Organization Unit: Legal Affairs
Reports to: Practice Lead, Legal Affairs and General Counsel
Location: This position will be based in a CGIAR Center in the Global South (LMIC) in a duty station to be determined or in Montpellier, France. Montpellier, shown above, is a default system setting and not the confirmed duty station.
Grade: SO 5-6 / CG 10-11 (the final grade will be determined based on the selected candidateโs level of experience.)
Date Published: 15 January 2025
Closing Date for Applications: 6 February 2025 at 9am CET
About CGIAR
CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its research is conducted closely with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations, and the private sector.
About the position
The Legal Affairs unit provides comprehensive legal advice and delivers effective legal solutions to advance the organizationโs mission and scientific research agenda, in a manner that minimizes legal risk and ensures compliance with relevant legal frameworks. It delivers legal services on a broad range of strategic, operational and institutional matters including innovative funding mechanisms, grants, partnerships, compliance, sanctions, procurement, intellectual property, data protection, tax, employment, privileges and immunities, corporate governance, ethics, and policies. These services are essential to uphold the legal integrity of CGIARโs multi-faceted operations and governance structure.
As Legal Advisor / Senior Legal Adviser, Funding and Operations, you will work within the Legal Affairs unit and with colleagues across CGIAR, and provide a wide range of legal services, tailoring approaches to ensure responsiveness to business needs and contexts. Your primary focus will be on providing legal support with respect to grants and operations. However, to encourage cross-team collation, you may be assigned work in other areas.
Duties and Responsibilities
Design legal frameworks to support the funding of CGIARโs Research and Innovation Strategy and other activities, including agreements related to the CGIAR Trust Fund and bilateral agreements. Review, draft and negotiate partnership agreements, MOUs, and other legal agreements ensuring that they are fit for purpose. Review, adapt and draft policies and other internal rules for the organization and CGIAR ensuring they are legally sound and represent fit-for purpose solutions. Provide legal advice related to funding agreements, including with respect to their interpretation and application, legal risk identification and mitigation, compliance matters, policy-related needs and assurance documents to safeguard the interests of the organization and CGIAR. Negotiate and review contracts and agreements, including those with host countries, funders, partners, vendors, consultants and staff ensuring that terms are legally sound and in the best interest of. The organization. Support the effective management by CGIAR Centers of their intellectual assets and licensing agreements and report on such management in accordance with CGIAR policies. Promote engagement and collaboration mechanisms within CGIARโs Global Legal Team to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of legal services across CGIAR. Steward CGIARโs Intellectual Property Community of Practice and intellectual asset management reporting cycle to ensure delivery against agreed timelines. Optimize approaches and build consistency in legal services and outputs, sustaining delivery against established timelines while addressing evolving client needs, aligning to new legislation, and procedures. Monitor the effectiveness of policies, guidelines, tools, processes and systems to ensure they remain relevant in mitigating legal risks and promoting compliance with applicable treaties, laws, contractual agreements and standards.Requirements
Education and Experience
Advanced University Degree in Law (Masters or Master's equivalent). Specialized experience at a top-tier law firm and/or in an in-house legal department within a complex international facing corporation or not-for-profit organization. Specialized experience in negotiating and drafting all types of contracts, including complex multi-stakeholder grant agreements and partnerships, in providing legal support in areas such as data protection, intellectual property law, compliance and sanctions. compliance, sanctions and intellectual property law, and in drafting policies.Key Competences
Substantive knowledge: Demonstrated capacity gained through education and experience in business and corporate law, partnerships, grants, financial instruments, compliance, sanctions, data protection, and intellectual property reflecting conceptual understanding in diverse operational settings. Communication skills: Demonstrated skill gained through exposure/experience in relationship management. Execution skills: Demonstrated achievement in the consistent delivery of advisory services and outputs through adaptation.Languages
Fluency in English essential to communicate in writing and speaking. Knowledge of a second language desirable.
Benefits
The selected staff member will be offered terms and conditions commensurate with the grade of the position.
Submitting Your Application
If you face challenges in submitting your application, please email recruitment@cgiar.org with the position title in the subject line. Apply Now