Legal Adviser - Sanctions
Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade
📍 Wellington (NZ) ⏳ 29/06/2025
💰 $104,670 to $141,612 NZD 🕔 Full Time
The Legal Adviser is a specialist professional position in the New Zealand Sanctions Unit, working with others in the team to provide sound legal and policy advice on the development, interpretation and implementation of New Zealand’s Russia and UN sanctions legislation. We are looking for an experienced legal specialist keen to get involved in this dynamic area. Your responsibilities will include:
Designing effective regulations under the Russia Sanctions Act and UN Sanctions Act, consistent with legislation and executive approvals
Provide written legal and policy advice to support questions of interpretation, responses to enquiries, and ongoing regulatory improvements
Issuing drafting instructions to the Parliamentary Council Office, and working with Crown Law and other agencies as required
Contributing to the on-going improvement of the sanction’s regulatory framework
Working as part of an active and welcoming team
This is exciting and challenging work and will see you working through complex legal issues, coaching and mentoring other staff, and engaging with other MFAT teams, other agencies and international partners as required. For more detail you can view the position description here.
Who are we looking for? - Mā wai te mahi nei?
We’d like to hear from you if you have the following skills and experience:
A Bachelor’s Law degree as a minimum
Admitted to the bar (with the ability to obtain a New Zealand practicing certificate)
Experience/knowledge in domestic law, and government regulatory practice or a commercial legal field relevant to sanctions
Understanding of The Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti, Te Reo Māori and Māori customs and protocols would be beneficial
To Apply/Interested? - Me pēhea te tuku tono
Apply today with your CV and cover letter. If you have any questions about this opportunity, please email recruitment@mfat.govt.nz. To be considered for this position at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade you must be a NZ citizen, or Permanent Resident.
You must be able to obtain and maintain a Confidential security clearance. Ordinarily, to obtain this level of clearance candidates must have sufficient checkable background in countries where meaningful and reliable checks can be undertaken. Where requisite checks are unable to be made, the candidate application may not be able to be progressed.
Use this online tool to self-check your eligibility for a Confidential clearance. Please note that this tool is not part of the formal security clearance process. Please let us know if you need any support or have any access requirements that will help you through the recruitment process.
