Vacancy Number: B02/0116 Post Number: OSC GSL 0080 Job Title: Legal Assistant (Paralegal) NATO Grade: B-4 Basic Monthly Salary (12 x per year): 3 610,89, tax free Closing Date: 11 March 2016 Duration of contract: Serving staff members will be offered a contract according to the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations (NCPR). Newly recruited staff will be offered a definite duration contract of three years normally followed by an indefinite duration contract. Important remark: Essay accompanying the application You must accompany your application submission with a file containing an essay. The essay will consist of a research paper on privileges and immunities for international organizations, with reference to those of NATO Supreme Headquarters and Allied Headquarters (International Military Headquarters). The essay will contain no more than 1,500 words and no less than 1,000. The essay must be original and all sources consulted or cited must be in footnotes at the end-page and in a bibliography annex. Neither the footnotes nor the bibliography count against word limit established above. Anti-plagiarism offthe-shelf tools will be applied. It is recommendable to read ahead selected literature on privileges and immunities of international organizations and also materials within www.nato.int and www.ismllw-be.org/nato%20legal%20gazette.php. The essay should be attached to your email as file 3: essay from (your name). GENERAL BACKGROUND: SHAPE, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, is the Headquarters of Allied Command Operations (ACO), one of the two major military commands of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). ACO safeguards an area extending from the northern tip of Norway to the eastern border of Turkey. This equates to nearly two million square kilometres of land, more than three million square kilometres of sea, and a population of about 320 million people. POST DESCRIPTION: Location: Casteau/Mons, 60 Km south of Brussels (Belgium) Division: Office of the Legal Advisor POST CONTEXT SHAPE is the Strategic Headquarters for Allied Command Operations (ACO). The Staff Advisory Group (SAG) provides general staff support, coordination, management, administrative service, and specialists' advice to SACEUR, DSACEUR 1
and COS. The ACO Legal Advisor Office (OLA) is responsible for providing advice, guidance and information of a legal nature to SACEUR, SHAPE staff and to the Legal Advisors of subordinated HQs, in all relevant matters of national or international nature. The incumbent provides full legal and administrative assistance to the Office of the ACO Legal Advisor (OLA) and ACO legal offices. REPORTS TO Chief Legal Assistant, OSC GSL 0070. PRINCIPAL DUTIES The incumbent s duties are: (1) Provides paralegal support to OLA branches. (2) Refers new, unique, complex, controversial and precedent setting issues to OLA for guidance and/or resolution. Handles a wide variety of dissimilar subjects related to legal questions. (3) Assists to develop new procedures to facilitate OLA paralegal and administrative services requirements. (4) Works with minimum supervision in doing legal research and performing paralegal tasks, assisting in the research and preparation of legal opinions, in the interpretation of agreements, regulations, directives, policies, and procedures. (5) Liaises with subordinate headquarters and other organizations' legal assistants and key officials internally and externally. (6) Assists in achieving the objectives of the Legal Branch to which he/she is assigned responding to routine sub-professional legal questions. (7) When directed represents OLA in meetings where a qualified lawyer is not required. (8) Provides administrative support to the ACO Legal Advisor, to include arranging his/her schedule. (9) Assists the Chief Legal Assistant in maintaining the ACO Central Repository for International Agreements (CRIA) and updating contents of the OLA WISE page, DHS or other related software. (10) Drafts routine correspondence and types and proof-reads memoranda, letters, reports, talking papers, legal documents and other forms of correspondence, as required. (11) Performs working/courtesy translations, depending upon language capabilities. (12) Maintains files, rosters or other records; reproduces and routes documents and incoming/outgoing mail as required; performs tasks related to the secure handling and processing of electronic files. (13) Provides full administrative support for meetings and conferences, as required. (14) Arranges social activities, including transport and accommodation bookings, as required. (15) Arranges and co-ordinates the whole process of TDYs, and updates the monthly office calendar accordingly as an alternate to the Coordination Assistant. (16) Serves as OLA CIS coordinator. (17) Deputises for the Chief Legal Assistant. There are no first line reporting responsibilities. ADDITIONAL DUTIES The incumbent may be required to undertake deployments in support of military operations and exercises, and/or TDY assignments, both within and without NATO boundaries up to 30 days. 2
The employee may be required to perform a similar range of duties elsewhere within the organisation at the same grade without there being any change to the contract. QUALIFICATIONS ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS 1. Professional/Experience Two years professional experience in a clerical/administrative role in an office setting, preferable in a legal office. 2. Education/Training Higher Secondary education and intermediate vocational training in para-legal or legal studies, public administration, business administration or related discipline which might lead to a formal qualification with 3 years experience, or a Secondary education and completed advanced vocational training in that discipline leading to a professional qualification or professional accreditation with 4 years post related experience. 3. Language English SLP 3322 (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) French PLS 2222 (Écouter, Parler, Lecture et Écriture) NOTE: The work both oral and written in this post and in this Headquarters as a whole is conducted mainly in English. 4. Standard Automatic Data Processing Knowledge Word Processing : Working Knowledge Spreadsheet : Working Knowledge Graphics Presentation : Working Knowledge Database : Basic Knowledge email Clients/Web Browsers : Working Knowledge Web Content Management : Basic Knowledge DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS 1. Professional/Experience Specific Experience: a) Administrative experience in support of a legal office within a major military headquarters or international organisation. b) Sound knowledge of the NATO and ACO structure, organisation and mission. 2. Education/Training a) Security Officer course b) CIS Coordinator Course c) NATO LEGAL ADVISOR COURSE (NU) d) NATO Host Nation Support Course 3. Language English: SLP 4444 French: PLS 4444 (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) (Écouter, Parler, Lecture et Écriture) CIVILIAN POSTS 1. Personal Attributes The incumbent must show courtesy, diplomacy, mental alertness, negotiating skills and service mindedness. Must possess good interpersonal and communication skills, 3
