Senior Legal Officer, Trade & Investment Law Disputes & Advisory in Canberra

The Office of International Law (OIL) is responsible for supporting the Attorney-General as First Law Officer, through the provision of legal advice on Australia's international legal obligations to the Attorney-General, Cabinet and Government entities. OIL is also responsible for the conduct of all international dispute settlement involving Australia (with the exception of World Trade Organization disputes).

OIL is looking to fill positions in the Trade and Investment Law Disputes and Advisory practice group. The advisory team advises on international trade, investment and intellectual property law matters in a range of high-profile government policy contexts, such as the net zero transition, national security and the digital economy. The team also acts as legal advisors to trade and investment agreement negotiations and supports the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the conduct of World Trade Organization disputes. The disputes team is currently engaged in a number of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) disputes.

We are looking for candidates with interest and experience in legal advising, litigation and dispute resolution, and/or international trade, investment and intellectual property law. We welcome applications from lawyers with skills and experience in government, commercial and public international law. Experience in complex legal advising, leading workstreams, and supervising junior lawyers in fast-paced environments will be highly regarded.

How you can help us make a difference

We seek people who bring new ideas, diverse experience, and global perspectives. People who work with us will display leadership at all levels, apply information effectively to solve problems, and work collaboratively to achieve outcomes.

Senior Legal Officers (SLO) are responsible for leading workstreams, providing advice on the most complex matters, and supervising and mentoring Legal Officers and Graduates in the team. The tasks and key projects that Senior Legal Officers may be allocated include:

• providing legal advice to Australian government agencies on complex matters of international law
• running international litigation and dispute settlement processes, including preparation of written and oral pleadings and managing evidence
• negotiating treaties on a range of subjects
• advocating for Australia's interests in international organisations
• engaging with clients across government
• supervising junior staff

For these positions, applicants must hold a degree in law from an Australian tertiary institution or comparable overseas qualification, which, in the opinion of the Secretary, is appropriate to the duties of the office, and be admitted in Australia as a legal practitioner (or be eligible to be admitted).

Merit Pools

A merit list or pool may be created as part of this selection process and be used to fill similar vacancies in Canberra, ACT. Flexible work arrangements will be considered and supported where possible. These may include:

• Job Share
• Hybrid Work
• Remote Work
• Compressed Hours
• Bandwidth Modification

AGD is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive working environment. We actively support and encourage people of all backgrounds; gender, age, ethnicity, race, cultural background, disability, religion and sexual orientation to apply and aim to ensure that the recruitment and employee experience is as accessible and inclusive as possible.