Senior Counsel

ffice of the General Counsel (OGC) advises the Board, the Executive Director and all operations and administrative departments of GCF, as well as the independent units, on legal matters. Its purpose is to support GCF in achieving its mission as set out in the Governing Instrument and to deliver on its Strategic Plan, in a manner consistent with GCF’s legal framework while recognizing its considerable risk appetite, in order to support developing countries.

OGC provides practical, solution-oriented, and timely legal advice in order to maximize the impact of GCF interventions and safeguard the rights and interests of GCF, taking into account GCF’s unique role as a catalyzer for climate action 

OGC is led by the General Counsel, and three Associate General Counsels, who together make up the OGC management team. 

The Senior Counsel – Public Sector will (i) be responsible for providing legal advice and support relating to the drafting, reviewing and negotiating of financing agreements; conducting legal due diligence in connection with funding proposals and preparing legal advice on the interpretation of policies, contracts and other legal documents; and (ii) support the Associate General Counsel – Public Sector in coordinating the delivery of legal support for public sector programming and mentoring the work of counsels working on public sector programming, and ensuring the quality of the work provided by OG

Assist the Associate General Counsel – Public Sector in the coordination of the legal work for public sector programming matters;

• Review the more advanced and complex funding proposals and legal documents required by the Fund for its operations, and ensure these are coherent with best practice and the legal framework of the Fund, and draft as well as negotiate financing agreements and other legal documents required by the Fund for its operations;
• Conduct and review legal due diligence in connection with proposed funding structures;
• Be solution-oriented and have the ability to creatively resolve complex issues which arise from time to time in the course of projects and programmes;
• Mentor the work of counsels working on public sector programming;
• Support the Associate General Counsel – Public Sector in the identification and implementation of efficiency measures to scale OGC programming capacity through integration of lessons learnt and best practices among international climate finance providers;
• Keep abreast of developments in the legal field especially in relation to multilateral finance; and
• Perform additional tasks as assigned by the OGC management team.

Engagement:

• Build strong, collaborative and effective relationships within the GCF, and with other key internal and external stakeholders;
• Provide legal support to other divisions on matters relating to the operations of the Fund;
• Provide legal support and advice to other colleagues within OGC;
• Participate in GCF’s Board meetings and other events and meetings of the GCF, as required; and
• Perform additional tasks as assigned by the OGC management team.

Delivery:

• Timely delivery of review of funding proposals and other legal documents necessary for the Fund’s public sector programming;
• Applying creative solutions to issues which arise in transactions from time to time;
• Support the Associate General Counsel – Public Sector in the delivery of public sector programming work, including providing guidance to counsels to ensure timely delivery of high-quality and practical advice;
• Support the integration of knowledge management with the provision of legal services to ensure the management of legal risk and the identification of efficiency gains throughout the organization; and
• Perform additional tasks as assigned by the OGC management team.
• Requirements (Education, experience, technical competencies required of the job)
• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in law. A first level university degree in law in combination with the required work experience plus two additional years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advance university degree;

Qualification to practice law in at least one jurisdiction:

• At least 11 years of relevant work experience practicing law in cross-border transactions involving innovative financing, including debt and equity transactions with a well-recognized law firm, or working in-house in the private sector, an international financial institution and/or a development institution;
• Experience in the legal structuring of financial and commercial transactions and working on novel areas of law, or innovative and/or complex financial transactions is an advantage;
• Excellent legal drafting skills specifically of drafting financing and commercial agreements;
• Experience liaising with, and advising, senior members of staff; experience advising management is an advantage;
• Excellent understanding of different financial instruments and their features specifically debt, equity, grants and guarantees;
• Good understanding and experience of sovereign financing;
• Knowledge and experience of engaging with countries, institutional investors and financial institutions;
• Experience in, or working with, developing countries;
• Emotional intelligence and values-driven work ethic; and
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English are essential for this position; knowledge of another UN language is an advantage.

Source: https://jobs.greenclimate.fund/job/Incheon,-South-Korea-(ICN)-Senior-Counsel-(Public-Sector)/1176615901/