The Regional Legal Head – UAE / Saudi Arabia will provide complex legal advice, counsel, and representation to the Company as assigned by the General Counsel, including on all legal, statutory and regulatory compliance matters, corporate and commercial matters of the Company for any business happening within UAE / Saudi Arabia and develop risk mitigation strategies by entity, jurisdiction, process and/or project.
Duties/Responsibilities:
- Provide counseling, advice, and day-to-day support for the legal and compliance department for its UAE / Saudi Arabia operations.
- Work with General Counsel and other regional legal heads across the globe on all company legal matters across departments and entities.
- Provide professional and authoritative legal and policy advice relating to Sutherland's business and commercial matters representing the company's best interest at all times.
- Manage the company's corporate and corporate secretarial activities to comply with company's bylaws and manage the board of directors and related compliance. Comply with Saudi Arabia's RHQ compliance.
- Deal with UAE / Saudi Arabia's government bodies and ensure all the communications are channeled properly in compliance with local regulatory requirements.
- Identify and manage external counsel as necessary for any adhoc activities that fall outside the scope of in-house legal work and aid with any litigation and complaints raised to the company.
- Independently manage and review all the commercial contracts, including customer, vendor and other alliance partnership contracts to manage customer and procurement relationships of Sutherland's UAE and Saudi Arabia business.
- Proactively identify opportunities to improve operational practices and processes.
- Proactively manage and advise Sutherland's leadership team on potential risks, assure objectives are achieved and disciplines are implemented to drive continuous improvement.
- Develop reporting mechanism to executive management on a regular basis.
- Work proactively with Company's compliance personnel and support to implement Sutherland's Code of Business Conduct, policies, procedures, manuals, and internal codes that have been adopted by Sutherland to ensure that Sutherland and its employees are at all times in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and company-wide policy and ethical standards.
- Maintain a comprehensive understanding of the legal and regulatory environment, requirements, and developments relating to and impacting Sutherland's business activities worldwide.
- Monitor and maintain accurate and up-to-date knowledge of, and update policies as needed concerning all the relevant legal aspects of Sutherland UAE and Saudi Arabia locations.
- Work as a team member at all times and promote Sutherland's One Sutherland initiative with other legal team members and stakeholders.
Education and Experience:
- At least five (5) to seven (7) years of experience in a corporate as a senior in house legal representative or law firm environment with specialized experience in commercial contracts and corporate to manage customer and vendor transactions.
- J.D. or LLM from a nationally recognized law school in Dubai / Saudi Arabia
- Membership in a bar council in Dubai / Saudi Arabia
- Outstanding written and verbal communication in Arabic and English
- Analytical skills with demonstrated strategic thinking and risk analysis.
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- A commitment to teamwork, integrity, and collegiality.
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment under tight deadlines.
- Flexible and willing to approach legal challenges with an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Prior law firm experience or in-house experience at a U.S. multinational company is highly preferred.
- Cross-border transaction experience is a plus.
