The Ugandan Jobline

Job Title:   Legal Advisor

Organisation: United States US Embassy, US Mission in Uganda

Duty Station: USAID Uganda Office, Kampala, Uganda

Salary: UGX 118,018,022 to 173,277,435 /= per annum

Reports to: Resident Legal Advisor

Solicitation Number: SOL-72061724R10006

 

About US Embassy:

The United States Embassy in Kampala, Uganda has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Uganda for over 30 years.  Ambassador Natalie E. Brown currently heads the U.S Mission to Uganda.  The Mission is composed of several offices and organizations all working under the auspices of the Embassy and at the direction of the Ambassador.

 

Among the offices operating under the U.S Mission to Uganda are:

• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
• Peace Corps

 

Job Summary: The USAID/Uganda Legal Advisor is an important member of the USAID/Uganda Front Office (“USAID Front Office”). The Legal Advisor performs legal tasks primarily of a paralegal nature, while also dedicating regular efforts to administrative matters for the Resident Legal Officer (RLO). As a paralegal, the employee will perform a variety of functions in the legal office, primarily substantive legal work specifically assigned by the RLO. The job holder serves as a front-line reviewer of all documents that come into the USAID Front Office for clearance. The employee also performs a variety of unique (not routine or recurring) legal and factual research and analytical tasks for the RLO. These include locating difficult-to-find U.S. and USAID legal materials, performing research in non-traditional sources to identify facts on which the RLO can base legal opinions, and careful analysis and interpretation of complex and ambiguous written material. Administratively, the Legal Advisor is expected to organize and ensure the smooth operation of a busy legal office and support the efficient operations of the Front Office. The Legal Advisor is responsible for managing the Mission’s outside law firm as well as solving complex administrative problems. This position reports directly to the RLO.

 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Legal Duties (85%)

Legal research and analysis

• With general direction from the RLO, the job holder is responsible to identify, analyze, and summarize U.S. legal materials for RLO decision-making and projects. Sources of such materials include U.S. statutes, regulations, court decisions (U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts), the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), applicable USAID Automated Directive Systems (ADS) provisions, the Office of General Counsel’s knowledge repository, and host country law sources such as tax and non-governmental organization (NGO) registration provisions.

Preliminary review of documents

• Screens correspondence and specific documents for Front Office and RLO clearance to ensure they contain all necessary supporting documentation and required clearances, citations, and attachments.
• Conducts a first-line review of documents for the following: accurate and sufficient necessary information; sound justification, and citation to statutes, the ADS, and the FAM; grammar; readability, and logic. Examples of documents to be reviewed include pre-obligation checklists and activity checklists; various action memoranda; waivers; certifications; mission notices; and mission orders.
• Provides preliminary analysis of documents and clearance requests, and identifies any potential legal, ethical, or regulatory issues for the RLO.
• Communicates with technical and support offices to ensure that all documents and approval requests transmitted to the USAID Front Office for approval are well-written and cogent.

Legal knowledge management

• Monitors the ADS, Agency Notices, and other sources, including local law sources, for legal, regulatory and policy updates.
• Maintains a file of ethics opinions in response to employee requests, including a log of employee recusals.
• Provides legal materials produced by the RLO to the General Counsel (GC) legal opinion repository, such as by uploading to the GC Knowledge Management site.
• Prepares educational and informational materials for USAID/Uganda staff on legal and policy matters impacting USAID/Uganda operations or programs.
• Develops and manages templates for action memoranda and other documents that are frequently submitted to the USAID/Uganda Front Office for clearance to increase efficiency in the approval process.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests

• Serves as USAID/Uganda’s liaison for the FOIA program at the Mission, accepting FOIA requests from the USAID/Washington (USAID/W) FOIA office and communicating these requests to pertinent Mission staff.
• Ensures that relevant USAID/Uganda offices receive FOIA requests and are apprised of deadlines.
• Monitors to ensure that FOIA deadlines are met.
• Advises internal staff and offices of the FOIA processes and procedures.
• Coordinates with the FOIA office in Washington, D.C.., for clarifications on FOIA requests.
• Makes FOIA exemption recommendations to the RLO for consideration.
• Ensures that FOIA response documents are transmitted to the USAID/W FOIA office on a timely basis.
• Maintains log of FOIA requests, their status, and USAID/Uganda’s responses.

Mission Ethics Program

• Manages U.S. Government ethics compliance requirements for staff in USAID/Uganda.
• Assists the RLO in organizing annual ethics training, including preparation of training announcements, scheduling training sessions, and developing training materials.
• Ensures that all required staff fulfill their ethics compliance requirement.
• Keeps attendance logs and coordinates with USAID/GC to update training attendance records.
• Prepares and schedules ethics orientation briefings for new to ensure that newcomers are aware of U.S.
• Government ethics compliance requirements.

