SOUTH ASIA LEGAL OFFICER, TRUSTLAW

Job Description

Organisation: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Deadline 25 October 2019 (Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis)

Job type: Permanent

Location: Mumbai India

SOUTH ASIA LEGAL OFFICER, TRUSTLAW

Thomson Reuters Foundation

We are the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. Established in 1984, the Foundation has 100 staff members in 17 locations around the world, and works to advance media freedom, raise awareness of human rights issues, and develop initiatives to support more inclusive economies.

We believe in the power of information and collaboration to shape a more fair and equal world. Through global news coverage, media development, free legal assistance and our convening authority, we seek to inform, connect and empower people around the world. Our mission is to inspire collective leadership by building global awareness of the challenges facing humanity, and empowering others to shape free, fair and open societies.

TrustLaw

TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono legal program. Our mission is to spread the practice of pro bono worldwide to drive social change. We help high-impact NGOs and social enterprises to grow, streamline their operations and navigate complex laws and regulations by connecting them with free legal assistance from the best law firms around the world. We also deliver groundbreaking legal research on key social and policy issues that our members use to support their advocacy and law reform efforts. Requests from our members for pro bono legal advice range from everyday commercial matters (corporate structuring, IP, non-profit governance or employment advice) to large-scale, cross-border research on complex social or policy issues.

Launched in 2010, TrustLaw has grown to include over 5000 members, including law firms, in-house legal teams and NGOs and social enterprises.

The Foundation is recruiting a highly skilled lawyer to work as Legal Officer – South Asia, TrustLaw. The position would be based in Mumbai (in the Thomson Reuters office) and would provide support to TrustLaw activities across South Asia.

Responsibilities

This will include:

• Handle pro bono requests from our community of non-profits and social enterprises from start to finish: working with our members to scope their legal needs and define their requests for advice and assistance, placing projects with lawyers and following up with the parties involved.
• Scope, structure and help to manage cross-border legal research that address the complex social and policy issues our NGO and social enterprise members work to tackle.
• Develop TrustLaw’s relationships with our law firm and in-house legal team members, particularly those based in South Asia, and facilitate their engagement with the service.
• Support the growth of our legal membership by helping to recruit the strongest law firms and corporate in-house legal teams in the region.
• Represent TrustLaw and the Thomson Reuters Foundation by speaking publicly about our work to diverse audiences at conferences and other speaking engagements.
• Support the team on thought leadership projects including the TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono and TrustLaw training courses .
• Support the managing and engaging of NGOs, social enterprises, and legal team members of TrustLaw’s network through strong one-to-one relationship management to ensure TrustLaw regional quality and growth metrics are met.
• Support regional travel and events by: identifying potential members for recruitment; researching key legal issues; and planning events and workshops.
• Support regional communications including regional newsletters; publication of reports; promotion of events; and social media.
• Support the further development and implementation of a regional strategy to expand TrustLaw membership, ensuring we serve the best NGOs and social enterprises, as well as the strongest law firms and corporate in-house legal teams.
• Seek out and developing fruitful relationships with potential partners and members to further the mission of TrustLaw.
• Provide support to TrustLaw activities across South Asia and globally as required.

Key skills and experience

• A qualified lawyer with 2- 3 years of experience in a commercial legal environment and a good understanding of the commercial legal industry in South Asia.
• Experience and/or a demonstrated interest in the legal pro bono sector, with knowledge of key global pro bono trends.
• Excellent drafting skills, good communicator, fluent in English and a South Asian language, who will be able to draft and scope projects and confidently present the TrustLaw service to professionals from diverse cultures.
• A highly motivated self-starter with an ability to work independently, contribute ideas to the team and drive projects to completion.
• A confident public speaker and strong networker.
• An ability to work quickly and to a high standard under pressure and to juggle multiple tasks to meet tight deadlines.
• Willingness to travel internationally.

Desirables:

• Experience working on social or policy issues.
• Experience with non-profits and social entrepreneurship
• An understanding of the challenges and opportunities that NGOs and social enterprises face around the world.

Deadline for applications:

25 October 2019 (Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis)

Salary:

The salary is relative to the charitable sector and will be commensurate with experience.

Applicants must have the right to work in India.

To apply for this position, send your CV and covering letter describing how you meet the specifications for this role and what you would bring to it with the subject line “South Asia Legal Officer”.

At Thomson Reuters, we believe what we do matters. We are passionate about our work, inspired by the impact it has on our business and our customers. As a team, we believe in winning as one - collaborating to reach shared goals, and developing through challenging and meaningful experiences. With more than 25,000 employees in more than 100 countries, we work flexibly across boundaries and realize innovations that help shape industries around the world. Making this happen is a dynamic, evolving process, and we count on each employee to be a catalyst in driving our performance - and their own.

As a global business, we rely on diversity of culture and thought to deliver on our goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. Thomson Reuters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer providing a drug-free workplace.

We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law.

Intrigued by a challenge as large and fascinating as the world itself? Come join us.
To learn more about what we offer, please visit thomsonreuters.com/careers .
More information about Thomson Reuters can be found on thomsonreuters.com .