The Office of the Legal Adviser (OLA) provides legal advices and services to IUCN’s Secretariat and other IUCN’s components, as the case may be, on all corporate legal issues affecting the organization, excluding environmental law and policy.

This new position is based in IUCN’s Asia Regional Offices in Bangkok, Thailand and is an integral part of the Office of the Legal Adviser (OLA), which is based at IUCN Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. The Legal Officer is responsible for providing a wide range of corporate legal services and support to the Regional Office where s/he is based and the other designated Regional Offices, acting as the primary OLA focal point for these designated regions, while also providing legal support to other units and regions as needed.

The Legal Officer report to the Legal Adviser in Headquarters, and collaborate closely with the Senior Legal Officer and the other team members to ensure a uniform and coherent approach for the provision of legal services and support worldwide, obtain necessary approval and sign offs and to contribute to legal global initiatives, when required.

With a significant degree of autonomy and responsibility, the Legal Officer will perform a variety of functions, providing support to internal clients comprised in but not limited to the Asia Regional Office (ARO), West Asia Regional Office (ROWA) and the Oceania Regional Office (ORO) in a broad range of areas, including the following:
• Provide legal support and advice by responding to requests, analyzing situations, interpreting IUCN policies and guidelines, and recommending sound and pragmatic solutions;
• Act as OLA’s point of contact for the relevant functions in the regions s/he support, developing a trusting and consultative relationship with internal clients;
• Develop and maintain a strong understanding of IUCN’s strategies and work, in particular key initiatives and projects, priorities and policies and procedures relevant to the designated Regions;
• Conduct legal research, write briefs and draft documents on a broad variety of legal issues as they arise;
• Draft and review all types of contracts (e.g., donor, grants, implementation, services agreements and Memorandum of Understanding) with other organizations, local authorities, private sector entities or service providers, with appropriate guidance from the Senior Legal Officer and subject to relevant sign-off of the Legal Advisor or Senior Legal Officer;
• After an initial period of induction and upon decision of the Legal Adviser, may exercise with diligence sign-off authority on contracts for the designated Regions involving amounts up to CHF 250’000, subject to identification and assessment of any outstanding issues to be raised with and addressed by the Senior Legal Officer and/or the Legal Adviser;
• Draft and review internal procedures and policies, as required;
• Provide support and advise on data protection and intellectual property matters, with appropriate guidance from the Senior Legal Officer if necessary;
• Provide support on any corporate matters that may arise, including draft and review legal and corporate documents such as Power of attorneys and minutes of Meetings of IUCN’s distinct legal entities in the dedicated regions;
• Support the Legal Adviser in handling issues related to the legal status of IUCN, including drafting, revision and/or analysis of legal instruments, host country agreements, briefs, policies and procedures;
• Support the Legal Adviser in handling litigations and claims assigned to him/her, including following pending cases, filing relevant information and drafting briefs,
• Coordinate the work with external counsel, where appropriate;
• Filing of contracts and other legal documents in paper and electronic form;
• Maintenance of OLA’s workflow electronic tool;
• Build managers and staff knowledge of contract review processes and requirements, and other policies and practices within OLA’s areas of work through regular information and training pursuant to OLA’s global training strategies and practice;
• Escalate in a timely manner any issue or case that cannot be resolved or that generate significant risks for the organization to the Legal Adviser and/or the Senior Legal Adviser, depending on the subject matter;
• Maintain knowledge of local regulations and current practices pertaining to OLA’s area of work;
• Fill in for the Senior Legal Officer or other team members as necessary;
• Handle any other ad-hoc assignments.

The above job description contains the main duties and responsibilities for this position. However, in small organizations such as IUCN, staff members are expected to show flexibility in their approach to work and be willing to undertake other tasks that are reasonably allocated to them but which are not part of their regular job description. Where any task becomes a regular part of an employee's responsibilities, the job description will be changed in consultation with the employee and the Human Resources Management Group.