General Counsel

About the Role

El Ezaby Pharmacy is seeking an accomplished and commercially minded General Counsel to lead its Legal Department and serve as the principal legal adviser to the CEO, Board, and Executive Leadership Team.

This senior leadership role is responsible for protecting the company's legal, commercial, regulatory, and reputational interests while enabling business growth, strategic investments, and sound corporate decision-making. The General Counsel will lead the development of a proactive, business-oriented legal function that provides strategic counsel, manages enterprise-wide legal risks, strengthens corporate governance, and ensures effective legal support across the company's operations.

The successful candidate will bring extensive experience in corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), complex contract negotiations, regulatory compliance, and legal team leadership, ideally within a large, complex, or regulated business environment.

Key Responsibilities

1. Executive Legal Advisory and Leadership

• Serve as the principal legal adviser to the CEO, Board, and Executive Leadership Team on strategic, commercial, corporate, and regulatory matters.
• Translate complex legal issues into clear, practical recommendations that support informed business decisions and sustainable growth.
• Identify, assess, and proactively mitigate material legal, financial, regulatory, and reputational risks.
• Partner with business leaders to enable strategic initiatives while maintaining appropriate legal safeguards and governance standards.

2. Legal Department Leadership

• Lead, manage, and develop the existing Legal Department, establishing clear responsibilities, priorities, performance standards, and service expectations.
• Build a responsive, commercially focused legal function that balances business enablement with effective risk management.
• Develop the department's operating model, resource plans, budget, capabilities, and succession strategy.
• Manage external legal advisers and law firms, ensuring quality, efficiency, cost effectiveness, and appropriate knowledge transfer.

3. M&A, Strategic Transactions, and Investments

• Lead the legal workstream for acquisitions, disposals, investments, joint ventures, restructurings, and strategic partnerships from initial assessment through completion.
• Oversee legal due diligence covering corporate ownership, regulatory status, licences, contracts, litigation, employment, real estate, intellectual property, and other material exposures.
• Structure and negotiate transaction documents to ensure alignment with agreed commercial terms and appropriate allocation of risks and responsibilities.
• Establish and monitor conditions precedent, warranties, indemnities, payment protections, completion deliverables, escrow or retention arrangements, and post-completion obligations, as appropriate.
• Maintain disciplined transaction documentation, closing checklists, approval records, and post-signing action plans to ensure outstanding matters are tracked through resolution.

4. Commercial Contracting and Risk Management

• Oversee the drafting, review, and negotiation of complex commercial agreements, including supplier, distribution, equipment, technology, property, lease, and service contracts.
• Ensure contractual terms clearly define payment obligations, performance standards, acceptance criteria, handover requirements, liability, termination rights, and dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Establish contract templates, negotiation guidelines, approval thresholds, and standard legal protections to improve consistency and efficiency.
• Ensure material contractual commitments are supported by appropriate documentation, approvals, licenses, and clearly defined completion requirements.

5. Regulatory Compliance, Licensing, and Governance

• Monitor relevant legal and regulatory developments and advise on their implications for the company's operations and growth strategy.
• Provide legal oversight of pharmacy, healthcare, warehouse, distribution, importation, and other regulated business activities.
• Ensure appropriate verification of licenses, permits, registrations, approvals, and applicable ownership or change-of-control requirements.
• Advise on corporate governance, statutory obligations, directors duties, delegated authorities, and internal approval frameworks.
• Oversee Board and shareholder documentation, corporate resolutions, powers of attorney, statutory filings, and legal entity records.

6. Litigation, Investigations, and Dispute Resolution

• Lead the company's legal strategy for litigation, commercial disputes, claims, investigations, and other contentious matters.
• Assess legal exposure, potential remedies, settlement options, commercial implications, and reputational risks.
• Manage external counsel and ensure appropriate control over case strategy, scope, deadlines, fees, and outcomes.
• Oversee sensitive internal investigations, ensuring confidentiality, appropriate evidence preservation, and compliance with applicable legal requirements.

7. Employment, Real Estate, Data Protection, and Intellectual Property

• Advise HR and management on employment contracts, disciplinary matters, investigations, terminations, labor disputes, and sensitive employee relations issues.
• Oversee legal aspects of property acquisitions, leases, landlord arrangements, ownership and title verification, registrations, possession, and handover.
• Protect the company's brands, intellectual property, confidential information, and customer and employee data.
• Provide legal guidance on digital initiatives, technology projects, e-commerce, and data-related matters.

8. Legal Operations and Reporting

• Implement effective contract lifecycle management, legal matter tracking, document control, obligation monitoring, and renewal management processes.
• Maintain an up-to-date legal risk register and provide clear reporting to the CEO and relevant governance forums on material exposures, disputes, compliance matters, and mitigation plans.
• Establish appropriate controls for the secure management of legal records, licenses, original property documents, transaction files, and confidential communications.
• Leverage technology, standardization, and performance data to improve legal service delivery, turnaround times, cost management, and operational efficiency.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Law; a postgraduate qualification in Corporate, Commercial, or Business Law is preferred.
• Qualified lawyer with the right to practice in Egypt or another relevant jurisdiction, supported by a strong understanding of Egyptian legal and regulatory requirements.
• At least 15 years of progressive legal experience, including substantial in-house leadership experience in a large, complex, or regulated organization.
• Proven experience leading and developing a legal team and managing external legal advisers.
• Extensive expertise in corporate and commercial law, complex contract drafting and negotiation, M&A, investments, legal due diligence, and strategic transactions.
• Demonstrated experience managing transaction risks, conditions precedent, warranties, indemnities, payment protections, completion mechanics, and post-completion obligations.
• Strong understanding of regulatory compliance, corporate governance, licensing, employment law, real estate, competition, intellectual property, and data protection.
• Experience in pharmaceutical, healthcare, retail, or other highly regulated, multi-site businesses is highly desirable.
• Proven ability to advise CEOs, Boards, and senior executives on commercially significant and time-sensitive matters.
• Strong legal drafting and negotiation skills in both Arabic and English.
• Excellent leadership, analytical, communication, stakeholder management, and commercial decision-making capabilities.

Key Competencies

• Strategic legal advisory and executive judgement
• Commercial awareness and pragmatic risk management
• Corporate governance and regulatory leadership
• M&A, transaction management, and due diligence
• Complex contract negotiation and drafting
• Litigation and dispute resolution strategy
• Legal team leadership and external counsel management
• Accuracy, confidentiality, and document governance
• Strong stakeholder engagement and cross-functional collaboration