Overview
The Legal Officer will provide legal advice and research on complex legal matters related to international tax cooperation, including interpretation and application of instruments and drafting legal provisions for conventions and protocols.
Key Responsibilities
- Serves as a lead officer in one or more areas of concentration, and independently handles a wide range of multi-discipline and complex legal matters involving issues of international, public, private and administrative law, to include interpretation and application of instruments in that area of international tax cooperation.
- Provides legal advice on diverse substantive and procedural questions of considerable complexity related to international tax cooperation, especially interpretation of proposals for the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation and its early protocols.
- Performs extensive legal research and analysis and prepares legal opinions, studies, briefs, technical reports, to monitor and analyze the public international law aspects of developing the framework convention and protocols, particularly regarding their relationship with existing international agreements, coherence as separate binding instruments, and alignment with the sustainable development agenda.
- Services the intergovernmental negotiating committee, including preparation of background materials, summaries of issues and views of delegations, meeting reports, etc.
- Provides specialized input during negotiating sessions and intersessional work on legal drafting and structural aspects of the Framework Convention and protocols, including reviewing, advising on and developing draft provisions related to the agreements and the related legal architecture to effectively integrate sustainable development considerations across the economic, social and environmental dimensions;
- Advises on and participates in negotiations related to the establishment of the Framework Convention, to include establishing strategy and approach, deciding on the legal text for terms and conditions of contracts, etc.
- Provides legal advice on the interpretation and application of the Framework Convention Unit, including the review of administrative decisions; prepares draft amendments on tax protocols; prepares draft administrative issuances or amendments thereto and verifies their consistency with the existing models and frameworks; as well as analyses and evaluations.
- Serves on various committees, ad hoc working groups and task forces, as required; promotes the work of the United Nations and represents the organization at meetings, conferences, seminars, etc.
- Coordinates and direct teams of other legal officers dealing with significant problems as required, and mentors the work of junior officers on specific projects.
- Contributes to review and design of new, or new applications of, legal instruments, policy, guidelines, etc.
- Collects and analyzes data to identify trends or patterns and provide insights through graphs, charts, tables and reports using data visualization methods to enable data-driven planning, decision-making, presentation and reporting.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Required Experience
A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in tax law, including legal analysis, research and writing is required. Experience in international tax policy and administration issues and the particular challenges of both developing and developed countries is required. Experience in international tax cooperation is desirable. Experience in multilateral or bilateral tax treaties is desirable.
Qualifications
Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in international law. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in tax law is an advantage.
