Job Description

Please note that this vacancy is only open to eligible staff members who have been individually notified of their eligibility to apply for positions advertised in the Accelerated Posting Compendium.

June 12, 2026

H (no hardship)

Family

PR3

Professional

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2026-07-01

Legal Officer - Administration of Justice

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The position of Legal Officer- Administration of Justice is located in the Legal Affairs Service (LAS). The incumbent serves under the supervision of the Senior Legal Officer - Administration of Justice, P4. The incumbent may supervise interns, consultants and junior staff. S/he provides support on all matters relating to the UN internal justice system, including preparation of legal opinions and advice on requests for management evaluation, drafting legal pleadings and representing the Organization at oral hearings before international tribunals, including the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT). The incumbent is also responsible for providing advice on legal issues relating to investigations and disciplinary proceedings. S/he also assists in liaising with the Office of Legal Affairs in the UN Secretariat on legal issues relating to cases before the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT). The incumbent also provides substantive input regarding the drafting of legal opinions and policies on HR-related matters. The incumbent will handle as a priority, cases related to sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment which require special care and expertise to substantiate complex cases and protect witnesses and survivors. The incumbent will play a role in contributing to effective action to detect, respond and prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, particularly by reducing the time required to process these complex cases. The incumbent may also be asked to assist in knowledge management and case updates for LAS.

The incumbent may be requested to give advice on other non-refugee matters including contracts and the status, privileges and immunities of UNHCR and its personnel. In a particularly demanding environment, the incumbent, in addition to solid generalist legal background, will demonstrate sound written and oral advocacy skills acquired before judicial or arbitral courts or administrative tribunals. The Legal Officer must have an in-depth knowledge of the jurisprudence of the UNDT and UNAT or knowledge and experience in applying employment or administrative law in a national jurisdiction. The incumbent must also understand, or have the ability to rapidly understand how the UN statutory framework functions.

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

• Provide advice and guidance on a wide array of legal matters, with a special emphasis on the UN internal justice system and human resources legal issues.
• Analyse and advise on requests for management evaluations by UNHCR staff.
• Assist in responding to media requests and donor demands in relation to cases involving serious misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse or sexual harassment.
• Assist the Senior Legal Officer in preparing legal pleadings and representing the Organization as co-counsel at oral hearings before the United Nations Dispute Tribunal.
• Assist in liaising with the Office of Legal Affairs in the UN Secretariat on legal issues relating to claims before the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT).
• Liaise with the UNHCR Ombudsperson in connection with cases referred to mediation.
• Provide legal advice, as necessary, to the Inspector General's Office on investigation procedures and to the Director, DHRM on disciplinary proceedings.
• Provide legal interpretation of UN Regulations and Rules and relevant instructions, guidance and policy issues.
• Review draft human resources policies and ensure that they are aligned with established policy and standards; guide offices in the field to ensure that personnel matters are dealt with in accordance with relevant procedural guidelines.
• Analyse UNHCR’s internal regulatory framework, as appropriate, and propose initiatives and measures to enhance existing policies and practices and ensure compliance with relevant rules and regulations.
• 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 tasks as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For P3 - 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

Law International Law International Business Law Litigation Practice or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Law; International Law

(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

Experience in progressively responsible legal functions in the public or private sector. In depth knowledge and experience of international law, including international administrative law as practiced in international organizations (in particular in the United Nations) and/or experience applying employment or administrative law in a national jurisdiction. Demonstrated ability to provide oral briefings on complex legal issues to legal and non-legal audiences. Experience in dealing with issues related to the internal justice system of the United Nations. Knowledge of the jurisprudence of the UNDT and UNAT as well as UNHCR’s regulatory framework and policies governing human resources management.

Desirable

Thorough understanding of the UN system, UNHCR’s mandate and its operational structure. Litigation experience obtained as an attorney in a law firm and/or a legal officer in an international organization. Knowledge of the privileges and immunities of UN/HCR and its personnel. Knowledge of UN/HCR field operational realities. Proven ability to deal with multiple tasks in a courteous and service-oriented manner in a demanding working environment with often short deadlines.

