Job Opportunity: Legal Advisor position available at GOAL Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. Legal jobs in Ethiopia are in high demand. Apply now through GeezJobs - Ethiopia's leading job portal.

About the Position: 

The Legal Advisor responsible for providing accurate and timely legal advice to the organization and its management on a variety of legal matters including but not limited to, Labour and Employment, Tax directives and government related guidelines, Immigration, Finance, Supplies, Service & Works contracts, and general operations. Responsibilities include conducting legal analysis and researching and evaluating different risk factors and offering proactive advice on possible legal issues. S/he must also know how to apply the law to the organization’s circumstances. The Legal Advisor will maintain the country knowledge of laws and provide clarification on legal language and advise the organization and its management accordingly. The Legal Advisor will regularly monitor and ensure the organization’s compliance with local laws. In addition, this role will be responsible for handling the organization’s legal responsibilities, organizing court order responses, preparing and review of contracts and documentation as well as providing a variety of legal support. The Legal Advisor will be delegated by the Systems Director or Country Director to legally represent on behalf of the organization and expect to perform his/her duty with integrity complying with the rules and regulation of the country and GOAL policies, systems and procedures.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY/DUTIES

• Keeping up with current changes in all relevant areas of laws and contributing to the enhancement of the knowledge base of the organization’s legal function

• To conduct legal analysis and research on various legal matters of the organization

• To provide advice on different legal issues and assist in drafting legal opinions, memoranda, and other briefing documents

• To be actively involved in preparing and drafting of different acts and legal submissions and draft the authoritative legal opinions as well

• To conduct legal research by utilizing various resources and selecting the relevant material to analyze the legal information

• Develop and implement legal strategies and policies relevant to the organization’s operations

• To assist in reviewing the legal material and any other relevant documents and to identify the most important issues that need to be sorted out on a priority basis

• To draw up formalities regarding the settlement of disputes and monitor the implementation of the legal clauses

• Provide monthly legal reports and status to the Country Director and Systems Director

• Give accurate and timely counsel to the organization and management in a variety of legal topics not limited to, Labour Laws, Tax regulation, Data Protection, Employment, Immigration, Finance, Supplies, Service & Works contracts, and overall organization’s operation

• Research and evaluate different risk factors regarding business decisions and operations and apply effective risk management techniques and offer proactive advice on possible legal issues

• Maintain current knowledge of alterations in legislation

• Manage the other legal staff team, including setting objectives, monitoring performance, and providing feedback

• Serve as liaison between the organization and external attorneys.

• Manage the budget of the legal services.

• Document and maintain legal files and issues.

High quality advice to the organization and management on major legal issues and problems

• S/he is responsible for formulating the best possible legal solution after analyzing the legal problem in depth.

• S/he should be able to provide the much-needed legal assistance while dealing with legal tasks, litigations, contracts, dispute resolution and guide the organization on taking an appropriate decision.

• S/he should be skilled enough to come out with a desired outcome from the organization’s point of view. 

• He/she should be able to take correct decisions and provide the necessary professional support.

• S/he should advice whether all the court proceedings of the organization are in compliance with the requirements of the legislation.

• S/he will supervise, analyze and research the implication of laws, legislation, etc., that may affect the organization business.

• S/he advises the organization to minimize legal exposure and liability

• Collaborate with management to devise efficient defense strategies

• Specify internal governance policies and regularly monitor compliance

• Deal with complex matters with multiple stakeholders and forces

• Support HR department in the preparation of disciplinary hearing documents.

• Support in conducting investigations and prepare witnesses in advance of a disciplinary hearing.

Departments Support:

• S/he will support in the review of supplier, contract of employment, donor and partners agreement reviews refencing to the relevant country laws

• Provide clarification on legal language or specifications to the organization and its management.

• Draft and solidify agreements, contracts, and other legal documents to ensure the organization’s full legal rights

• Work collaboratively with departments/sectoral heads to ensure compliance

Safeguarding:

• To foster an inclusive working environment which is non-threatening and safe for all. An environment that addresses safeguarding adequately in its processes and where the barriers to raise and discuss concerns about safeguarding issues are identified and where possible mitigated.

