Senior Legal Counsel

Ghobash Trading & Investment (GTI) is actively engaged in multi-asset class investment activities across various geographies. These activities are carried out by a highly qualified and experienced in-house team of investment professionals. The team uses an ‘Asset Allocation Matrix’ to realize risk adjusted returns on invested capital over a long-term period.

The Company’s investment activities include direct investments in startups, taking stakes in established businesses, acquisitions of business enterprises and setting-up new businesses through collaborative joint venture route.

GTI is also active in private financial investments, including private equity and debt, venture capital, real estate, and publicly listed financial investments.

• To independently deliver strategic and complex legal assignments and projects efficiently under minimum supervision and guidance. He/ She must provide substantive legal support that adds value to the business, demonstrate wise and prudent discretion throughout, design and apply legal solutions, and demonstrate solid corporate and commercial experience. He/ She is expected to be highly productive member within the in-house legal team, reporting to the Group Legal Director.
• Draft, review and negotiate different types of commercial contracts and agreements across multiple industries with full capability to deliver legal support as ‘Transactional Lawyer’ handling various business and corporate transactions of high level of sophistication and complexity, in Arabic and English.
• Prepare and review all kinds of bilingual corporate legal documents, including, memoranda and articles of association, addenda and amendment documents, general assembly meetings invitations, agendas and minutes, shareholders resolutions, board resolutions, board of directors and committees’ charters, Policies & Procedures, and all other types of corporate legal documents.
• Handle all legal requirements associated with Corporate Governance and Regulatory Compliance across all Group entities in all compliance aspects. Design legal solutions in relation to Governance, Risk and Compliance landscape (“GRC”).
• Supervise and ensure legal compliance with all aspects of OECD framework, UAE Tax laws and procedures, including Economic Substance, UBO, Value Added Tax, Corporate Tax and Transfer Pricing. Perform ad-hoc and routine due diligence and verification exercises to ensure that compliance procedures are followed.
• Participate in the developing initiatives, planning and execution of strategic legal projects, legal restructuring and enhancements, and innovative legal solutions.    
• Develop standardized legal templates in accordance with best practices benchmarks and Legal-Tech efficiencies.
• Mitigate the Group's risk and remove liability from all aspects of the business and contractual relationships.
• Conduct risk assessments and ensure proper implementation of the Group AML Compliance Policy.

• LLB from accredited university, LLM preferable.
• Admission to practice law by the Law Society or Bar Association in any jurisdiction.

Skills & Professional Requirements:

• Be quick, practical, resourceful, creative, innovative, consistent, and result-oriented in the performance, delivery of tasks, and general approach.
• Full proficiency in Arabic and English at highly sophisticated legal language level, with outstanding legal drafting skills exhibiting practical style, coherent progression, business logic, and legal quality.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.

Experience Requirements:

• Minimum 7 post qualification experience in an in-house role or in private practice, 3 of which spent in a sophisticated, well-regarded in-house legal role.