Litigation and Legal Developments

• Monitors local-court litigation and hearings involving or which impact USAID/Uganda programs, activities, and implementing partners, including tort cases.
• Provides advice to the RLO on the timeframe, process, and possible outcomes of pending litigation.
• Follows legal and legislative developments that may impact USAID/Uganda programs, activities, implementing partners or staff.
• Liaises with attorneys and members of the Ugandan bar to maintain connections with other lawyers, paralegals, and justice sector actors.
• Provides ad hoc training in RLO-developed training courses, as requested by the RLO.

Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports (OGE-450)

• Working closely with the Executive Office, manages USAID/Uganda’s Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-450) process, including preparation of financial disclosure announcements, circulating forms for preparation by staff, identifying filers, and assisting with developing training materials.
• Ensures that all required staff fulfill their Confidential Financial Disclosure Report requirement.
• Maintains a completion log and coordinates with GC in updating records of compliance.

Outside Law Firm Management

• Manages the Mission’s contract with a local outside law firm, to ensure advice from local counsel is accurate and timely received.

Administrative Duties (15%)

• While the central focus of the position is on paralegal work, the incumbent also coordinates administrative office management and support functions of the RLO and carries out administrative duties necessary to ensure the smooth operation of the office. The employee:
• Manages RLO travel; prepares travel requests and makes travel arrangements, ensuring optimal detailed itineraries; obtains country clearances; liaises with other USAID Missions; ensures visas are obtained; stays abreast of USAID travel regulations; and prepares travel reimbursement requests.
• Prepares procurement requests for RLO and liaises with the EXO Procurement Team to ensure timely procurement entry, and with other Mission offices to ensure timely processing of RLO procurement requests.
• Identifies, orders, and maintains necessary office supplies and equipment.
• Acts as liaison for coordination between the RLO and other offices and staff; coordinates and assists with office directors, administrative assistants, and secretaries to assure smooth workflow and cooperation.
• Takes a lead in organizing all RLO-led events such as brown bags, trainings, regional conferences, or internal training courses.
• Provides support for high-level visitors and other visitors from USAID missions or USAID/W as needed.
• Screens and appropriately directs incoming calls and visitors with courtesy, patience, and tact. Schedules meetings and appointments for the RLO; maintains the RLO calendar.
• Prepares, submits, and maintains time and attendance for the RLO.
• Maintains electronic files for legal, ethical, or contract issues that require RLO review.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant for the USAID Uganda job must hold a Bachelor of Laws degree is required. A Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice is required.
• A minimum of five (5) years of professional legal experience with a law firm or legal partnership, corporation, non-government organization, government body or institution, or international organization is required. The prior work experience must have been legal in nature.
• Language Proficiency: Level IV (fluent) written, reading, and speaking proficiency in English is required. Language competence may be tested.

 

How to Apply:

Eligible Offerors are required to complete and submit (Requirements (i) – (v) below are critical for compliance of the offer. Therefore, candidates MUST pay due attention to these):

• A complete DS-174 Employment Application for Locally Employed Staff or Family Member (https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds174.pdf; [click at this link for latest version]. Offerors are required to complete sections 1 through 6 (use additional pages, if needed).
• Cover letter (addressed to the USAID Supervisory Executive Officer) clearly indicating the position for which you are applying and describing how you meet the minimum requirements.
• Complete curriculum vitae/resume. In order to fully evaluate your application, the resume must include:
• Paid and non-paid experience, job title, dates held (month/year). Please specify unpaid or part time work. Any experience that does not include dates (month/year) will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements. (NOTE: Resume and DS-174 work experience should match.)
• Specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work.
• Education and any other qualifications including job-related training courses, job-related skills, or job-related honors, awards, or accomplishments.
• Name and contact information (phone and email) of three (3) professional references. At least one of the references must be a prior or current direct supervisor.
• Supplemental [separate] document specifically addressing each QRF as outlined in the solicitation
• Copies of Academic Transcripts
• Offers should be in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). No other file types will be accepted. All documents should be scanned into one (1) document (one (1) ATTACHMENT) which should not exceed 10MB.

 

Documents should be arranged and scanned in this order:

• DS-174
• Cover Letter
• Complete Curriculum vitae/resume
• Supplemental documents
• Academic Transcripts
• (vi) Submitted offers and documents become the property of USAID and will not be returned.

 

Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted to the Point of Contact in Section I at kampalausaidjobs@usaid.gov Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

All qualified Offerors will be considered regardless of age, race, color, sex, creed, national or tribal origin, lawful political affiliation, non-disqualifying handicap, marital status, sexual orientation, affiliation with an employee organization or other non-merit factor.

Offeror submissions must clearly reference the Solicitation number on all offeror submitted documents.

 

For this position, the subject line of the email MUST read:

 

SOL NUMBER TITLE OF POSITION, LAST, FIRST CANDIDATE NAME Ex: 72061724R10006_ Legal Advisor, Smith, Jose

 

Deadline: 28^th March 2024

 

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