Hardship LevelA (least hardship)
Family TypeFamily
Family TypeFamily
Residential location (if applicable)
GradeGS7
Staff Member / Affiliate TypeGeneral Service
ReasonRegular > Regular Assignment
Target Start Date2024-03-01
Job Posting End DateFebruary 23, 2024
Standard Job Description
Senior Legal Associate
Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Senior Legal Associate is a member of the protection /legal team and normally reports to a higher grade professional staff.
The Senior Legal Associate assists an office in providing quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern. He is also required to assist an office in ensuring that persons of concern are involved with the office in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern and authorities as well as protection and assistance partners.
The incumbent may supervise interns, volunteers and interpreters, and may also supervise some support staff. S/he assists the protection team, in making sure that protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery are in line with the international standards, and provides functional protection support and advice to other protection colleagues and other units.
S/he contributes to implementing, and adjusting when necessary, the office's comprehensive protection strategy including the role of UNHCR in the context of further strengthening the national capacity of relevant actors, both governmental e.g. Ministry of Justice, and non-governmental, e.g. NGOs and lawyers. In this regard, s/he represents the office externally on protection doctrine and policy as needed and under the guidance by the supervisor.
S/he also works independently in constantly monitoring relevant legal and political developments, in both asylum and statelessness issues, and provides recommendations to the protection team on appropriate advocacy and interventions for the office to make.
The incumbent will be conducting researches and following the judicial developments at the national and regional level. S/he will be supporting the preparation of legal materials that are shared with the national counterparts as recommendations. S/he will be engaged in preparing compilation of good practices and comparative charts on a broad spectrum of topics and reporting of the developments. The incumbent will also support organizing capacity-building activities through preparation of materials and presenting the topics.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.
Duties
- Assist in the preparation of legal advice and drafting of position papers and guidelines on pertinent legal and operational issues.
- Stay abreast of the domestic legal issues and pertinent laws regarding persons of concern and advise the office accordingly.
- Contribute to advocacy towards proper interpretation of law and doctrine as well as in the development of standards of protection.
- Liaise with the Legal Affairs Service on issues related to immunities of UNHCR personnel and provide corresponding guidance and support locally to concerned staff.
- Liaise and intervene with national, regional or local authorities in relation to the above areas of responsibility, as required.
- Assist in the organization of training sessions for legal professionals and asylum case workers and judges in the field of asylum.
- Consistently apply international and national law and UNHCR policies and standards.
- Assist the office in providing legal counselling to persons of concern.
- Assist in the collection and analysis of relevant legal and protection information.
- Provide assistance in UNHCR's legal publications, in dissemination of legal information on refugee law, in UNHCR's legal website and other legal advice as needed.
- Support translation of legal and policy documents and act as interpreter at high level meetings with the authorities when needed.
- Provide advice and support the office reviewing their contracts.
- Provide support on a wide range of corporate and institutional issues, including on the interpretation and application of UNHCR regulations, rules, policies and procedures within the local legislation context.
- Assist the office in providing legal counselling to personnel on various types of contractual arrangements.
- In close cooperation with the Protection team, assist UNHCR's drafting of law commentaries to draft national legislation related to refugee law, in compliance with UNHCR's positions and Guidelines.
- Support the Protection team in maintaining and strengthening relations with governmental, as well as non-governmental, actors in order to strengthen a network for assisting refugees and asylum seekers and also in strategically approach both national and local political figures.
- Prepare drafts for office correspondence concerning protection issues.
- Monitor/make briefing on legislative/judicial developments for the purpose of preparing office responses and/or to feed into briefing kits for external visitors.
- Support the implementation of activities with various institutions and civil society partners.
- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- Perform other related duties as required.
Minimum Qualifications
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For G7 - 4 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher
Field(s) of Education
Not applicable.
Certificates and/or Licenses
Human Rights
International Humanitarian Law Law
Political Science UNHCR Protection Learning Programme
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Experience in dealing with authorities as well as within a multicultural environment.
Desirable
Good knowledge of UNHCR's protection mandate. Work experience in human rights issues and/or refugee law is an asset.
Functional Skills
CO-Drafting and Documentation
IT-Computer Literacy
LE-Legal Research
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.
All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.
As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.
This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.
