Legal Advisor

The Negotiations Affairs Department of the PLO is looking for qualified advisors for the following
position to join the Negotiations Support Unit in
Ramallah:

Main duties and responsibilities:
1-Identifying all Palestinian positions which require strengthening or development from scratch if Palestinian negotiators are to be completely prepared for permanent status talks, and planning distinct research projects to meet these needs. At the start of each six month period advisers will identify all remaining work for their file.
2-Undertaking research to answer questions identified during the planning process.
3-Writing Terms of Reference for research projects to be carried out by an external adviser, monitoring the interim outputs of that adviser and ensuring that the final product meets the content needs and quality standards.
4-Communicating the conclusions of the research and its implications for existing Palestinian negotiation positions to the relevant ministers and negotiators, and securing authorization for changes in official policies or further work. This is likely to be done through both written documents and oral presentations.
5-Working with relevant negotiators, ministers and external advisers to develop an overall strategy for the negotiation of all issues within the adviser’s file, including the sequence according to which issues will be addressed, positions which should not be compromised and those where a fallback position is acceptable.
6-Drafting legal text intended to form the basis of any future agreement on permanent status which accurately reflects Palestinian positions and conforms with standards and principles of international law.
7-Capturing all research outputs, policy decisions and negotiation strategies relevant to the particular file in a single document.
8-Providing progress reports to the management at monthly and six monthly intervals.
9-Ensuring coherence of work with negotiation positions developed for other files and informing other advisers of significant developments within one’s own file such as leadership decisions, Monitoring how Israeli policies are impacting Palestinian rights and long‐term interests and recommending to the leadership the steps which should be taken in response.
10-Supporting preparations for, and the conduct of, interim negotiations with Israel concerning any issues.
11-Analyzing how Palestinians should respond to any Israeli actions or initiatives by foreign governments intended to support the peace process, or to prepare for any upcoming diplomatic event, and communicating these recommendations to the NAD or other members of the Palestinian leadership.
12-Communicating Palestinian policies and activities relating to the above three points to the international diplomatic community.
13-Meeting outputs and events in the international diplomatic community.
14-Working with the Communications Department to produce written material, presentations, maps and other material to influence foreign and Israeli media.
15-Providing advice when needed on subjects not directly related to her or his assigned files such as International Humanitarian Law, Israeli law, Israeli politics, the history of negotiations and so forth.

Qualifications, experience and skills required:
1-Holder of law degree.
2-At least four years experience in practice of public international law, or advising governments or NGOs in connection with international humanitarian law or political negotiations.
3-Experience in project management is preferred.
4-Top‐tier educational background, with a focus on international law.
5-Extensive Knowledge in the Palestinian cause and context.
6-Extensive experience in public speaking.
7-Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic.
8-Demonstrated, dynamic, and inter‐personal communications capability and capacity to work within and lead a team.
9-Excellent command in Microsoft office.

Interested applicants must send their resume, cover letter setting out how they meet the
required qualifications and references to the following email address by July 12th 2010.