Global Legal Governance Advisor (f/m/d)

SOS Children's Villages, founded in 1949 by Hermann Gmeiner, is the world's largest non-governmental organization focused on supporting children and young people without parental care, or at risk of losing it.

Child neglect, abuse and abandonment is everywhere. Families are at risk of separation. Locally led, we work in more than 130 countries and territories to strengthen families who are under pressure so they can stay together. When this is not in a child or young person's best interests, we provide quality care according to their unique needs.

Together with partners, donors, communities, children, young people and families, we enable children to grow up with the bonds they need to develop and become their strongest selves. We speak up for each child's rights and advocate for change so all children can grow up in a supportive environment.

Location: Innsbruck or Vienna/Austria

Duration: Unlimited, 19,25 hours/week

Mission

The Global Legal Governance Advisor reports to General Counsel and has a dotted line to the CEO. In their position, the Global Legal Governance Advisor guides the development and implementation of good governance principles across all regions. This aims to contribute to a strong and uniform governance landscape, strengthening the importance of Good Governance standards. 

The position holder is expected to identify and advance required governance projects, guiding co-workers from different units across the organization as well as a network of regional governance advisors. 

The position holder guides the international office regions in all aspects of complex legal and organizational governance matters and provides subject matter expertise.

The incumbent partners with internal stakeholders and provides independent advice, guidance and counsel to SOS Children´s Villages International and its executive leadership in the area of legal governance affairs. The objective throughout is to provide for a modern governance structure for the organisation and to minimize risk and liability for SOS Children’s Villages International while optimizing the relevant legal processes in support of key business objectives.

The incumbent establishes the legal and financial responsibilities of SOS Children’s Villages International under local law of all General Secretariat-run operations and member Associations; supports the decision-making in legal and governance terms on whether or not SOS Children’s Villages International-run operations should become ordinary members of SOS Children’s Villages International.

Tasks & Responsibilities 

Global Governance

• Developing polices and activities that promote Good Governance practices based on internal organizational and external requirements, in alignment with the regional offices.
• Develop/benchmark and implement organisational policies and practices aligned with sector best practice and taking into consideration the organisational federation governance.
• Collaborate closely with Regions and Member Associations and respective leadership level to ensure a wide scope of needs are considered and sensitive to our mission and the diversity of our organization.
• Review policies regularly to integrate lessons learnt and to ensure policies are up to date, fit for purpose and meet our federation context and societal changes.
• Develop necessary tools and guidelines to ensure appropriate implementation.
• Establish KPIs and develop monitoring guidelines, develop a monitoring tool to oversee the implementation and necessary adaptations.
• Lead the regional Governance network to ensure new/revised processes are implemented following policy reviews ensuring consistency of approach across the federation.
• For cross-functional policies, collaborate with respective stakeholders and ensure relevant good governance policies and procedures are implemented.

Direct support to regions 

• Guide the international office regions in the establishment and implementation of Good Governance principles in Memer Associations’ statutes, policy documents and Member Association organisational/governing body processes.
• Advise Childrens Villages International Representatives in handling Member Association legal/governance matters towards Member Associations.
• Advise and support the international director of the region in handling Member Association complex / crisis legal governance situations.
• Advise the international office region in the application of federation statutes, policies, regulations and General Secretariat instructions and on the federation legal structure.
• Train Childrens Villages International Representatives, in coordination with the COO Office, on legal governance matters in order to enable them to train Member Associations.
• Provide legal and governance advise relating to General Secretariat-run operations to IORs and Executive Board.
• Establish SOS Children's Villages International legal, financial and governance responsibilities for all General Secretariat run operations.

Requirements

Essential:

• Minimum 10 years of proven work experience in an international company or organisation.
• Advanced Law Degree (Master’s degree), preferably acquired in an international setting (LLM) 
• Analytical mind-set with an eye for practical solutions   
• Excellent skills in communication and concise legal drafting   
• Ability to synthetize complex information into executive messages 
• Ability to work independently and to prioritize multiple demands  
• Sensitivity to confidential matters, ability to maintain and respect confidentiality   
• Experience in negotiating, drafting and revising legal documents (statutes, policies, contracts and agreements) preferably in an international context
• Advanced knowledge of Good Governance principles 
• Experience in working on corporate governance
• Relevant professional experience working in an international organization with the ability to work independently
• Relevant work experience in a federation-like organisational structure is an asset
• Excellent command of English and German (both written and oral)
• EU citizenship or eligibility to work in Austria

Desirable:

• Coordination skills with co-workers in different (non-legal) functions and from different national backgrounds 
• Intercultural competencies in African and Latin-American context  
• Ability to provide ad hoc legal governance advice in crisis situations
• Additional training in Corporate Governance is an asset

We offer

• A diverse range of interesting tasks in a leading INGO multicultural working environment
• As a responsible employer we provide a range of training schemes and encourage educational enhancement
• A salary that will be commensurate with experience and qualifications
• As a responsible employer we provide a range of training schemes and encourage educational enhancement  
• 14 salaries/year 
• Overtime – does not get lost and can be taken as hours off 
• Home-office possibility 
• Possibility to work from abroad max 25% of your working time 
• 25 days of paid annual leave 
• Choice between Innsbruck and Vienna office 
• Training possibilities 

If you are interested in this position, please submit your detailed application in English by 11th October 2022 at https://careers-sos-kd.icims.com