About Us
UMO is a stealth-mode FinTech venture aiming to evolve the way people experience money by building a unified, AI-powered, yet deeply human modern money platform across fiat, crypto, and investments - subject to regulatory approvals. The platform is being designed to break down traditional barriers to money across access, assets, and experience, enabling simpler, more adaptive ways for people to interact with financial services.
We are currently developing our MVP and navigating licensing requirements, with a multidisciplinary team of 100+ people representing 20+ nationalities. With our headquarters in the UAE and offices in Portugal and Ukraine, we are united behind a shared ambition and a relentless focus on serving our customers.
What You'll Do
As our Legal Counsel, reporting to the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) you will be part of the wider legal function focusing on the lifecycle of contract management and corporate legal affairs. Your primary mission is to ensure the satisfactory delivery of the contract review and finalization cycle while providing timely and accurate guidance to internal stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities:
- Contract Lifecycle Management: Review and draft a high volume of commercial contracts and agreements related to the company's business and operations.
- Internal Advisory: Act as the primary legal contact for internal stakeholders, providing quick-turnaround advice on contractual queries to facilitate contract closure.
- Inter-company Affairs: Draft and review inter-company and SLA agreements and provide sound legal advice to internal stakeholders and related entities.
- Risk Analysis: Identify, analyze, and communicate commercial and legal risks to stakeholders, offering proactive, solutions-oriented advice.
- Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner with control functions (finance, HR, compliance, risk, etc.) to ensure contracts align with company policies and operational processes.
- Corporate Governance: Support the legal department with legal entity maintenance, corporate governance, and management of legal files.
- Database Administration: Maintain a proper contract filing and archiving database to ensure documentation integrity.
- External Coordination: Coordinate with external stakeholders, including government authorities and service providers, on legal corporate matters.
- Strategic Support: Support the CLO with other legal projects, specialized tasks, and departmental initiatives.
- Fintech Compliance & Risk: Utilize a contract playbook for standardized fallback positions, track regulatory changes affecting the business, and ensure data protection compliance within vendor contracts.
Requirements:
- Academic Background: Accredited legal qualifications (JD or LLB) from an accredited university is mandatory.
- Professional Experience: 25 years of relevant legal experience, preferably in-house or in a top-tier firm focusing on commercial law, technology transactions, or corporate matters.
- Drafting Skills: Demonstrated ability to draft and negotiate complex commercial agreements with high attention to detail.
- Regional Expertise: UAE experience is a must. Additional GCC experience (e.g., Bahrain, KSA) is an advantage.
- Language Proficiency: Bilingual legal drafting skills (English and Arabic) is a must.
- Analytical Mindset: A practical and analytical approach to legal issues, understanding how legal advice impacts business objectives.
- Communication: Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to explain legal concepts clearly to non-legal stakeholders.
- Professional Standing: Active bar membership is preferred.
Ownership & Decision Authority:
In this role, you are empowered to manage the legal flow while knowing when to leverage the expertise of the Chief Legal Officer.
- Autonomy: You will independently manage and lead the review and negotiation process for commercial contracts and agreements with both internal departments and external counterparties.
- Strategic Escalation: You will be responsible for identifying and escalating critical bottlenecks, high-level legal risks, and compliance matters.
- Final Approvals: You will collaborate with the CLO for the final execution of high-impact agreements and strategic legal decisions.
How We Measure Success
Your performance will be evaluated based on the efficiency, quality, and proactive nature of your legal support.
- Operational Excellence: Achievement of optimized contract lifecycle and matter turnaround times.
- Reliability: Consistent compliance with deadlines and the ability to manage a high volume of legal requests effectively.
- Scalability: Successful creation and adoption of self-serve legal templates and playbooks by internal teams to streamline operations.
- Stakeholder Trust: High levels of satisfaction and effective partnership with internal departments (Finance, HR, Product, etc.).
Compensation & Benefits (Dubai, UAE)
- Highly Competitive Compensation.
- Visa Sponsorship: Full coverage of UAE employment visa and residency permit costs.
- Relocation Support: Dedicated support desk to assist with your move, including inbound flight coverage (if applicable).
- Time Off: 25 working days of Annual Leave + UAE Public Holidays.
- Health Coverage: Comprehensive Medical Insurance for yourself.
- Performance Incentives: Eligibility for performance-based bonuses and incentives.
- Statutory Benefits: End of Service Gratuity as per UAE Labour Law.
