Senior Legal Counsel

JOB PURPOSE

The jobholder is responsible to provide expert and specialized legal advice on the assigned legal matters in line with the legal department function statement and mandate to support Borouge's business, operations, assets, revenues, and people.

As a provider of expert services on the entire gamut of legal affairs and matters of the company, legal opinions, advice, interpretations, complex risk mitigations, and due diligence on contracts, agreements, deeds, and other legal documents for all functions, recommending on settlement of claims, interfacing with external counsel regarding litigation that the company is involved in, and advising on alternative dispute resolution.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Legal Advisory Support

• Provide legal support on all major business transactions, contracts, business agreements, divestitures, joint ventures, and all other legal-related documents.
• Provide legal support to all internal parties within the company on all legal and related matters for their respective regions.
• Advise and consult on legal matters to ensure that legal requirements are fully incorporated into the Company's practices.
• Conduct and communicate awareness messages and sessions regarding legal matters to ensure alignment and understanding by different stakeholders.
• Accountable for reviewing formal business communications to ensure they meet legal requirements.
• Establish and communicate legal guidelines that contribute to meeting the required level of legal compliance by company staff, along with training sessions and materials across respective stakeholders and Borouge employees.
• Develop guidelines to meet the contractual requirements to enable the development and updates of contracts to document intercompany arrangements.
• Prepare and perform other ad hoc matters and reports as assigned by the General Counsel, Owners, CEO, and management.

Litigation

• Counsel on other legal matters within the responsibility and expertise of the Legal Department to enable the company to comply with statutory legal obligations and mitigate risks.
• Manage external lawyers to represent the company in court to safeguard the company's interests.
• Support the General Counsel on the drafting of complex commercial contracts and other ad hoc tasks as assigned.
• Support litigation, disputes, corporate investigations, and the internal audit team as needed.
• Consult with management on high-level impact situations to minimize or eliminate any potential risk.

Commercial & Contractual Matters

• Act, advise, and review contractual agreements and templates as required by process owners within acceptable time limits.
• Draft, review, and participate in negotiating commercial contracts (service agreements, confidentiality agreements, etc.).
• Revise and draft legal-related terms into corporate forms to ensure compliance with domestic regulations.
• Advise on commercial and contractual matters as required by the process owners to ensure capturing any legal considerations.
• Lead the legal aspects of a broad range of commercial matters balancing several goals with the objective to minimize risk and maximize benefits to the company.
• Advise and review contracts, including contracts with customers and suppliers (e.g., sales & purchase agreements, service agreements, license agreements, confidentiality agreements, tolling agreements, general services agreements, etc.).
• Interpret the Articles of Association, joint-venture agreements, board/owners decisions, and other instructional documents to ensure compliance with corporate governance documents, including AoA and JV Agreements as assigned by the General Counsel.
• Align with shareholders' legal departments.

Corporate Functions Support

• Review the compliance of legislative aspects and regulations in all employee interface policies and procedures.
• Review and recommend amendments to policies and procedures to eliminate any deviation from mandatory legal requirements.
• Participate in investigation committees and sessions to integrate the legal aspects as part of the committee decisions subject to applicable policies and procedures.
• Ensure that intercompany arrangements are properly documented and archived.
• Provide preventive legal advice on all topics to minimize disputes and litigation, which is costly to the company.
• Involved in the preparation, review, and negotiation of company contractual transactions to limit potential risk exposure, providing legal representation for the company, ensuring that all matters of business comply with company policies and ethical standards.
• Provision of comprehensive legal services to the contract and procurement function.
• Risk transactions on international deals that require negotiation of issues involving International Law.
• Study and scan contractor's claims likely to affect the company's operations, analyzing claims and making legal recommendations while ensuring all relevant points are brought to the attention of the Commercial Division.
• Participate in negotiation of settlements of disputes arising out of claims or contracts as required, prepare submissions in arbitration cases, and coordinate with the company advocate when representing the company in court actions both locally and abroad.
• Advise on corporate governance and provide recommendations on the adoption of corporate governance policies.
• Advise management on legal and regulatory changes that impact the business of the company.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

Minimum Qualification

• University degree in Law; a Master's Degree is preferred.
• Fluency in English Language; written and oral.
• Specialist expertise in a wide area of law and commercial practices, including:
• Contract and Commercial Law of the UAE and wider Middle Eastern region.
• Labour law.

Minimum Experience & Knowledge & Skills

• Minimum of 8 years gained with a law firm or as an in-house lawyer of an MNC.
• Minimum of 6 years of work experience in the UAE.
• Experience in EPC contracting and contracting for large projects is desired.
• Experience in managing people is desired.
• Ability to influence key decision-makers within and outside the company.
• Ability to prioritize tasks and focus on high-risk areas.
• Ability to work independently in the drafting, reviewing, and negotiating of transactional documents on a broad range of routine to complex transactions.
• Problem-solving skills: Identify, analyze, and provide solutions to complex problems, taking into account company policies and processes, legal requirements, risks, and the company's objectives.
• Good judgment: Able to understand and assess different views and priorities and provide acceptable solutions.
• Ability to conduct complex legal research.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Arabic.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Applications.

Professional Certifications

• Bar Admission is mandatory.