M22134 Legal Counsel- Regulatory Affairs

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT®, is a not-for-profit agricultural research for development organization with partners in over 100 countries. Please refer to our website for more information: www.cimmyt.org

CIMMYT is seeking a dynamic, self-motivated, and service-oriented professional for the position of Legal Counsel-Regulatory Affairs to work in the Legal Unit of CIMMYT.

The position is based at CIMMYT’s campus in Texcoco, State of Mexico, located 45 km northeast of Mexico City, Mexico.

• Execute and implement the Contract Life Cycle Management (development, drafting, review, negotiation, amendment and release, quality control, and archiving) of a wide array of agreements entered by CIMMYT with its national and international (private and public) partners and service providers, globally. Including the conduction of the Legal and Risk assessments and the maintenance of the Legal Contractual Risk Matrix and the Grant Obligation Matrix in coordination with other Service Areas.
• Research and analyze treaties, laws, regulations, policies, and procedures from a variety of legal areas and jurisdictions where CIMMYT operates to ensure its compliance, to provide legal counsel and advice in diverse areas, including all areas related to corporate, criminal, regulatory, labor, tax, administrative and litigation legislation, drafting legal opinions, notes, letters, memoranda, and other legal documents.
• Ensure proper follow-up of entrusted matters, tracking these in the provided dashboards and KPI monitoring tools that will be used to prepare the progress update to the relevant areas and the timely completion of service ticketing systems requests for the review and drafting of various agreements legal matters.
• Suggestion, implementation, and monitoring of the continuous improvement of Contract Life Cycle processes, including but not limited to automation of processes, creation of templates, continued implementation, and improvement of dashboards and KPI monitoring tools, optimization of contract processes, procedures, and guidelines.
• Ensure that CIMMYT is up to date with any legal and regulatory requirements in Mexico and the diverse jurisdictions it operates, providing legal support and advice, including but not limited to privacy and data protection, ethics in research, occupational health and safety, phytosanitary, environmental matters, working with CSP and Programs to align operations, policies, and procedures.
• Provide legal support for updating, developing, and implementing policies, procedures, processes, and other operational changes necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Represent CIMMYT before different Government Agencies. Represent the Legal Department and CIMMYT before different authorities and forums.
• Support the corporate governance functions, issuance, and management of power of attorney, drafting, formalizing minutes, and other CIMMYT Statutory obligations.
• Oversight of Staff, interns, and consultants engaged in the Contract Life Cycle, Coordination, and supervision of Outside Counsel.
• Prepare educational materials and provide training for staff and stakeholders to support institutional policies and procedures.
• Support the Compliance Function, particularly for case management (entry, closing, follow-up, etc.) in coordination with HR, ensuring that all of the information required is obtained and properly documented, including filing the dashboards and reports necessary to ensure complaints are processed in a timely manner.
• Perform other related tasks within the job level as may be requested by the immediate supervisor.

Requirements

• The selected candidate must have a bachelor's degree in law, a master's degree/LL.M. in Corporate or International Law are desirable.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working in a similar position.
• Additional experience or knowledge in private and public sector industries related to agricultural R&D, biotechnology, or big data is a plus.
• Advanced level of English. English will be tested, and the candidate should score a minimum of C1 on CEFR.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Adobe software. Experience with ticketing systems software is desirable.
• The candidate must exhibit a sense of urgency and commitment to his responsibilities and deadlines.
• The selected candidate must exhibit the following competencies: Teamwork, Customer Orientation, Critical and Creative thinking, Communication, Problem-Solving decision-making, Negotiation, and Conflict resolution.

Benefits

CIMMYT offers an attractive remuneration package and support for continuous professional development. In addition to the provisions of the Mexican Labor Law our package of benefits includes year-end bonus (40 days), vacation premium (56%), life and medical insurance, supermarket coupons, savings fund, social Mexican benefits (IMSS, SAR / Infonavit).