Senior Legal Counsel

The jobholder is responsible to provide with an 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 provide with expert services on entire gamut of legal affairs and matters of the company, legal opinions, advises, interpretations, complex risk mitigations and due diligences on contracts, agreements, deeds, and other legal drafting’s and documents for all functions, recommending on settlement of claims, interface with external counsel in respect of litigation that the company is involved in, and advice 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 with regards to legal matters to ensure alignment and understanding by different stakeholders.
• Accountable for reviewing formal business communications to ensure meeting legal requirements.
• Establish and communicate legal guidelines that shall contribute to meet 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 the risk to the company.
• Manage external lawyers to represent the company in the court to ensure safeguarding the company interests.
• Support General Counsel on the drafting of complex commercial contracts, and any other adhoc 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 the negotiation commercial contracts (service agreements, confidentiality agreements, etc.).
• Revise, and draft legal related terms into corporate forms to ensure meeting domestic regulations.
• Advise on commercial and contractual matters as required by the process owners to ensure capturing any legal consideration.
• 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 agreement, service agreements, license agreements confidentiality agreements, tolling agreements; general services agreements etc.
• Interpret the Articles of Association, join-venture agreement, board/owners decision and other instructional documents to ensure compliance to 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, amendment 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 the applicable policies and procedures.
• Ensure that intercompany arrangements are properly documented and archived.
• Provide preventive legal advice on all topics such as curative legal advice, 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 that involve International Law.
• Studies and scans contractor's claims likely to have an effect on the Company operations. This involves analyzing claims and making legal recommendations and ensuring all relevant points are brought to the attention of the Commercial Division.
• Participates in negotiation of settlements of disputes arising out of claims or contracts as required, prepares submission in arbitration cases and co-ordinates with the Company advocate when representing the Company in court actions both locally and abroad.
• Advising on corporate governance and giving recommendations on the adoption of corporate governance policies.
• Advising management on legal and regulatory changes that impact the business of the company.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• University degree in Law, 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.

Minimum Experience & Knowledge & Skills

• Minimum of 8 years gained with a law firm or as in-house lawyer of a MNC.
• Minimum of 6 years of work experience in UAE.
• Experience in EPC contracting and contracting for large projects desired.
• Ability to influence key decision maker 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, analyse and provide solutions to complex problems, taking into account company policies and processes, legal requirements, risks and the company’s objectives.
• Good judgment: being able to understand and assess different views and priorities, and provide acceptable solutions.
• Ability to conduct complex legal research.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills in English and Arabic.