Deputy Director (Litigation, Legal Advisory & Contracts) | NAFSA

This position is being recruited by Pakistan Single Window (PSW) on behalf of the National Agri-Trade and Food Safety Authority (NAFSA). NAFSA is being established as a strategic national initiative to strengthen Pakistan’s agri-trade ecosystem through enhanced regulatory oversight, facilitation, and modernization of food safety and trade processes. The selected candidate will be part of NAFSA’s foundational team, contributing to the development of systems, processes, and institutional capabilities.

Responsibilities:

• Lead day-to-day management of NAFSA’s litigation portfolio, including case intake, classification, strategy coordination, and end-to-end case tracking across courts/tribunals.
• Coordinate with panel counsel/law firms on pleadings, court filings, responses, and hearing preparations; ensure timely submissions, follow-ups, and compliance with court directions and timelines.
• Maintain litigation calendars, cause lists, hearing trackers, and status dashboards; escalate high-risk matters and adverse developments to the Director Legal with recommended actions.
• Prepare case briefs, factual chronologies, document bundles, and management notes for senior leadership; support evidence compilation and document verification in coordination with relevant Wings/Directorates.
• Provide legal advisory support to leadership and directorates on regulatory, administrative, operational enforcement, and contractual matters to ensure decisions are legally sound, proportionate, and defensible.
• Review, draft, and negotiate contracts, MoUs, SLAs, service agreements, and procurement-related legal documents (including bidding documents, award communications, and grievance/redressal support as applicable) to ensure compliance with applicable laws/procurement rules and to mitigate legal and commercial risks.
• Support development, vetting, and review of legal instruments (rules/regulations, notifications, SOPs, internal policies, standard templates) in coordination with SAPW/OW and relevant stakeholders, ensuring consistency with the NAFSA Act and notified frameworks.
• Handle legal notices, show-cause communications, complaints/disputes, and regulatory queries by drafting responses, coordinating approvals, and maintaining complete documentation and audit trails.
• Maintain secure legal repositories including litigation case files, legal opinions, precedents, templates, contract repositories, and correspondence, ensuring confidentiality, version control, and retrievability.
• Monitor legal and regulatory developments relevant to NAFSA’s mandate (including administrative law, procurement/legal precedents, and SPS-related legal instruments where applicable) and advise the Director Legal/management on implications and required updates
• Support internal compliance and legal risk management activities by contributing to the legal risk register, tracking mitigation actions, and reporting emerging risks.
• Perform any other duties assigned by the Director Legal consistent with NAFSA’s mandate.

Requirements

Education:

• LLB / Law degree (Minimum sixteen years of education) from a recognised institution; LLM preferred.

Experience:

• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in litigation, legal advisory, contracts, or public sector regulatory law.
• Strong drafting, negotiation, and legal research skills.
• Ability to manage multiple cases and deadlines with high integrity and confidentiality.
• Strong integrity, accuracy, and attention to detail.
• Familiarity with public procurement/legal compliance frameworks (preferred).

For contact, kindly reach out to hr.support@psw.gov.pk