Senior Legal Counsel

BACKGROUND

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership committed to saving children's lives and protecting people's health by increasing equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries. The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. By pooling the demand of Gavi-supported countries, securing long-term commitments from donors and implementing innovative financing mechanisms, Gavi is able to shape markets to ensure sufficient supply of high-quality vaccines at affordable prices. Through its co-financing, eligibility and transition model, Gavi ensures works with countries to scale-up domestic financing for immunisation and to help them transition from Gavi support as their economies grow. Since 2000, Gavi has contributed to the immunisation of nearly 822 million children and the prevention of more than 14 million future deaths. Gavi’s 2021-2025 strategy has equity as its organising principle, with a focus on reaching the 10.6 million children who do not receive a single routine dose of vaccines in Gavi-supported countries each year. With 87% of children already being reached by a first dose of routine vaccines in 2019 (more than any other routine health intervention), extending immunisation services to the communities which are still being missed can be a first step towards achieving universal health coverage.

The Legal Team provides legal risk analyses, proposes effective mitigation strategies and supports the Gavi Secretariat on all legal matters. The Legal Team helps develop effective and efficient structures for Gavi projects and negotiates and drafts all agreements for the Gavi Alliance and Gavi affiliated entities, as appropriate, including agreements with donors, Alliance partners, vendors and consultants. 
The Legal Team also advises the Gavi Secretariat on the matters concerning operations, employment, intellectual property rights, media and public relations, conflicts of interests, privileges and immunities, policies, governance and compliance with relevant laws and regulations, including in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Switzerland.

•    Advising on and supporting the implementation of Gavi-funded programmes in countries (in particular the francophone countries portfolio) and the application of Gavi programmatic policies;
•    Preparing or reviewing agreements, including Partnership Framework Agreements with implementing countries, Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), policies or guidelines and proposal documents for Gavi support to countries;
•    Advising and providing support, working with the World Bank and other partners as appropriate, in relation to proposed innovative financing mechanisms and existing ones such as the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), the Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) and the Matching Fund; 
•    Preparing or reviewing grant agreements between the Gavi Alliance and its donors;
•    Supporting the finance and operations team: preparing or reviewing contracts for the acquisition of goods and services, advising on intellectual property and IT matters, advising on activities related to Gavi’s investments.
•    Preparing documents and supporting legal materials for the meetings of Gavi’s Board and its committees.  
•    Delivering internal trainings on key contractual and compliance matters.
•    Contributing to the knowledge management activities of Gavi’s Legal Team.
•    Supporting the Director of Legal on specific matters as requested.

Note: The essential functions listed in this section are not exhaustive of the job responsibilities; other duties may be assigned consistently with the department needs.
 

•    Minimum of 8 years of post-qualification and progressively responsible legal experience in a top-rated law firm and/or as an in-house counsel in the private sector.
•    Experience with commercial contracts and cross-border transactions is essential. 
•    Experience working in/with developing countries, especially those in fragile settings, will be a distinct advantage.
 

•    Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously and maintain focus on priorities.
•    Ability to handle pressure and work to challenging deadlines. 
•    Ability to communicate effectively to a wide variety of audiences both within and outside Gavi.
•    Impeccable drafting skills.
•    Excellent analytical and problem solving skills.
•    Team player equally able to work autonomously.
•    Strong interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
 

•    Excellent command of English and French languages is required, including a demonstrated skill to draft and negotiate contracts in both English and French.

•    A law degree from a leading university.  
•    Admission to practice law in at least one jurisdiction; professional experience in both civil and common law is an advantage.
 

•    Gavi Secretariat;
•    Stakeholders and external partners involved in agreements that Gavi and affiliated entities enter into;
•    Outside legal counsel.
 

If you wish to apply, please provide a cover letter and resume through our Careers webpage and apply by clicking on “Senior Legal Counsel” Deadline for applications is 11 August 2021.

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