters is organized in three main business groups: (i) Partnerships, including Movement and Membership; (ii) Programs and Operations; and (iii) Management. The Secretariat has five regional offices as follows: Americas (Panama City); Africa (Nairobi); Asia and Pacific - AP (Kuala Lumpur); Europe (Budapest); Middle East and North Africa - MENA (Beirut).
The position of Legal Adviser for the Americas will be based in one of the following duty stations of the IFRC Secretariat in the Americas region: Buenos Aires (Argentina), San José (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), San Salvador (El Salvador), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Kingston (Jamaica), Managua (Nicaragua), Panama City (Panama), Lima (Peru), or Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago).
The Legal Adviser for the Americas region reports to the Head of Corporate Services. The technical manager of the position is the Managing Legal Counsel, Partnerships, Programmes and Operations, Legal Department based at Headquarters in Geneva. The post holder will primarily provide legal services to the operations of the Regional Office and delegations throughout the Americas region.
The Legal Adviser for the Americas is a member of the management team of the Corporate Services team in the Americas, and of the Global Legal Team, which advises the organisation globally in the following areas:
- Management of legal risks.
- Compliance with applicable legal and regulatory framework.
Support to member National Societies in their own legal risk management.
The post holder is a lead professional who will provide expert and authoritative legal advice to management and staff at all levels of the organization in the Americas region, to mitigate the risks and liability of the organization in a broad range of areas. The position requires travel from time to time.
Job Purpose
“This is a national staff position open to nationals and others who are legally eligible to work in countries where IFRC has legal presence: Buenos Aires (Argentina), San José (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), San Salvador (El Salvador), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Kingston (Jamaica), Managua (Nicaragua), Panama City (Panama), Lima (Peru), or Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago). Candidates must be able to provide proof of their eligibility to work in those countries during application phase”
The Legal Adviser for the Americas will:
- Advise on and provide legal services regarding the organization’s activities and operations in the Americas region, including to the regional office, country and cluster delegations at the technical and managerial levels, in relation to the management of legal risks in the areas of expertise mentioned below.
- Provide legal advice principally on contracts, diplomatic law, employment law, administrative law of international organisations, public international law, and in general on all legal claims, commitments, and liabilities of the organisation in the Americas region.
- Support the development and use of the eContracts management system in the Americas region; and
- Proactively contribute to the development of the organization’s broader policy and legal services to its membership in the Americas region.
Job Duties and Responsibilities
The Regional Legal Adviser, Americas, is responsible for providing expert advice under the technical guidance and supervision of the Managing Legal Counsel, Partnerships, Programmes and Operations for:
- General advice and management of compliance obligations and legal risks in the Americas Region
1.1. Provide expert and authoritative legal advice regarding the management of the legal risk for the organisation in the Americas region in a broad range of general legal issues and complex and sensitive legal matters;
1.2. Provide expert and authoritative legal advice and guidance more precisely in the following areas, including in relation to the development and implementation of the Federation’s wide systems, procedures, policies and tools, which have an impact on the legal obligations and risks of the organization in the Americas region:
a. Legal Status of the IFRC
i. Provide legal advice in relation to IFRC’s legal status in the Americas region, including leading local negotiation and drafting efforts for Legal Status Agreements (LSAs) and the enforcement of privileges, immunities, and obligations of said agreements.
b. Programmes and Operations - Emergencies
i. Provide legal advice and oversee the negotiation of a broad range of agreements and projects in the Americas region, in relation to Health and Care, Migration, and Cash programmes.
ii. Provide legal advice on the legal structuring of deployment mechanisms of the IFRC in the Americas region.
c. Movement Coordination
i. Provide legal advice on Movement coordination matters in the Americas region, including the integration and the provision of administrative services to National Societies and on Movement coordination framework and rules.
d. Logistics, Procurement and Supply Chain Management
i. Provide legal advice to the Logistics, Procurement and Supply Chain Management (LPSCM) in the Americas region, including on fleet matters and the provision of services to National Societies and other humanitarian actors, for ensuring compliance with IFRC Procurement policies, rules and regulations.
e. Partnerships
i. Provide legal advice on the structuring of IFRC’s activities with partners (international or domestic, public or private, for profit or not-for-profit), including complex grants or other relationships such as joint-ventures, partnerships coordination structures, and/or delegated functions;
ii. Liaise with UN Agencies, other international organizations, other components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, governmental and nongovernmental organizations and collaborate with them on legal matters.
f. Security
i. Provide legal advice to the to the Security Unit in the Americas region, in relation to the duty of care owed to staff and related liabilities.
g. Labour, disciplinary and ethic matters
i. Provide legal advice to HR and senior management in the Americas region on individual case management related to local staff, in particular recruitment, performance reviews, misconducts including psychological and sexual harassment, termination of contracts and other issues with potential legal implications.
