Legal Counsel - Corporate & Commercial

Job Purpose:

Provide day-to-day corporate and commercial legal support to the Group, including routine contract review/drafting, corporate housekeeping, and transactional support. The role supports the Head of Legal (Corporate & Commercial) and works under supervision on complex matters, with a focus on automotive (including commercial agencies/distribution), real estate transactions and operations, and general corporate support across Group entities. Further, to assist the Group Legal Department in providing expert legal advice to management in setting internal governance policies. Deal with complex, significant matters that cut across legal areas to guide the Senior Management and stakeholders to navigate the Group safely around areas of legal risk in its business.

Key Accountabilities:

• Advisory: Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice to the respective business units on corporate and commercial matters, including contract interpretation, risk identification, and recommended mitigations. Participate in internal or external meetings to support negotiations and deal execution. Escalate high risk and non-standard issues to the Head of Legal in a timely manner. Maintain current knowledge of alterations in legislation in the UAE and particularly in each Emirate that the Group conducts business in. Conduct legal research in relation to current and potential cases the Group may have against third parties. Conduct legal due diligence, as and when required, in relation to M&A transactions for the Group. Research and evaluate different risk factors regarding business decisions and operations. Attend meetings with respective business units in relation to required advice.
• Contracts and Agreements: Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of corporate and commercial agreements, including (as applicable): NDAs, LOIs/MOUs, JVs, supplier/customer contracts, service/consultancy agreements, procurement-related contracts, banking-related agreements, employee/HR related contracts and commercial addenda. Support the maintenance and improvement of standard templates of the entire Group, such as the standard agreements, legal notices, Articles of Association, Memorandums of Association among other templates required by the Group. Draft memos and internal guidelines as and when needed by the Group.
• Automotive / Commercial Agencies: Support the automotive businesses in reviewing and negotiating commercial agency/distribution-related documents and operational agreements (e.g., dealer/distributor arrangements, aftersales/service frameworks, fleet/tender contracts, marketing collaborations). Identify risks related to exclusivity, territory, term/termination, indemnities, compliance and regulatory requirements, escalating complex agency-law points as required.
• Real Estate Support: Support real estate transactions and operations across the Group, including review and drafting of SPAs, long-term leases/Musataha, brokerage documentation, property management and facilities management agreements, and tenant-related documentation. Assist with due diligence support, conditions precedent tracking and closing deliverables under supervision.
• Corporate Housekeeping & Governance Support: Support corporate housekeeping for Group entities, including preparation/review of board/shareholder resolutions, powers of attorney, KYC/account opening documentation, signatory updates, and corporate records management. Assist the Head of Legal with governance support (including delegation of authority workstreams) by preparing drafts, summaries and action trackers..
• Support: Liaise with the Litigation Team (Legal Operations) on disputes, claims and pre-litigation matters arising from or relating to the Group’s corporate and commercial activities (including automotive and real estate). Provide support by preparing factual summaries, collating contracts/correspondence and relevant documentation, tracking deadlines, and ensuring timely input from internal stakeholders. Escalate material risk issues to the Head of Legal (Corporate & Commercial) as appropriate.

Qualification:

Bachelor’s degree in law.

Experience:

• 5 - 7 years of minimum experience in commercial and corporate law practices.
• Exposure to UAE real estate and/or automotive/commercial agencies is preferred.
• Prior in-house experience and/or experience in family business or diversified group is desirable.
• Excellent command of written & spoken English. Arabic language proficiency is preferred and desirable.