Vacancy Notice No. 2008/503
Position and Grade: Legal Officer (P-4)
Organizational Unit: General Legal Section
Office of Legal Affairs
Offices reporting to the Director General
Duty Station: Vienna, Austria
Issue Date: 30 October 2008
Application Deadline: 15 December 2008
Type/Duration of Appointment: Fixed term Temporary Assistance, 3 years (subject to a probationary period of 1 year)

Organizational Setting
The Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), which reports directly to the Director General, was established to provide legal services of the highest possible standards to 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. There are three Sections in OLA with responsibility for different topics: the General Legal Section, the Non-Proliferation and Policy-Making Organs Section and the Nuclear and Treaty Law Section. The incumbent reports to the Head of the General Legal Section.

Main purpose
Under the supervision and guidance of the Section Head, the Legal Officer prepares legal opinions, legal instruments and documents and provides legal advice on the application and interpretation of such documents, primarily in connection with personnel issues.

Role
The incumbent is an active member of a team of five lawyers and two support staff within the General Legal Section and provides high quality professional inputs to contribute to the support provided to the Division of Human Resources (HR) and advising the Director General.

Partnerships
The Legal Officer collaborates with other officers in OLA and provides advice and guidance to HR specialists, senior HR managers, other administrative staff throughout the IAEA, as well as to the IAEA's executive management.

Functions / Key Results Expected
  • Draft legal advice on the development and application of the IAEA's Staff Regulations, Rules and personnel policies.
  • Draft advice on the legal aspects of the IAEA's Headquarters Agreement and applicable agreements on privileges and immunities and respond in a timely manner to matters that have an impact on the IAEA's privileges and immunities.
  • Draft advice on the legal aspects of the IAEA's activities or projects under the auspices of the IAEA, including contracts and other commercial agreements.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
  • Ability to supervise staff.
  • Very good knowledge of and experience with HR rules, policies and practices in the UN Common System.
  • Good knowledge of and experience with the principles of international law regarding privileges and immunities and related host country agreements.
  • In depth knowledge of and experience with contract law, general principles of law and administrative law.
  • General knowledge of IAEA activities.

Education, Experience and Language Skills
  • Advanced law degree with good academic record.
  • Proven ability to prepare legal drafts.
  • At least seven years of relevant experience at the international level.
  • Excellent command of written and spoken English essential as well as legal drafting technique.
  • Knowledge of at least one other official IAEA language (i.e. Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) an asset.

NOTE: This is not an established Agency post. It is fixed term temporary assistance post, subject to the availability of funds.

Remuneration
The IAEA offers an attractive remuneration package including a tax-free annual net base salary starting at US $63 052 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance), a variable post adjustment which currently amounts to US $35 057*, dependency benefits, rental subsidy, education grant, relocation and repatriation expenses; 6 weeks' annual vacation, home leave, pension plan and health insurance.

How to apply to the IAEA

* Subject to change without notice

Applications from qualified women and candidates from developing countries are encouraged

Applicants should be aware that IAEA staff members are international civil servants and may not accept instructions from any other authority. Staff members may be assigned to any location. The IAEA retains the discretion not to make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade or to make an appointment with a modified job description or for shorter duration than indicated above. Testing may be part of the recruitment process.