Legal Counsel-Assistant Company Secretarial

Legal Counsel, Assistant Company Secretarial

Location Dublin, Ireland

Reports to General Counsel

Established in 1977, GOAL is an international humanitarian agency dedicated to alleviating the needs of the most vulnerable communities. GOAL delivers a wide range of humanitarian and development programmes, ranging from humanitarian relief in disaster situations, to focusing on nutrition, food security, and building greater resilience and sustainable livelihoods in 14 countries across the globe. GOAL is supported by a range of donors including the Governments of Ireland, UK, USA, the European Union, individuals, trusts and foundations. GOAL values the power of partnership and works with local and international partners to achieve its mission.

Purpose:

• Provide legal advice and support to the senior management team; board of directors; key departments and in-country management teams within GOAL
• Governance and company secretarial work: ensure statutory company secretarial obligations of group legal entities are complied with (e.g. ensure board meetings held; corporate records and statutory filings are maintained; etc).
• Compliance: ensure compliance with relevant laws applicable to GOAL and necessary filings with applicable regulators.
• Support the General Counsel and business to increase the quality of the legal documentation and business templates.
• Work closely with the Compliance function within GOAL to achieve the highest levels of compliance globally, including donor compliance.
• Maintain strict confidentiality, independence, integrity and awareness in all dealings so as to be able to spot and report any issues which may arise.
• Ability to build strong internal relationships.

Duties and responsibilities:

Commercial Contracting

• Review, draft and negotiate a broad and diverse range of contracts with our partners and suppliers globally, including key strategic projects; supplier/service/consultancy agreement; grant and sub-grant agreements; MOUs; NDAs; collaboration agreements etc
• Ensure timely progression of contracts and advising stakeholders on contractual obligations, potential legal risks and liabilities. Advise on negotiating/terminating existing contracts.
• Ensure back-to-back flow of liability from main contracts to sub- contracts, as necessary
• Assist in the development of best practices to maintain standard contract management, tools and precedents.

Legal Case Management (Ireland and International)

• Work with in-country management teams and the General Counsel to maintain and progress existing portfolio of legal cases/disputes before complaints bodies/courts/tribunals. Proactively seek out; identify; and work with the relevant in-country teams to assess and strategically analyse merits or not of each case.
• Lead roll out and management of case management software by all in-country teams and HQ.
• Provide timely and practical legal advice and guidance on non-contentious issues across the organisation to a wide range of departments and in-country teams. Ensure such advice and guidance is consistent with law and organisational policy; furthers the vision and mission and appropriately balances operational and programmatic objectives and legal risks.
• Support HR department on employment related issues.
• Provide legal guidance on data privacy matters and support the DPO.

Legal Advisory

• Governance: supporting corporate projects including inter-company frameworks/agreements.
• Compliance: supporting the compliance function, as necessary. Keep abreast of new laws; rules and regulations, ensuring best practice and compliance with company and charity law, among others.
• Liaise with external counsel as necessary, ensuring efficient and effective use of external costs.
• Participate in ad hoc projects and tasks as identified by General Counsel, including training and capacity building of governance and legal issues within the organisation.

Company Secretarial

• Prepare agendas and papers for board meetings, advisory board meetings and annual general meetings (AGMs) and follow up on action points.
• Take minutes, draft resolutions, and lodge required forms and annual returns with CRO; Companies House, relevant Charity Regulators; and other regulators/stakeholders.
• Maintain statutory books, including registers of members, directors, secretaries; beneficial owners; and sealing.
• Manage all in-country requests for a Power of Attorney/Legal Representative status; collating of information; drafting or reviewing of POA; obtaining necessary board approval; liaising with notary and the department or foreign affairs/embassy as relevant.
• Liaise with compliance to ensure policies are kept up-to-date; revised and if relevant, recommended by the relevant advisory board, for approval by the Board.
• Deal with correspondence, collate information and write reports, communicate decisions to relevant company stakeholders.
• Monitor changes in relevant legislation and the regulatory environment and take appropriate action/oversee systems that ensure the company complies with all applicable legal and statutory requirements.
• Liaise with external regulators and advisers, such as lawyers and auditors.
• Responsible for file administration.

