Legal Officer

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

This position is opened for internal staff only

JOB OVERVIEW

Under the technical supervision of the Legal Affairs Manager the Legal Officer provides legal information, legal counselling and legal assistance activities with IRC in Ukraine. The Legal Officer will be based at IRC's office in Mykolaiv / Dnipro / Kharkiv. This role involves fieldwork and collaboration with IRC's protection teams and external legal actors. The Legal Officer will serve as a key person to implement legal assistance activities along the displacement routes and provide the evidence base to inform the organization about the needs of affected population for program adjustment. The legal officer will provide legal services both at the Community Centers level and through mobile teams. He will also contribute to the general understanding of the legal context in Ukraine, as the situation and needs evolve. Additionally, the Legal Officer will support advocacy efforts and contribute to the legal context analysis to improve protection responses.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• create information content that responds to the legal needs of conflict-affected population, and provide information, either at the community center or other static centers and through mobile teams;
• work closely with IRC partners in order to support and guide the implementation of legal information, counselling and assistance;
• provide individual legal counselling to individuals in need of legal assistance, either at the community center or other static centers and through mobile teams;
• Provide secondary legal aid in coordination with Free Legal Aid Centers to assist individuals who do not qualify for free legal aid and cannot afford legal services;
• Identify and refer where needed complex legal cases requiring specialized assistance, including housing, land, and property (HLP) rights, IDP documentation, and employment rights;
• ensure continuous update of the service map and surrounding oblasts on legal actors and services;
• ensure referrals are made and received in a safe way and according to the SOPs, and ensure referrals received are followed-up and that the referral tracker is updated;
• Support the PRoL Manager, Legal Affairs Manager, Senior Social and Legal Advocacy Officer in data analysis related to legal needs;
• сontribute to advocacy initiatives by providing case examples and data on systemic legal challenges affecting displaced and conflict-affected individuals;
• engage with the Legal Protection Working Group (Legal PWG) and other coordination mechanisms to advocate for improved legal protection responses;
• constantly look for contacts among authorities and key humanitarian stakeholders and update the contact trackers;
• Contribute to the weekly movement plans for locations for legal activities on a weekly basis;
• Support and inform on the needs in term of legal assistance for people in Ukraine;
• Support IRC partners in implementing legal information, counselling, and assistance services;
• Assist in training IRC protection staff, partners, and other humanitarian actors on legal protection principles and case management.
• Contribute to IRC's Protection Monitoring activities by conducting structured interviews at the household level and with key informants, in accordance with established tools and methodologies.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Education: higher education in law

Preferred —valid Attorney's License (registered at the Bar Association)

Experience:

• Previous experience in Legal information, counselling and assistance, preferably with an NGO
• Experience facilitating group activities, trainings and workshops and mentoring others

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Language: Bilingual in Ukrainian and Russian, with good verbal and writing skills in English preferred
• Excellent communication skills both verbal and written
• Demonstrated understanding of and ability to maintain confidentiality and respect for clients/beneficiaries
• Positive and professional attitude, including ability to lead and work well in a team setting
• High degree of flexibility and strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail
• Computer literate, including Microsoft Word and Excel, with ability to work with data entry using software on tablets

REPORTING STRUCTURE AND TEAM COLLABORATION

Internal IRC Collaboration: Senior Social and Legal Advocacy Officer, Legal Officer, Case Management Senior Officer, Caseworkers, Protection Officers, Capacity Strengthening & Program Development Officer, Psychosocial Support Officer and other IRC departments.

External Collaboration: Legal actors, Legal PWG, Free Legal Aid Center, Protection and information services actors, government and non-government institutions involved in providing assistance to the population.

WORK ENVIRONMENT AND OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

• This role requires office work (approximately 40%) and field work (approximately 60%).
• This role may require travel to other locations (sub-offices).
• The organization cares about staff and provides flexible working options (start early-finish early, start later- finish later, remote work)

IRC employees are eligible to the following benefits:

• Competitive salary
• Purposeful job and development opportunities
• English classes and unlimited online training courses
• Life Insurance
• Medical insurance for staff and family members
• Free psychological support to employees and their family members
• 30 calendar days of annual vacation with flexibility beyond the legally set minimum requirements
• Up to 10 days of paid medical leave

Standard of Professional Conduct:The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.