Legal Officer

European Stability Mechanism

Luxembourg

Reports to: Senior Legal Officer (Lending/Banking) 

SECTION 1 — POSITION SUMMARY

Position Objective:

To supplement the lending, banking and restructuring capability of the ESM Legal Department and to provide more legal resource in this and other areas where the department is engaged.

Key Accountabilities:

• Assist the Senior Legal Officer responsible for managing the Lending and Banking legal team in drafting, developing, negotiating and executing the financial instruments being deployed by the ESM under its financial assistance facilities;
• Advise the ESM banking team on the elaboration of bank restructuring plans;
• Advise on and participate in the negotiation of state-aid procedures with the European Commission;
• Negotiation of framework agreements with authorities in bail-in situations, for different institutions, in different jurisdictions;
• Negotiate agreements with national authorities, the European Commission and the ECB in bank resolution proceedings, including write-offs and write-down on investments;
• Manage potential litigation claims (in conjunction with local counsel) in various European jurisdictions;
• Support the legal team in managing the legal aspects of the ESM and EFSF generally;
• Complete the administrative tasks related to the above responsibilities.

Main interactions with other functions/external entities:

• Frequent interaction with various ESM departments and external lawyers from leading international law firms as well as other external service providers.

SECTION 2 — REQUIRED KEY SKILL SET AND PREFERRED PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES 

KEY SKILL SET

• Highly skilled, mid-level lawyer with good experience of restructuring in the financial sector, preferably cross-border, a good knowledge of structured finance and banking generally, including bank capital and bank insolvency, work-outs and standstill agreements, intercreditor arrangements and bank regulation;
• Knowledge of public international law and EU law is preferred;
• Very good skills and substantial experience in drafting and reviewing legal documentation;
• Fluent written and spoken English and the ability to produce the highest quality work when drafting legal documents in English;
• Knowledge of both common law and civil law preferred.

We will consider a lawyer with a primary focus currently in pure restructuring (with extensive financial sector experience), or in a regulatory role with practical experience in financial restructuring.

PREFERRED PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Demonstrated ability to work within in a team and with highly motivated and experienced finance or economics professionals, either as internal or external clients;
• Highly organised and methodical;
• Problem solver, with creative legal skills and good attention to detail;
• Fast-learner, proactive and independent;
• Analytic and reliable;
• Convincing;
• Stress resistant.

The candidate must have the ability to work on a number of matters at the same time and within a framework dictated by the operational units of the ESM and its Member States, often to demanding deadlines. 

SECTION 3 — FORMAL QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS 

FORMAL QUALIFICATIONS:

Essential:

• Excellent academic credentials, including a high honours university degree and a full legal professional qualification; a relevant master's degree (LL.M) would be an asset;
• More than 5 years of relevant experience, in particular with bank restructuring/bank resolution law, and preferably in structured finance, public international law and EU law;
• A good practical understanding of economics and finance.

Desirable:

• The working language of the ESM is exclusively English, but fluency in one or more other languages of the EU (especially French and German) would be an advantage.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Years of experience required for the position:

• 5+ years post qualification experience with bank restructuring/bank resolution law expertise, experience in structured finance is an advantage.

Background:

• Applications from all nationalities are welcome.

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