Senior Legal Assistant
JOB DESCRIPTION.
The Legal Department of
IFC (CLED), under the Vice President and General Counsel, is responsible for
providing legal and policy advice to the IFC Board, its Management and client
departments on operational, advisory and corporate matters. Specifically, CLED
supports client departments in (i) the delivery of IFC’s annual program of
financing private sector projects in emerging markets; (ii) project portfolio
management (including jeopardy projects and projects in litigation); (iii) the
delivery and design of structured finance products, sub-sovereign lending,
equity and quasi-equity, public-private partnerships, and carbon finance
transactions; (iv) advising on corporate policy and operational matters such as
operating policies and procedures and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the
Funding of Terrorism; and (v) knowledge management and training. To
support IFC’s growing activities in Africa, CLED is recruiting a qualified
Legal Assistant, to be based in either of these locations Johannesburg, South
Africa or Nairobi, Kenya or Dakar, Senegal.
Duties And
Responsibilities:
- Prepare
supporting documentation for internal and external matters, e.g. powers of
attorney, proxies, signature designations, counsel retainer faxes and
Article III notices (notifying governments of an IFC investment);
- Assist
IFC in-house counsel in preparing and reviewing legal documentation;
prepare routine amendments, consents and waivers;
- Liaise
with IFC external counsel, where required;
- Attend
to the signing of transaction documents and completion of conditions to
disbursement;
- Attend
to the filing of transaction documents in accordance with IFC guidelines
and practices;
- Perform
other routine portfolio administration of IFC’s debt and equity
investments;
- Handle
and review transaction documents for IFC’s advisory program under
appropriate supervision by IFC in-house counsel and follow up on the
completion of any such agreements with IFC staff;
- Assist
IFC in-house counsel with general tasks relating to advisory matters;
- Identify
and analyze legal and policy issues associated with investment or advisory
projects;
- Contribute
to and support CLED’s Knowledge Management objectives.
Selection Criteria
- Strong
oral and written communication skills in English.
- Strong
oral and written communication skills in French (preferred)
- Excellent
analytical and research skills.
- Ability
to provide effective legal assistance to IFC in-house counsel by
performing multiple, concurrent and progressively more difficult
assignments.
- Ability
to handle a diverse range of issues within tight deadlines.
- Ability
to prioritize and manage tasks effectively.
- Ability
to work independently and take initiative in a fast-paced environment.
- Ability
to work as a team member in a multi-cultural environment.
- Word
processing experience and proficient computer skills, particularly in
using information databases, internet/intranet services and library
sources.
- An
undergraduate (college) degree and ideally some combination of
undergraduate legal courses, training offered by a professional
institution or law firm and /or several years of relevant experience in
assisting lawyers with the preparation and handling of legal documentation.
