Chief Legal Counsel - Boards and Institutional Matters at African Development Bank

The African Development Bank is the Group's parent organization. The Bank began effective operations on July 1, 1966. Its major role is to contribute to the economic and social progress of its regional member countries - individually and collectively.
Under Article 8 of the Agreement establishing the AfDB, the Bank is authorized to establish or be entrusted with administering and managing special funds which are consistent with its purposes and functions. In line with this provision, the African Development Fund (ADF) was established with non-African states in 1972 and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF) with the Nigeria Government in 1976. Other special and trust funds include: the Arab Oil Fund; the Special Emergency Assistance Fund for Drought and Famine in Africa; the Special Relief Fund.

Working at the AfDB is about bringing out the best in people. AfDB is recruiting to fill the below vacant position:

Position: Chief Legal Counsel - Boards and Institutional Matters

Objective:
The principal objective of the Office of the General Counsel and Legal Services Department (GECL) is to protect the interest of the Bank and to insulate the Bank from legal liability. GECL provides legal support and advice to the Boards of the Bank Group, to the President and Vice-Presidents as well as to the operational, financial and administrative departments of the Bank. GECL ensures that the Bank’s activities and operations are consistent with the constitutive documents and other legal instruments of the Bank, its policies, the norms and principles of international and commercial law and the best practices of international development banking.

• Ensure active and efficient liaison with the Office of the Secretary General on matters concerning the Board of Governors, the Board of Directors and their Committees;
• Follow-up with the work programme of the Boards and their committees and coordinate within the Office of the General Counsel and in the Department to ensure that the required legal assistance is timely provided;
• Attend the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors and, in this regard, coordinate the preparation and finalization of resolutions and other legal documentation required and, to this effect, liaise actively with SEGL;
• As the focal point in GECL.0 for Board resolutions, coordinate the resolutions process within all the divisions in the Legal Department (quality control and timely transmission);
• Attend with the General Counsel, as required, meetings of the Boards and of the Committees of the Board of Directors of the Bank, i.e the Committee on Administrative Matters Concerning the Board of Directors (AMBD) and the Ethics Committee of the Board (ECBD), and in this regard, assist the General Counsel, in his capacity as Counsel and Secretary of the ECBD, by preparing, and/or compiling information and analysis documents on related issues, drafting the minutes of the meetings, and performing other related follow-up activities;
• Review the records of Board meetings and proceedings concerning institutional matters, and reports of Committees and advise the General Counsel on follow-up actions to be taken;
• Assist the General Counsel in handling institutional matters i.e. by preparing and/or compiling relevant information documents and participating in related Management meetings (for instance, by providing comments and advice on SMCC documents involving institutional matters);
• Translate highly sensitive and confidential documents produced by the Office of the General Counsel;
• Organize the safe keeping of all Legal Opinions issued by the GC addressed to the Boards of Directors and ensure that major Legal Opinions are available in both languages of the Bank; and
• Perform any other duties assigned by the General Counsel.

Requirements:

• At least a Master’s degree in Law, International Relations, Public Administration or related disciplines; plus admission to the Bar of (or diploma to practice law ) in a member country; or a first university degree plus a relevant combination of a professional qualification in Law (e.g. Juris Doctor (JD) plus admission to the Bar of (or diploma to practice law ) in a member country;
• Preferably at least 7 years of relevant professional experience, preferably in an international financial institution with proven administrative skills and experience in Administrative and Public International Law.
• In-depth knowledge of Bank policies, rules and regulations, with particular emphasis on the works of the Board of Directors and the Board of Governors and their subsidiary organs;
• High sense of integrity and confidentiality;
• Demonstrated communication, inter-personal, writing and analytical skills and recognized ability to pay attention to detail (rigour);
• Ability to communicate and write effectively in English and/or French with a working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of standard software such as MSWord, Power Point, Excel.  

Application Closing Date
27th August, 2013

Method of Application
Interested candidates should:
Click here to apply online