Relief International
Chief Legal Officer (Legal)
Title: Chief Legal Officer
Department: Legal Department
Location: Washington, DC or London, UK
Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer
Direct reports: Legal Operations Manager, Awards Management Unit
Budget responsibility: Legal: $740,000, Awards Management: $780,000
* This role is classified as requiring advanced pre-employment checks
About Relief International
Relief International (RI) is a leading non-profit organization working in 16 countries globally to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and chronic poverty.
RI combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact and resilience. We focus on health/nutrition, education, economic opportunity, and water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) programming while integrating protection, environment/climate change, and conflict mitigation in partnership with the communities we serve. We empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.
RI includes the three corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, and MRCA/RI-France. Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure.
About our Programs
RI is active in 16 countries around the world, including some of the most fragile: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. Often, RI is the only organization providing assistance to highly vulnerable communities.
RI employs about 5,000 staff and auxiliary workers
97% of staff are local nationals and there are about 90 international (expat) staff.
2021 programs budget is about $125M
RI receives funding from a broad range of institutional donors – US,UK, Europe, and the UN, to delivery life-saving and resilience building programming with communities and local and international partners. RI supports solutions that reinforce and improve upon existing in-country systems. Where such systems do not exist or are chronically underperforming, RI's crisis response lays the foundation for long-term, sustainable change.
Position Summary
The Legal Department provides legal counsel and support to all areas of Relief International, including executive and senior management, programs, ethics and investigations, resource development, finance, and human resources as well as corporate governance services to the Relief International Alliance Boards of Directors.
The Chief Legal Officer directs the legal affairs of Relief International's Corporate Alliance. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Legal Officer is a member of the senior management team with full responsibility for the Legal Department and Awards Management Unity staff and budget. The Chief Legal Officer provides counsel to the CEO, Boards of Directors, and leadership team members. As a member of the senior management team, the Chief Legal Officer is part of the corporate team that shapes and drives Relief International's strategic direction.
Key Responsibilities and Duties.
Safeguarding and conduct
Culture and leadership
Other duties as required for this role.
Role requirements.
Experience and skills required for the role.
RI Values.
Guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as well as “Do No Harm,” Relief International Values:
We value:
How to apply.
Closing date. Please apply immediately we will be reviewing applicants on a rolling basis, therefore may withdraw the position for the job board closing date.
Please apply by uploading your cover letter and up-to-date CV on our website .
Due to limited resources, only short-listed candidates will be contacted
Relief International has a zero-tolerance policy for unlawful harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse. Relief International is committed to protecting our staff and the communities we work with from abuse and harm including sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
All staff are expected to abide by our Code of Conduct.
Recruitment to all roles in Relief International include a criminal records self-declaration, references and other pre-employment checks, which may include police and qualifications checks.
COVID 19: To ensure a safe workplace, RI follows government requirements, and in some locations a mandatory vaccination policy applies. When working or traveling on RI business, all staff, contractors and visitors must follow the rules and entry requirements of the country.
See Job Description