Senior Legal Assistant at International Finance Corporation (IFC)

The Legal Department of IFC (CLED), under the Vice President and General Counsel, is responsible for providing legal and policy advice to the IFC Board, its Management and client departments on operational, advisory and corporate matters. Specifically, CLED supports client departments in (i) the delivery of IFC’s annual program of financing private sector projects in emerging markets; (ii) project portfolio management (including jeopardy projects and projects in litigation); (iii) the delivery and design of structured finance products, sub-sovereign lending, equity and quasi-equity, public-private partnerships, and carbon finance transactions; (iv) advising on corporate policy and operational matters such as operating policies and procedures and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Funding of Terrorism; and (v) knowledge management and training.  To support IFC’s growing activities in Africa, CLED is recruiting a qualified Legal Assistant, to be based in either of these locations Johannesburg, South Africa or Nairobi, Kenya or Dakar, Senegal.

Duties And Responsibilities:

• Prepare supporting documentation for internal and external matters, e.g. powers of attorney, proxies, signature designations, counsel retainer faxes and Article III notices (notifying governments of an IFC investment); 
• Assist IFC in-house counsel in preparing and reviewing legal documentation; prepare routine amendments, consents and waivers;
• Liaise with IFC external counsel, where required;
• Attend to the signing of transaction documents and completion of conditions to disbursement; 
• Attend to the filing of transaction documents in accordance with IFC guidelines and practices;
• Perform other routine portfolio administration of IFC’s debt and equity investments;
• Handle and review transaction documents for IFC’s advisory program under appropriate supervision by IFC in-house counsel and follow up on the completion of any such agreements with IFC staff; 
• Assist IFC in-house counsel with general tasks relating to advisory matters;
• Identify and analyze legal and policy issues associated with investment or advisory projects; 
• Contribute to and support CLED’s Knowledge Management objectives.

Selection Criteria

• Strong oral and written communication skills in English.
• Strong oral and written communication skills in French (preferred)
• Excellent analytical and research skills.
• Ability to provide effective legal assistance to IFC in-house counsel by performing multiple, concurrent and progressively more difficult assignments.
• Ability to handle a diverse range of issues within tight deadlines.
• Ability to prioritize and manage tasks effectively.
• Ability to work independently and take initiative in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work as a team member in a multi-cultural environment.
• Word processing experience and proficient computer skills, particularly in using information databases, internet/intranet services and library sources.
• An undergraduate (college) degree and ideally some combination of undergraduate legal courses, training offered by a professional institution or law firm and /or several years of relevant experience in assisting lawyers with the preparation and handling of legal documentation.