Legal Consultant – Contractual Commercial Law

Job Description

Legal Consultant | World Food Programme

The Tone:
This is a Legal Consultant role at the World Food Programme, located in Rome. The World Food Programme is the largest humanitarian organization globally, dedicated to saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build pathways to peace and stability for those recovering from conflict, disasters, and extreme weather. This role is crucial in providing practical, solution-oriented legal services across institutional, operational, and corporate matters, ensuring all WFP activities comply with applicable legal frameworks and that legal risks are appropriately identified and managed in support of its global humanitarian mandate.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Contract
• Location: In-person, Rome

• Team: Contractual and Constitutional Law Branch (LEGC), reporting to a Legal Officer
• Mission: Provide comprehensive legal advice and support on diverse contractual and constitutional matters, including private-sector partnerships, to ensure WFP’s legal compliance and effective risk management.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Legal Research & Analysis: Undertake extensive legal research and analysis, handling complex multi-disciplinary legal matters to facilitate quality legal services.
• Document Review & Advice: Review legal documents, identify important issues, and prepare legal opinions or advice on a wide range of legal matters, supporting decision-making.
• Contract Management: Negotiate and draft agreements and contracts with various public and private entities, including governments, UN organizations, NGOs, and private sector partners, and assist with contractual interpretation and disputes.
• Risk Mitigation: Identify potential liabilities, particularly involving third parties, and assist in managing legal risks across WFP’s activities to support well-informed decisions.
• Organizational Support: Service and assist senior legal officers in providing legal advice to committees, task forces, and expert working groups, contributing to the formulation of WFP’s position.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Advanced university degree in law, or a first university degree in law with additional relevant experience and training, preferably focusing on private commercial law, finance law, and/or public international law.
• Experience: At least three years of professional experience as a lawyer in a law firm, a private-sector legal department with international exposure, or an international organization, specifically in the area of finance and commercial law.
• Skills: Technical knowledge of finance and commercial law, demonstrated ability to draft ad-hoc contracts appropriate to counterparty and context, a solution-oriented and proactive mindset with strong commercial acumen, and proven ability to manage multiple projects while meeting tight deadlines.
• Bonus: Experience or knowledge of technology law, intellectual property, and data protection law, or familiarity with UN system policies, rules, regulations, and procedures.