h. Fraud and investigation
i. Provide legal advice on general and specific requests regarding fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse and other types of allegations, investigations and their legal implications in the Americas region in liaison with the Office of Internal Audit and Investigations and the Managing Legal Counsel for Institutional Matters.
i. Emblem and logo
i. Provide legal advice on the rules and regulations pertaining to the Emblem and the use of the Federation’s name and logo.
j. Institutional and corporate/governance matters
i. Provide strategic legal advice to the Regional Director and to the heads of delegations in the Americas region on a broad range of complex and sensitive matters in relation to institutional and corporate/governance legal related matters, in light of the IFRC’s legal status, structure, membership and overall applicable compliance and legal framework, including the applicable statutory texts.
ii. Provide local legal support in the Americas region to the Compliance and Mediation Committee (CMC), as required.
iii. Provide legal support to Governance and Board Support in the revision of draft statutes presented by National Societies in the Americas region and the implementation of the recommendations of the Joint Statues Commission (JSC) to National Societies.
k. Case Management
i. Oversee all legal disputes in which the Federation or its employees are a party in the Americas region, including before national courts, and their prospective settlements, if any.
ii. Provide legal advice on referral of cases in the Americas region to national authorities and requests for information and/or cooperation from national authorities.
iii. Provide legal advice on the waiver of privileges and immunities of the Federation and its staff in the Americas region.
l. Coordination of local counsels
i. Lead, select and coordinate the engagement and utilization of external legal counsel in the Americas region.
ii. Coordinate with local legal counsel in the Americas region, ensuring conformity with applicable laws and alignment throughout the region with IFRC’s legal framework and approach,
iii. Map and track all potential and ongoing cases within the region.
- Systems, policies and procedures
2.1. Proactively identify areas of improvement and provide legal advice in relation to the development and implementation of the IFRC’s systems, procedures, policies and tools, which have an impact on the legal obligations and risks of the organization.
2.2. Lead and oversee the dissemination of compliance and legal risks management good practices in the Americas region, including compliance with all legal policies, procedures, tools and system, and in particular the eContracts system, the IFRC contracting policy and the Contract Approval Matrix (CAM).
Project management and change management
3.1. Manage legal projects as needed.Training
4.1. Contribute to the development of training material and provide trainings to IFRC staff and national societies legal advisers in the Americas region on legal risks and compliance.Support to Membership
5.1. Develop webinars, legal tools and legal services for National Societies in the Americas region, in coordination with the Global Legal Team;
5.2. Support the network of National Societies Legal Advisers in the Americas region; and
5.3. Manage projects related to legal risk management and compliance for the National Societies in the Americas region.
Education
- University degree in Law.
- Bar membership or equivalent.
- Specialized studies in International Law, preferred.
Experience
- At least 5 years of prior experience in the practice of law.
Experience in private practice and /or in-house corporate legal environment. - Experience with contract management systems (CMS).
- Sensitivity in and prior exposure to cross-cultural situations.
- Field experience handling legal issues, preferred
- Sensitivity in and prior exposure to cross-cultural situations, preferred
- Red Cross/Red Crescent experience or other humanitarian/non-for-profit experience, preferred
- Experience in working in a team environment, with remote team members, preferred
- Experience in dealing with outside counsel, preferred
Knowledge, Skills and Language
- Good judgment and ability to work with complete integrity and confidentiality
- High degree of discretion, tact and sensitivity in dealing with internal and external clients and stakeholders at all levels
- Excellent drafting skills
- Excellent analytical skills
- Professional work ethic
- Knowledge of applicable legal and regulatory framework to international organisations
- Training and coaching skills
- General knowledge of international affairs
- Ability to manage change projects (CMS), preferred
- Knowledge of the Red Cross and Red Crescent International Movement, preferred
LANGUAGES
- Fluent spoken and written English
- Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish, French, or Arabic)
Competencies and Values
- Core Competencies: Communication, Collaboration and Teamwork; Judgement and Decision Making, National Society and Customer Relations, Creativity and Innovation, Building Trust.
- Functional Competencies: Strategic Orientation, Building Alliances, Empowering Others.
Comments
A letter of motivation must be submitted along with the application no later than the closing date. In order to ensure a proper comparative evaluation of your application for this vacancy and to enable us to consider your profile against other similar current and future vacancies, we ask that you submit your application taking into account the following:
Important Note:
Please note that the selected candidate will be hired through a national contract under the labour law of any of the following countries, where the IFRC have legal status: Buenos Aires (Argentina), San José (Costa Rica), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), San Salvador (El Salvador), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Kingston (Jamaica), Managua (Nicaragua), Panama City (Panama), Lima (Peru), or Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago); therefore only those citizens as well as foreign applicants with valid and current residence and work permit in those countries will be considered for this vacancy;
- The incumbent is responsible to abide by Federation policies, procedures, plans and local labour laws;
- The closing date is midnight Geneva time;
- Only those candidates shortlisted for interviews will be notified.