Job Opening: Senior Counsel at World Bank Group, Delhi Office

Snapshot

Job #:	req5851
Organization:	World Bank
Sector:	Legal
Grade:	GG
Term Duration:	3 years 0 months
Recruitment Type:	International Recruitment
Location:	New Delhi, India
Required Language(s):	English
Preferred Language(s):	French, Spanish, Portuguese or Arabic
Closing Date:	2/10/2020 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Overview

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group (WBG) provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

VPU Background

Organizationally, the LEG VPU includes geographically-based regional operational practice groups devoted to the legal and policy aspects of the World Bank’s lending operations, and corporate practice groups, which provide advice on corporate finance, administrative and institutional matters for the World Bank. LEGES provides operational legal support to two regions: (a) East Asia and the Pacific comprising seven-country management units: Papua New Guinea & Pacific Islands; Indonesia and Timor Leste; China, Mongolia & Korea; Vietnam; Cambodia, Lao PDR & Myanmar; Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand & Brunei; as well as Singapore; and (b) South Asia, which covers eight diverse countries which are grouped into five country management units: Afghanistan; Bangladesh & Bhutan; India; Pakistan; and Sri Lanka, Nepal & Maldives. The legal support by LEGES is characterized by both real-time presence of lawyers in the field in select country offices and support from lawyers, legal analysts and other staff in Washington, DC.

The selected lawyer will join the New Delhi office for the duration of the 3-year term, and work on the extensive India portfolio plus other countries to be determined by the Chief Counsel. The selected lawyer will be expected to be willing to travel to all countries in the areas covered by LEGES.

The selected lawyer will work under the immediate supervision of the assigned LEGES Senior or Lead Counsel and report to the Chief Counsel, LEGES, based in Washington, DC. The work program will primarily be project finance-based, supporting World Bank investments in all sectors and all countries and will also include advising country management on operational, institutional and other matters that arise from time to time in the country offices. The selected lawyer will also be involved in a broader array of World Bank interventions, including management of key relationships with other development partners and members of civil society, and will be expected to develop relationships with members of the legal profession and lawyers working in development partner agencies in his or her assigned countries.

Job Description

The Senior Counsel position requires demonstrated ability to apply rigorous analytical skills, to work harmoniously in a team, and to exercise good judgment within a broad range of contexts. The level and quality of these skills will be a determining factor in the selection for the position, and references will be given consideration in this determination.

The Senior Counsel will work under the immediate supervision of the assigned LEGES Senior or Lead Counsel, and will function as the principal legal advisor to the India country management unit during the assignment to the New Delhi office. The Senior Counsel will be expected to:

Cover a broad portfolio within a functional area, providing advice to management and clients on legal and policy issues in one or more areas of concentration;
Draft, review, negotiate and finalize all legal documents for the World Bank’s operations under the Senior Counsel’s portfolio;
Take part, and actively participate, as representative of LEGES, in India’s Portfolio Quality Management Team and/or Country Leadership Team;
Supervise and guide Counsel(s)/Associate Counsel(s) and provide training/advice to them to ensure effective transfer of knowledge and skills;
Successfully deliver legal work on projects and programs and other transactions within client assignments;
Develop innovative approaches and share best practices with colleagues;
Participate in identification, preparation, appraisal and supervision missions with project teams and attend any other operational meetings, as required;
Handle issues within an area of concentration to enable clients to create solutions;
Provide legal support to ongoing projects and programs, including reviewing project and program documents for adherence to World Bank Group legal policies and procedures, and business objectives;
Conduct comparative legal analyses on a range of issues in a given area, identify legal and policy issues, research relevant precedents, and propose appropriate solutions to colleagues and clients;
Engage in policy discussions and negotiations with officials internally and externally, developing relationships with members of the legal profession and lawyers working in development partner agencies;
Protect World Bank Group’s interests and promote its goals;
Create, apply and share knowledge from across and outside the WBG to strengthen internal and/or external client solutions;
Ensure systematic sharing of good practice and learning from lessons from across WBG, clients, and partners;
Be known across WBG in their subject area and sought out by WBG colleagues to advise, peer review, or contribute to knowledge products of others;
Seek mentoring opportunities with more experienced staff to deepen or strengthen their professional knowledge and mentor junior staff;
Build networks across the WBG and as part of external professional groups/networks;
Have an extensive knowledge of the World Bank’s legal framework, policies and procedures and be able to apply them correctly and consistently, and identify where these policies are not being applied or not being applied as intended and informs the appropriate parties;
Write and review policy papers, undertake legal research on topics in area of concentration and contribute to dissemination of policy and best practices in a given field;
Prepare legal briefs on diverse topics, as required;
Participate in task/project teams and operational missions; and
Perform ad hoc assignments as requested by the Chief Counsel.