poise and tact. Uses initiative to propose solutions for unexpected problems and determine which issues to refer to supervisor. Exercises judgment in determining proper course of action. Requires little or no supervision in performance of routine functions. Good health, stress tolerance and ability to work long hours when required. The incumbent must have the breadth of professional experience in legal offices and personal characteristics to be able to rapidly adapt to diverse issues and work under intense pressure. Must be able to handle details. 2. Managerial Responsibilities There are no first line reporting responsibilities. Although it may have to supervise an OR-5 when deputising for the Chief Legal Assistant or when dealing with subordinate ACO legal offices paralegal teams. 3. Professional Contacts Routinely, directly interrelates with members of the SHAPE staff and Command Group. Contacts, apart from the SHAPE staff, are principally with National Military Representatives to SHAPE and legal support personnel in other NATO bodies and national administrations in order to exchange information, to solicit information, to provide or seek guidance on various issues. 4. Contribution to the Objectives The post contributes to the overall objectives of the Office of the ACO Legal Advisor but in particular to the OLA International Branch. The work consists of a day to day support of paralegal and administrative actions/support not only for SHAPE but also for NATO and ACO HQs. 5. Work Environment The work is normally performed in a typical Office environment. Normal Working Conditions apply. The risk of injury is categorised as: No risk / risk might increase when deployed. REMARKS N/A!!PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!! HOW TO APPLY FOR A NATO CIVILIAN POST AT SHAPE: Applications for civilian employment should be made for a specific vacancy using the official shape application form that you will find with the job description of the current NATO civilian vacancies at the following address: http://www.aco.nato.int/page205113721.aspx and should be submitted exclusively electronically to rsc.recruitment@shape.nato.int not later than the closing date in order to be considered. Only applications completed in accordance with the following instructions will be taken into consideration. The others will be rejected automatically. It is imperative that the subject line of your e-mail starts with the vacancy number, and further includes the post title and the grade of the post for which you are an applicant. Your application will not be taken into consideration if this information is omitted from the subject line of your e-mail. A) The application form and its supporting documentation (i.e. continuation sheets and copies of certificates) could be sent in a single e-mail containing a maximum of two electronic files (file 1: application form, file 2: supporting 4
documentation). For technical reasons, the supporting documentation should not be attached to an internet link (i.e. personnel website, etc...). B) File 2 should be a single document of a maximum of 4 pages containing a copy of the qualification/certificate covering the highest level of education required by the job description. If this certificate is not in one of the two official NATO languages, you should include a translation into French or English. C) Candidates must answer each question completely in English (preferably) or in French. D) Expressions such as: please see attached CV, please see annex, please see enclosed document etc are not acceptable; this is a cause of immediate rejection of the application. Particular attention should be given to boxes 8a (Secondary education), 8b (Higher education), 8c (University education), 8d (Other education/training) and 15 (Employment record, which should contain a summary of work and for which, if necessary, continuation sheets can be added). E) If necessary you will be requested to supply documentary evidence in support of the statements you make in your application. Do not, however, send any additional documentation (such as certificates of other education/training, evaluation sheets, job descriptions, letters of appreciation/recommendation etc ) until you have been asked to do so by the SHAPE recruitment office and, in any event do not submit the original texts of references or testimonials unless they have been obtained for the sole use of the shape recruitment office. F) If you are or have been a NATO International Civilian, please indicate last grade and step held, and specify in which NATO body you are/were employed. G) If you are or have been employed as a civilian in one of the coordinated organisations, please indicate last grade and step held, and specify in which organisation you are/were employed. Remarks: A) Only nationals from the 28 member states can apply for vacancies at SHAPE. the member states are: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America. B) All applications are acknowledged by return-e-mail. Should you not receive an acknowledgement within 3 working days of submitting your application, please resubmit the application to rsc.recruitment@shape.nato.int. C) Note for the personnel officers: if you have qualified redundant staff of same grade, please let us know by message not later than 26 February 2016. D) Due to the large amount of applications received for all vacancies, telephone, e-mail or telefax enquiries cannot be dealt with. 5