Legal Intern - Programmes & Projects Team

Background   As the United Nations lead agency on international development, UNDP works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. We help countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Our work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.   The Office of Legal Services in the Bureau for Management Services (BMS/OLS) serves as in-house counsel in UNDP. The Office provide advice and assistance on a range of legal matters relating to the UNDP’s operations. OLS consists of three operational Teams: Corporate and Institutional Law Team (C&I), Programmes and Projects Team (P&P) and Administrative Law Team (AL).    The Programmes & Projects Team (P&P) in BMS/OLS is seeking a Legal Intern to support its critical work in addressing the legal aspects of UNDP’s programmes and projects and the legal issues arising from UNDP’s engagement with the private sector. The P&P Team also provides legal services to the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).   Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision and guidance of the Senior Legal Advisor, the Legal Intern will provide support and assistance to the lawyers in the P&P Team by carrying out the following tasks:

• Assist in drafting and reviewing standard and non-standard legal instruments, agreements, and contracts to implement UNDP’s and UNCDF’s operational and programmatic activities;
• Provide support in drafting and reviewing financing agreements with donors;
• Conduct legal research on complex issues and drafting legal documents and communications;
• Support training sessions and knowledge-sharing initiatives to promote awareness of UNDP’s legal frameworks among internal stakeholders, including with respect to legal templates;
• Provide general support to the P&P Team on ongoing projects.

Competencies
Core

• Achieve Results: Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline.
   
• Think Innovatively: Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements.
   
• Learn Continuously: Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback.
   
• Adapt with Agility: Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty; is flexible.
   
• Act with Determination: Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident.
   
• Engage and Partner: Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships.
   
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: Appreciate/respect differences, aware of unconscious bias, confront discrimination.
   

Cross-Functional and Technical Competencies

• Business Development – Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need.
   
• Business Management – Communication: Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.
   
• Legal – Knowledge of applicable legal framework: Understanding of the legal norms as applied to the United Nations in general, and to UNDP in particular. This includes an understanding of the structure, functioning and operations of UNDP within the broader UN system and the application of international treaties, including the UN Charter, UN General Assembly resolutions, as well as an understanding of the internal legal framework (financial regulations and rules, policies, and procedures) of UNDP.
   
• Legal – Legal Writing Skills: The ability to analyze fact patterns and present argumentation in written form. This includes the ability to draft memoranda, legal briefs and other submissions to external parties, in both an advocacy and objective format. It also includes the ability to convey legal analysis and recommendations to internal parties in written form.
   
• Legal – Legal Research: The ability to identify and retrieve information to support legal positions and corporate decision making from all relevant sources. In the UNDP context, this skill includes proactive seeking of information in anticipation of the different aspects that any given issue may present.

Required Skills and Experience   Education:

Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

a) enrolled in the final academic year of a first