Selection Criteria

An LLM, J.D. or equivalent, with a minimum of eight (8) years of relevant experience (preferably 12 years or more) and admission to the Bar (or equivalent) in at least one jurisdiction is required.
Solid experience at a Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) (preferably in sovereign lending operations) is required.
Solid experience in a reputable private sector law firm (especially transactional work) is required.
Meaningful work experience in more than one jurisdiction is strongly preferred.
Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Applicants will be asked to undertake a drafting exercise as part of the selection process.
Additional languages (French, Spanish, Arabic or Portuguese) are a strong plus.

General competencies required

Excellent legal research, writing, drafting, analytical and communications skills;
Excellent interpersonal skills;
Experience in administrative and contract law, in transactional legal work and/or preparation and negotiation of legal agreements;
Familiarity in the use of varied legal research sources (including electronic sources on the internet) and other databases;
Proven ability to operate effectively as a member of one or more teams; must be a self-starter and collaborate well with others; ability to exercise sound judgment in recognizing what issues to bring to the attention of the Chief Counsel and/or the supervising Lead or Senior Counsel, and which to handle autonomously;
Proven ability to deal sensitively in multicultural and multi-ethnic environments and build effective working relationships with clients and colleagues;
Ability to supervise and work with local counsel in a collaborative and collegial way; and
Ability to work under time pressure and to juggle multiple tasks within tight deadlines.

Other competencies required:

Achieves results and identifies mission-driven solutions for the client: Develops and implements solutions that show understanding of how clients and/or own work achieves results that are financially, environmentally and socially sustainable. Shares new insights based on in-depth understanding of the client and recommends solutions for current and future needs of clients. Holds self and team accountable for risk management and outcomes.
Initiates collaboration across boundaries and broadly across the WBG and brings differing ideas into the forefront: Collaborates across organizational boundaries, internally and externally with a sense of mutuality and respect. Consistently engages others in open dialogue, brings out any conflicting viewpoints and incorporates viewpoints into solutions, giving credit where credit is due. Leverages expertise of all team members to ensure successful outcomes. Makes choices and sets priorities with a WBG corporate perspective in mind.
Develops innovative solutions with others: Encourages and works with others to identify, incubate and implement relevant solutions. Identifies opportunities in changing circumstances and energizes others to continuously improve, using intentional strategies to boost morale, team spirit, and productivity in context of WBG’s values and mission. Helps others to understand problems, client needs and the underlying context.
Recommends and takes decisive action: Applies critical thinking and seeks inputs and experience from others to recommend a course of action consistent with the WBG’s strategy. Evaluates risk and anticipates the short and long-term implications of decisions. Commits to a decision and takes action once a decision has been reached.
Legal Drafting, Research and Communication: Proven ability to draft transactional documentation (e.g., loan agreements), briefs and variety of legal instruments and related documents independently. Conducts research as necessary to acquire insight and information. Is aware of the need for precision and focus on quality. Uses a writing style that is clear and precise.
Independence: Carries out work with due care, preparing accurate documents and reports, ensuring that pertinent facts are fairly presented without seeking to obfuscate (either through too much information or withholding relevant information). Interprets information in an objective manner, exercising professional scepticism when required. Does not divulge or exploit confidential information.
Professional Maturity: Understands others and the reasons for their behaviour. Takes the time to clarify others’ points of view so that progress can be made particularly in situations of stress or conflict. Is never condescending or arrogant.
Pressure: Ability to handle demands related to the delivery of multiple tasks within demanding and occasionally conflicting time constraints.
Sensitivity: Ability to work effectively and sensitively in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic workplace.
Legal Reasoning: Breaks down the problem into their component parts. Articulates the implications of situations in a step-by-step way. Remains objective when reviewing problems or situations to understand the issues. Makes sure he/she possesses all the facts.
Client Orientation: Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to client queries, requests or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success.
Flexibility: Able to adapt strategy, and objectives, making corresponding structural or organizational changes as needed, to move the work forward and meet the needs of the situation.
Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making: Analyzes facts and data to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others’ work.
Mentoring: Provides junior staff with guidance and feedback on both routine and new tasks. Identifies others in the organization or from other parts of the Bank to provide guidance and support.

Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.