Behaviours

• Act as a representative of GOAL and demonstrate the highest standards of behaviour towards children and vulnerable adults both in your private and professional life
• Show respect for the views and contributions of other team members; show empathy, listen, and consult team members and colleagues with a willingness to contribute to team spirit and reconcile conflict when it occurs
• Demonstrate through your behaviours the core humanitarian principle of seeking to advance the welfare of others
• Demonstrate personal resilience and a strong ability to self-manage in a demanding, fast-paced environment

Requirements:

Essential

A confident and capable lawyer, with experience of proactively managing sensitive, varied and fast-moving legal issues and caseloads. Able to work under pressure, be adaptive, reliable and willingness to operate within tight deadlines. Collaborate well with diverse international teams, working towards shared goals, and take into consideration multiple factors in analysing and strategising on legal matters and cases/disputes. A commitment to continuous improvement and learning.

• Law degree (recognised in Ireland and UK)
• Qualified solicitor or barrister with 6+ PQE
• Experience working in-house
• Hands on experience in contract drafting and negotiating
• Ability to implement legal requirements in a pragmatic way, consistent with company objectives
• Team player with strong business acumen and attention to detail
• Demonstrated interest in international development and humanitarian affairs
• Excellent communications (written and oral) and analytical skills
• Excellent IT skills (Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, OneDrive, Zoom/Teams etc.) and responsible for file administration
• Fluent English spoken and written (min C2, CEFR)

Highly Desirable

• Postgraduate degree in law
• Languages: French and/or Arabic
• Charity sector/regulated sector experience is highly desirable

Accountability within GOAL

A commitment to GOAL values and GOAL’s integrity framework is critical to working with GOAL. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability: 1) Comply with GOAL’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols; 2) Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area; 3) Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a GOAL staff or partner.

Safeguarding

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with GOAL as a result of our activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury and any other harm. One of the ways that GOAL shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

Equal Employer Statement

Consistent with GOAL’s core values of humanitarianism; integrity; respect; partnership and courage, we place a significant emphasis on equality in our working environment.

GOAL is committed to treating all its employees with dignity and respect and values diversity, which it believes enriches an organisation. To reinforce this commitment, all company activities, policies, practices and procedures are to be carried out in accordance with this global standard.

All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling GOAL’s commitment to equal employment opportunity and equal treatment. GOAL does not discriminate against any employee or volunteer; or any applicant for employment or volunteering on the basis of age, gender identity, ancestry, political opinion, civil status, medical condition, ethnic background, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

GOAL believes that our strong commitment to equal opportunity and equal treatment helps to ensure that there is no unjustified discrimination in the recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, compensation, benefits, retention, and discipline of staff and volunteers.

GOAL aims to provide a work environment that fosters fairness, equity, and respect for social and cultural diversity, and that is free from discrimination, harassment [and vilification] as determined by applicable laws.

General Terms and Conditions

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document.

You must hold a valid work permit/EU citizenship enabling you to work in Ireland in order to apply for this position

Our package includes a competitive salary, 22 days annual leave and the possibility to join our Health care scheme. Additional benefits are available after 12 months of service. Candidates must be entitled to work in Ireland at the time of application.

GOAL has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Child Protection Policy, which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants and children from exploitation. GOAL also has a confidentiality policy ensuring the non-disclosure of any information whatsoever relating to the practices and business of GOAL, acquired in the course of duty, to any other person or organisation without authority, except in the normal execution of duty. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to these policies any job offer made is also subject to police clearance. GOAL is an equal opportunities employer.

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document. Any published closing dates are estimated. Due to the nature of GOAL’s work we aim to fill vacancies as quickly as possible. This means that we will close adverts as soon as we have found the right candidate and this may be before the published closing date. We would therefore advise interested applicants to submit an application as early as possible.