This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.
Desired Candidate Profile Very good drafting skills in Turkish and English and analytical skills are required. Experience in the legal field is essential.
Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):
,
,
Desired languages
,
,
Operational context
To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel.
The Senior Legal Associate is a member of the Policy Development Unit (PDU) in the Country Operation. S/he reports to the Associate Legal Officer and acts under the overall guidance of the Senior Protection Officer (Head of Unit). S/he supports Unit in its legal interventions and advocacy covering a broad range of topics such as rights, asylum procedures, statelessness, and is expected to contribute to PDU's work to enhance access to justice by persons of concern. The Senior Legal Associate is expected to support PDU in monitoring of the national practices, national and regional jurisprudence; compile and analyze the latest developments in these sectors and support the Unit in developing policy papers and guidance notes. S/he is expected to contribute to the design of the strategies, including proposals for activities and supporting PDU in implementation of them in view of the operation's strategic directions. S/he is to have a role at the capacity-development activities to be conducted in support of the technical capacity of counterparts on key areas of protection. S/he assists in the preparation of legal advice, drafting of SOPs as well as guidance materials, methodologies and tools of use for the team and the national institutions in the areas falling under UNHCR's mandate.
The Senior Legal Associate will interact directly with national authorities, members of judiciary, partners and persons of concern in monitoring of the implementation of legislation, access to rights and services and in identifying appropriate recommendations to the counterparts. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, national and local authorities, partners involved in protection and/or assistance, relavant units and field offices as well as with other stakholders as required.
Ankara is the capital of Türkiye and the country’s second-largest city following Istanbul, with a population of 4.5 million people. Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city.
It is the seat of the Turkish government and houses all foreign embassies. The city is strategically located at an important crossroads for trade in proximity to Türkiye’s highway and railway networks. Visas are required for entry into Türkiye. It is therefore strongly recommended to check with the local Turkish Embassy or Consulate before traveling (http://www.mfa.gov.tr/visainformationforforeigners.en.mfa). Nationals of EU member states and a limited number of nations are eligible for visas-on-arrival at international air termini and certain border crossing points. Security: The current security level in Ankara is minimal. Ankara is considered a generally safe city, where normal use of common sense and acting responsibly takes one a long way. Public transport is safe to use. There are no direct threats towards the United Nations and its staff in Türkiye. Medical Services: No special vaccinations are required for travel to Ankara. Medical services available are of high quality, and health care services are available also in English. Housing: Apartments and flats are easily available and generally in good condition, with well-working services (gas, electricity, water).
Additional Qualifications
SkillsCO-Drafting and Documentation, IT-Computer Literacy, LE-Legal Research
Education
CertificationsHCR Protection Learning Program - UNHCR, Human Rights - Other, International Law - Other, Law - Other, Political Science - Other
Work Experience
CompetenciesAccountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Managing performance, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Political awareness, Teamwork & collaboration
UNHCR Salary Calculator
https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales
Additional Information
The English version is considered original and authoritative, translation to other language(s) serve the purpose of advertisement of local positions where applicable but are not considered as official translations
Recruitment as a UNHCR staff member and engagement under a UNHCR affiliate scheme or as an intern is subject to successful reference checks, and integrity clearances.
PLEASE DO NOT USE TURKISH CHARACTERS IN YOUR NAME & SURNAME INFORMATION.
Staff members should serve for a minimum of one year following assignment before being considered eligible to apply for another position within the same category. This requirement is waived with respect to staff members whose position is being changed or whose assignment/appointment through the joint staff/management review body is in a replacement capacity.
UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, training, or any other fees).
Only short-listed candidates will be notified. The recruitment process might include a written test and/or oral interview for this job opening. No late applications will be accepted.
External candidates should be legally present in Türkiye at the time of application, recruitment, and hire.
Non-Turkish citizens are required to upload their residence permits or relevant documents under the ‘Certifications’ section, by selecting the type ‘Personnel Administration – Other’, to be considered for this job opening. Applications by non-Turkish citizens will NOT be considered if a valid residence permit is not attached to the application.
For further information on how to apply, please visit the ‘UNHCR - Application and Selection’ page, at https://www.unhcr.org/how-to-apply.html.
Functional clearanceThis position doesn't require a functional clearance