Legal Counsel ME

The role holder will be expected to take a proactive and hands-on approach to all legal, compliance and data privacy tasks that may be assigned to them and to develop an expertise across a broad range of subject areas.

The role will require providing accurate, timely and pragmatic advice to senior managers and other members of the team on a variety of legal, compliance and data privacy topics that relate to the legal entities, business sector and their products or services, providing confidence in subject matters and commercial risks.

1. Research and evaluate different risk factors regarding business decisions and operations and deal with complex matters with multiple stakeholders and develop best practices for reducing the Region's contractual risks.
2. Apply effective risk management techniques and offer proactive advice on possible legal, compliance and data privacy issues.
3. Provide advice to and support commercial and product teams, draft templates, review and negotiate on all aspects of commercial agreements, particularly digital and technology services, marketing regulations and consumer rights, with a focus on: NDA's, PoA's, MOU's, LoI's; Distribution, Agency, General T's and C's, Master Services, Supply, SaaS and License (IP/IT) Agreements, EULA's and DPA's; and manage trademark and patent registrations, in addition to handling all IP disputes and litigation.
4. Prepare, negotiate, and advise on all aspects relating to multiple consumer contracts and commercial matters, including dispute resolution which may arise for the R&D, digital access solutions and Yale product teams, particularly in relation to cloud-hosting, advertising standards and competition law in a multi-vendor/multi-customer environment.
5. Able to handle litigation/disputes and manage external legal counsel/budgets (where relevant).
6. Keep abreast of and support the region with regulatory developments, in particular with regards to consumer legislation, industry initiatives in areas of practice, IoT-related technology, data privacy regulation and the licensing in respect of centralized digital solutions and platforms and advise and update team members and stakeholders accordingly.
7. Develop, implement and roll-out compliance policies, practices, and training in respect of anti-corruption, anti-trust and export controls and related tools.
8. Responsible for assisting and advising the business in implementing compliance measures including compliance with local privacy legislation. This will include identifying and evaluating the ME Region data processing activities, providing guidance, and implementing processes as and when necessary. You will also have supervisory responsibility in the case of any reporting requirements.
9. Work closely in supporting HR in the resolution of labor matters, whistleblowing cases and code of conduct investigations.
10. Work with the various legal entities to improve business standards and reduce risk, including by drafting and assisting the CFO, HR and the Operations teams in the roll-out of new policies, procedures and templates and providing training on legal, compliance and data privacy practical issues.
11. Communicate and negotiate with external parties (suppliers, customers, regulators, external counsel, etc.) creating relationships based on trust and being a business-enabler.
12. Responsible for licenses renewals and handling legal, compliance, signatory and other formal documentation with government authorities and NIP.
13. As and when the need arises, enhance the existing contract review procedures.
14. Work closely with the VP & General Counsel EMEIA, Compliance Officer EMEIA and Data Protection Manager (DPM) EMEIA, as required.
15. Carry out such other work and other tasks as required by the VP & General Counsel EMEIA, the CFO and/or the Senior Management team.

1. Qualified Lawyer holding a current practicing certificate in Law
2. 5-7 years post qualification experience gained from a reputable law firm and/or corporate company
3. Previous experience as legal counsel in business environment/in-house is a must
4. Proficient in English and Arabic.