Chief of Section, Legal Affairs, P5

The Chief of Treaty Section in the Office of Legal Affairs is responsible for formulating the work programme, managing the section's administration, supervising legal research and advice on treaty law, promoting multilateral treaty participation, and overseeing dissemination of treaty-related information. The role involves leadership, management, and representation in international legal forums.

Responsibilities

• Formulates the work programme of the Section, particularly by determining priorities and identifying implementation modalities, and allocates resources accordingly for the completion and timely delivery of outputs.
• Oversees the administration and management of the Section, including supervision of the preparation of budgets, reporting on budget/programme performance, preparation of inputs for results-based budgeting, evaluation of staff performance.
• Manages the assignment and completion of tasks within the Section and maintains and evaluates programme performance.
• Supervises the conduct of research and analysis on a variety of complex and intricate treaty law and other related international law issues.
• Supervises the provision of legal advice and assistance on treaty-law related questions, including the drafting and interpretation of final clauses of multilateral treaties to be deposited with the Secretary-General and the discharge of the functions of the Secretary-General as depositary of more than 550 multilateral treaties.
• Promotes the wider participation in the multilateral treaty framework, including through organizing treaty events and other activities.
• Supervises the interpretation and application of the regulations adopted by the General Assembly to give effect to Article 102 of the Charter in order to determine the acceptability of registration requests by States and intergovernmental organizations and directs the execution of the registration or filing and recording of treaties/subsequent treaty actions.
• Responds to inquiries from Member States, treaty bodies and international organizations, as well as private individuals.
• Plans and supervises the activities aimed at the dissemination and wider appreciation of international law, including the dissemination of treaty-related information through the Treaty Information and Publication System.
• Ensures that all outputs produced by the Section under his/her supervision meet high-quality standards.
• Supervises the processing of treaty-related data and its availability for the desktop and web-publishing shortly after the registration or filing and recording of treaties/subsequent treaty actions, as well as the preparation for publication of the volumes of the United Nations Treaty Series.
• Supervises the preparation and publication of other publications.
• Supervises the functioning and further development of the Treaty Information and Publication System.
• Supervises the organization and conduct of capacity-development activities at Headquarters and at the regional level, including in cooperation with other UN entities.
• Participates in international conferences and seminars in the field of law of treaties, missions to treaty services of Member States or to intergovernmental organizations.
• Communicates with Permanent Missions, Governments and international organizations on matters related to the work of the Section.
• In an advisory capacity to the USG/ASG, contributes to the overall management of strategies, activities and operations of the Office of Legal Affairs.
• Performs other related duties as requested by the Under-Secretary-General.

Requirements

• An advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in law with training in public international law is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Ten years of progressively responsible professional experience in public international law is required.
• Managerial experience in a multicultural environment in an international organization or government is required.
• Experience in the specialty of treaty law is desirable.
• Experience designing and applying innovative approaches to address complex organizational challenges is desirable.
• Experience applying behavioral science insights to strengthen programme design, policy implementation and stakeholder engagement is desirable.
• Experience using strategic foresight methods, including scenario planning and trend analysis to anticipate future challenges and inform long-term strategies is desirable.
• English is required at UN Level III for reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
• French is desirable at UN Level III for reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Skills

• Public International Law
• Treaty Law
• Legal Research
• Programme Design
• Policy Implementation
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Strategic Foresight
• Scenario Planning
• Trend Identification
• Multilateral Treaty Participation
• Legal Advice
• Section Management
• Team Leadership
• Multicultural Management
• Behavioral Science Tools Application

Languages

English, French