Legal Advisor (m/f/x) At Médecins Sans Frontières

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in more than 60 countries to populations in distress, to victims of natural or manmade disasters and to victims of armed conflicts, without discrimination and irrespective of origin, religion, creed or political affiliation.

Legal Advisor (m/f/x)

CONTEXT

In the context of a replacement, the General Direction Department of MSF OCB (Operational Center Brussels) is looking for a Legal Advisor.

Under the hierarchical supervision of the Deputy General Director and the functional supervision of the Administrative and Legal framework Unit manager of the Intersectional Legal Department, the Legal Advisor provides direct legal support to operational teams regarding Administrative and Legal framework of OCB missions and projects.

Acting as legal advisor for OCB, s/he works in an integrated way with OCB legal advisors to support operational teams with regard to legal and administrative framework of the operations, and even more closely with the other legal advisor in charge of the same topic in OCB, sharing topics and responsibilities (country dispatch)

Within the scope of his/her direct and delegated activities, the legal advisor is responsible for the identification and assessment of missions’ overall legal risks and definition of strategies and mitigation measures.

RESPONSIBILITIES

In particular, s/he will be charged with the following responsibilities:

The scope of activities delegated is decided by OCB Administrative and legal framework legal advisors based on annual evaluation and prioritization of OCB operational needs in consultation with the Administrative and Legal framework Unit manager.

Upon and within the scope of this delegation, s/he may be charged with the following responsibilities:

• Advise and implement optimal solutions to improve the legal and administrative frameworks of MSF missions
• Advise on registration options and closing strategies in the different countries of mission, in coordination with other legal advisors
• Contribute to the development and review of legal documents missions (MOU, contracts with a significant financial commitment) and the improvement of administrative tools (contracts, power of attorney) and have an overarching view of the legal and administrative status
• Identify legal requirements regarding the practice medicine for foreign personnel in MSF field missions and the management of medical and pharmaceutical/facilities
• Participate to the selection of lawyers/ law firm in mission countries and work in relation with them on identified subject or litigation; supervise and evaluate in the scope of his/her activities, the quality of their work in coordination with the mission;
• Support field team in the management of any administrative blockage such as custom issues/audits, immigration issue/blockages, national drug authority request/blockage, any necessary public authorization and any kind of request or investigation from an administrative authority.
• Evaluate and analyze fiscal risks applicable to each legal/administrative framework in the countries and Support field teams in their management of their tax audits/incidents
• Train MSF teams on relevant tax issues and negotiations of exemptions
• As a SHIELD member (“Sustainable Humanitarian Intervention through Exemptions and Legal Derogations”), undertake SHIELD studies of individual country contexts and solutions provided in local law (ad hoc agreements) and in international law (Host Country Agreements) and identify legal policies and procedures to negotiation such agreements or special fiscal or administrative exemptions from the relevant authorities
• Be in charge of the direct follow-up of certain SHIELD countries (at assessment, negotiation or implementation stage) and liaise with other SHIELD members

REQUIREMENTS

• Educational background in Law
• Minimum 5 year’s professional experience including at least 2 years as a lawyer or legal counsel
• Operational experience as a legal advisor in the field is an asset
• Rigor, clarity and ability to adapt to different legal systems, sense of priorities and of organization
• Ability to translate an operational negotiation in legal language
• IT skills
• French and English speaking is mandatory, additional languages are an asset

CONDITIONS

• Expected starting date: 27/06//2022
• Contract type: Open-ended contract – Full time
• Location: Brussels (Belgium)
• Salary according to MSF-OCB HQ grid – Meal vouchers – Hospital Insurance (DKV) – Pension Plan – 100% reimbursement for public transportation costs
• Adhere to the MSF principles and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment
• Adhere to the MSF Behavioral Commitments

Deadline for applications: 16/05/2022