Work Schedule:

The job of Legal Advisor full time job and requires him/her to work in accordance to the organization working and may be required to work after working hours

Values & Behaviours:

• Strong commitment to upholding and promoting GOAL’s values; Respect, Integrity, Courage, Partnership and Humanitarianism.

Other duties:

• Support in the review of all manuals and policy documents

• Develop and deliver legal training for staff on different legal issues including data protection policy 

• Network with GOAL Global Legal/Data Protection/HR departments to keep informed of disciplinary and employment contractual matters (related to HR)

• Any other task assigned by the line manager.

Do you want to join an exciting organization that brings high level impact to the community and add value to your professional advancement?  Then join us if you have:        

• Bachelor's/Master’s degree in law

• 8+ years of experience as a Legal Counsel and able to attend to routine administrative labour law among other related litigation tasks.

• Must be prepared to make ethical and moral decisions

• Previous working experience as a Legal Counsel in business environment

• In-depth knowledge of administrative law and procedures

• Good organizational, prioritization and time-management skills

• Arbitration and mediation skills

• Exemplary writing and editing skills, with proficiency in Microsoft Office: - Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook etc.

• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills and analytical skills in both written and spoken; English, Amharic, and Afaan Oromo is mandatory. Candidates who can speak one local language is a plus

• Working well under pressure

• Attention to detail

• Ability to use your initiative.

• Discretion in handling confidential matters and proactive approach to problem solving.

• Excellent judgment and ability to anticipate legal issues or risks

• High degree of professional ethics, integrity, and responsibility

Desirable quality, skill and competence

• Skills in organizing and facilitating training events, document learnings

REMUNERATION and BENEFITS: 

• GOAL will pay a competitive basic salary based on the salary grading with addition benefits.

• A chance to develop tangible experience.

• Being part of a team who continue to make a real difference to the lives of the most vulnerable people.  

Commitments: 

GOAL’s recruitment procedure is fair and transparent which is also in line with the organization’s commitment to its integrity, honesty and culture. GOAL is committed to ensure that, its performance complies with the terms and conditions of relevant agreements, applicable laws & regulations. 

GOAL highly promotes Equality, diversity and inclusion and works with women and men, People with disabilities, and employees of various ages including youth, supports their empowerment and appreciates their achievements constantly. GOAL also encourages applications from diverse candidates including women, people with disabilities, people with diverse backgrounds, and youth to apply.

GOAL has zero tolerance to discrimination on the basis of gender, age, disability, ethnicity, religion, race, economic status etc . we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

Hence, pre-employment background checks will be conducted, and employees are required to read, understand, sign and implement different polices including safeguarding and child protection policy, Protection from Sexual Exploitation and abuse policy, sexual harassment policy, code of conducts and any other rules and regulation of the organization. GOAL is strongly committed not to harm the people under its care. 

Safeguarding

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with GOAL as a result of our activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury and any other harm. One of the ways that GOAL shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates. 

Accountability within GOAL

Alongside our safeguarding policy, GOAL is an equal opportunities employer and has a set of integrity policies. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability:

• Comply with GOAL’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.

• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area.

• Report any concerns about inappropriate behavior of a GOAL staff or partner.

You are welcome to include your sex (Male or female) and any disability issues in your CV (please note that this information will only be used to comply with affirmative action policy of the organization)

How To Apply

Interested and qualified applicants need to submit ONLY once their non - returnable application with CV for one vacancy. The vacancy reference number along with the title & Duty station need to be written in the application letter. 

• Applicants can directly apply through green “Apply now” button

Please be sure your application and CV should be in PDF or Word only. (The system couldn’t accept other than PDF and Word.)

GOAL strongly encourages female candidates to apply!

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview and exam.

Shortlisted candidates will need to submit other supporting documents upon request at later stage.

GOAL is not able to contribute towards any costs incurred by candidates