Functional Skills

* LE-UN Administrative Law

LE-Legal Research

LE-Public International Law, including the Charter of the United Nations

LE-Judicial Engagement

LE-Litigation and oral and written court advocacy skills

LE-Knowledge management of legal advice

(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

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

Empowering and Building Trust

Judgement and Decision Making

Cross-Functional Competencies

Analytical Thinking

Planning and Organizing

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

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.

Essential Attributes:

The candidate must have expert knowledge and substantial experience in all areas of the Administration of Justice (AOJ) portfolio, including advising the Deputy High Commissioner on management evaluation requests (MER), representing UNHCR before the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) and advising the Director of DPM on disciplinary matters. LAS faces an unprecedented and continuously increasing AOJ workload with significantly reduced staffing. The selected candidate will therefore be required to independently manage a significant number of MERs and UNDT cases, and to process disciplinary matters in an effective and efficient manner to ensure the functioning of the integrity and justice systems.

In addition, the candidate must have expert knowledge and substantial experience in the interpretation and application of the UN Staff Regulations and Staff Rules and UNHCR’s internal legal framework governing people management. As the only LAS lawyer based in the Global Service Centre (GSC) in Budapest, the selected candidate will act as focal point and first point of contact for various DPM units based in the GSC. The selected candidate must therefore be able to work largely independently on complex requests concerning a wide array of HR legal matters, particularly in relation to personal status matters and private legal obligations.

Desirable Attributes:

Experience and expertise in other areas of LAS work, particularly in advising on operational, commercial and partnership agreements as well as the status, privileges and immunities of UNHCR and its personnel would be desirable.

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French

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Spanish

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

The Legal Affairs Service (LAS) is UNHCR’s central legal office for support in managing UNHCR’s general legal affairs. It is made up of a team of specialized lawyers who provide authoritative, pragmatic and solution-oriented legal advice to support field operations, HQ entities, and partners across a high volume of operational, institutional and administrative legal matters, to safeguard compliance and accountability, and to mitigate the organization’s exposure to operational, financial and reputational risks. LAS is currently composed of 7 lawyers located at HQ in Geneva, 3 in Nairobi, 3 in Rome, 2 in Bangkok, 1 in Budapest and 1 in Copenhagen.

The incumbent serves under the supervision of the Senior Legal Officer - Administration of Justice, P4. The incumbent provides support on matters relating to the UN internal justice system, including by preparing legal opinions to the Deputy High Commissioner on requests for management evaluation, drafting legal pleadings and other court submissions, and representing UNHCR as counsel or co-counsel before the United Nations Dispute Tribunal. The incumbent is also responsible for providing advice to the Inspector General’s Office and the Director of the Division of People Management on legal issues relating to investigations and disciplinary proceedings. The incumbent also assists in liaising with the Office of Legal Affairs in the UN Secretariat on legal issues relating to cases before the United Nations Appeals Tribunal. The incumbent further provides substantive legal advice on the interpretation, adoption and revision of HR policies and guidance. The incumbent will also contribute to the overall work of LAS, including in the areas of operational, commercial and partnership agreements and the status, privileges and immunities of UNHCR and its personnel.

As the only LAS lawyer based in the Global Service Centre (GSC) in Budapest, the incumbent acts as focal point for various units based in the GSC. This requires the incumbent to work largely independently on complex requests concerning the interpretation and application of the UN Staff Regulations and Staff Rules and UNHCR’s internal legal framework governing people management, including private legal obligations and personal status matters.

Living and Working Conditions:

The position is based in Budapest, Hungary. Living and working conditions in Hungary are up to the level of a highly developed country, where easy access to quality schooling, services, medical support, and higher education is available.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

LE-Draft legal settlement agreements, LE-Legal Research, LE-Litigation and case management

Bachelor of Arts: International Business Law, Bachelor of Arts: International Law, Bachelor of Arts: Law, Bachelor of Arts: Litigation Practice

Certifications

International Law - Other, Law - Other

Legal

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Accelerated Posting Compendium 2026 - Part B

Additional Information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance