Director - Legal

About Dubai Holding Real Estate: Dubai Holding's real estate business has developed strategic destinations and communities that offer unique and attractive lifestyle opportunities to meet the evolving needs of Dubai's residents and visitors alike. As a master developer, we invest in sustainable infrastructure, accessibility, community amenities and family-focused facilities including community centres, mosques, schools, supermarkets and landscaping. Our integrated real estate offering also includes a robust land sales portfolio, project management for large-scale projects, as well as top-notch facilities management services.

About the Job: An opportunity has arisen for an Associate Director - Legal to join Dubai Holding Real Estate. At this position, you will provide legal support to the business on all legal Real Estate matters.

Key job responsibilities:

• Provide strategic legal support and expertise to various parts of the business on legal real estate matters with a focus on high-value, complex and strategically important matters, and managing the sub-real estate team within the Legal department.
• Provide briefings and updates to Department Head on current legal real estate matters affecting the business. Contribute to business reporting functions including the ExCom and EMC (Executive Management Committee), as applicable.
• Develop and streamline all real estate precedent documents, including Unit SPAs (Sales Purchase Agreements), Plot SPAs, Raw Land SPAs, Plot and Unit re-sale agreements, Plot and Unit Termination & Settlement Agreements, Amendment Agreements. Perform on-going review of any policies in place to identify streamlining / improvements to processes.
• Provide strategic input and advice on legacy matters, including input into documents presented to DH senior management and attending calls with DH senior management to advise on legal queries relating to such matters.
• Involve in negotiation of legal documents for various real estate transactions (in particular, disposals of raw land plots), including meeting with and taking instructions from key personnel involved in the negotiation of the commercial deal whilst ensuring that the business is aware of legal risks arising out of such negotiations and that any key legal risk issues are either mitigated in the documents and/or flagged to the business as applicable.
• Review, draft and amend various agreements proposed by the business, including NOCs, temporary licences, Cost Share Agreements.
• Review documents with various Government authorities, including the RTA, DEWA, DM, DDA, Empower, Etisalat/DU.
• Review letters to be issued by the business relating to off plan Unit sales, project registration, project cancellation.
• Liaise with the Company Finance and Customer Care department on issues arising post SPA execution, including late payments, SPA termination requests, amicable settlement requests, re-sale requests, change in Customer details.
• Provide information to the various Governance and Audit functions within the business regarding on-going and/or historic legal matters. Ensuring that the business is directed to liaise with Governance on relevant matters.
• Stay updated of legal developments in the Country and provide inputs to the business on such developments, including any required amendments to standard practices/procedures.
• Provide advice to business on real estate matters (not an exhaustive list) including:
• Master Developer function that includes project structuring and preparation of governance documents (MCD; BMS, etc.). An on-going exercise is the revision of Governance Documents for all projects across the entire DHRE portfolio.
• Community Management including Owner disputes/complaints, community management and maintenance issues.
• Landbank includes master planning matters, infrastructure, strategic planning and relations with government authorities.
• Broker / Agency / Sales provide advice on issues relating to the appointment, activities and termination of Broker agreements.
• Registered developer including review of proposed project name; Property Development Contracts with RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority); advice on project registration requirements, project structuring matters (including strata structure advice and procuring relevant advice from external counsel and/or surveying practices, as applicable); issuing Unit Booking Form, SPA and Disclosure Statements for each Projects; liaising with DHRE Finance and DHRE Customer Care about issues arising post SPA execution, including late payments, SPA termination requests, amicable settlement requests, re-sale requests, change in Customer details.
• Any post-handover matters, including handover notices, Unit defects, community issues.
• Supervise and mentor junior real estate lawyers and support the development of their technical skills.

About you:

• Qualified as a Solicitor in England & Wales and/or other jurisdiction.
• Thorough knowledge of all Dubai Real Estate laws, applicable Federal laws, and common practices of various Government real estate entities, including the DLD (Dubai Land Department) and RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority).
• Min 10-12 years post qualification experience, with at least 3-5 years experience in the Dubai legal real estate sector.
• Business Acumen
• Strategic thinking and decision-making skills.
• Ability to work in a collaborative, multicultural team environment.
• Strong legal writing and drafting skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to identify potential legal risks and develop strategies to mitigate them.
• Ability to conduct due diligence on real estate transactions and assess legal implications.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

About the Benefits: At Dubai Holding, we're committed to nurturing the success and well-being of our colleagues. Join our dynamic and diverse team, and enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that includes competitive compensation, career development opportunities, and a collaborative work environment. We strongly believe in creating an empowered workforce that will help us build a connected city for tomorrow. We are committed to attracting the brightest minds and nurturing the most pioneering candidates who desire to make a great impact on the future of Dubai.