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Role Purpose:
Majid Al Futtaim invites you to join us in our quest to create great moments for everyone, everyday! We are the leading shopping mall, residential communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, serving over 560 million visitors a year. For the past two decades, we have shaped the consumer landscape across the region, transforming the way people shop, live and play, while maintaining a strong sustainability track record and the largest mall in the world to attain LEED Gold EBOM Certification. We have over 47,000 team members in 15 international markets representing over 100 nationalities – all keeping the customer at the heart of everything we do. If you enjoy being BOLD, PASSIONATE and TOGETHER, then Majid Al Futtaim is the destination for you.
Role Purpose:
The primary responsibility of the Senior Legal Counsel is to provide legal support to all Business Units forming part of the Company.
Role Details – Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
Primary Responsibilities:
General support and assistance to the Legal VP and Sr Legal Counsel(s) and management throughout the Middle East regions where the Company operates, and in particular:
- Advise the Company and its Officers on all legal matters for the purpose of ensuring compliance with applicable laws, minimizing risk, and supporting informed decision making.
- Draft and advise on all contracts to achieve commercial goals.
- Direct all litigation matters involving the Company with limited supervision, monitor external counsel performance and billings, coordinate contingent liability reporting to Auditors and other departments.
- Lead all preparatory works and registration procedures for all new legal entities to be established by the Company, and monitor annual renewals and changes to the constitutive documents of all new and existing entities including change in directors, authorized signatories, etc.
- Participate in Compliance investigations, and lead investigations with potential corporate legal liabilities.
- Advise on regional laws and regulations that affect the Company business and act as a regional legislation center of excellence supporting colleagues in the Legal Department.
- Review lease, construction and consulting agreements either on regular or ad hoc basis to assist in the overall handling of the workload of the Legal Department.
- Draft and revise all contracts necessary or desirable for the efficient operation of the Company.
- Identify opportunities for creating efficiency and streamlining policies and procedures; create best practices.
- Supervise the legal aspects related to the Company trademarks portfolio, registration and protection efforts and disputes.
- A true team player who enjoys working in high-performance, fast paced organizations with a go-getter mindset. Able to take initiative and take timely, well-informed decisions. Able to drive and promote this culture.
- Negotiate and advise on high-level transactions or commercial contracts, including disposals, mergers and acquisitions;
- Continuously develop and update all the contractual templates required by the business and provide continuous training to the Business Units for their use;
- Mentor and contribute to the development of more junior team members.
- Assist the Corporate Affairs team from a legal perspective (draft, review and approve documentation).
- Provide assistance to other team members when necessary.
Additional Responsibility:
- Able to assist and support in legal work related to franchise agreements, and dealing with the franchisors and the Company’s commercial team, and where required instruct and manage an external law firm to assist on the related documentation;
- Able to support and negotiate, structure, and draft joint venture agreements and associated documentation;
- Work closely with the Central Procurement team to settle, update and implement procurement guidelines, and procedures and mechanisms for procurement of goods and services;
- Update tender documents used by the Central Procurement team and advise on any deviations from the standard documents;
- Negotiate and conclude settlement agreements with suppliers/service providers regarding outstanding dues;
- Support each business unit in achieving its commercial goals by providing legal advice and minimizing risk in respect of all of its commercial agreements, negotiations and contracts;
- Work with various business units to settle disputes with other parties in order to achieve a commercially desirable outcome for the business unit;
- Work with various business units to implement internal policies and guidelines (such as the approval and execution of documents);
- Draft and revise all standard leases, deeds of variation, deeds of surrender, deeds of extension, agreements for leases, licenses (such as license for installation and use of retail merchandising unit, ATM or APM machines etc) and other property related documentation to ensure such documents incorporate all of the respective business unit’s desired commercial terms;
- Draft and revise all standard and nonstandard services and consultancy agreements, management agreements, specific contracts for goods and services to be provided to the business for its operations (such as distribution agreements), sponsorship agreements and confidentiality agreements;
- Draft standard and nonstandard legal notices (nonpayment letters, late payment letters, bounced cheques letters, late opening letters, etc.);
- Review and advise on various correspondences and letters with tenants, licensees and various service providers;
- Provide advice on defects liability obligations;
- Work with the operational staff in each business unit to provide day to day advice on the legal issues which arise in relation to the management and operation of any the Company facilities (cinema, family entertainment centres);
- Draft marketing, advertising and sponsorship agreements and advise marketing department on liability issues arising from marketing activities held at any of the operational assets;
- Draft and continuously update a core suite of precedent agreements (JV agreement, License/Franchise Agreement, Service Agreements, NDA, MOU etc) ready for deployment to support the businesses’ aggressive expansion plans;
- Attend business meetings, if and when required, including tender opening meetings for appointment of contractors/consultants.
Construction:
- Able to review, and whenever necessary update the standard suite of construction documentation (including the necessary tendering suite, LOIs, and LOAs) based on FIDIC (Red, Yellow, Green and White Book) to ensure it suits the requirements of the Company.
Litigation:
- Manage and supervise external counsel in the handling of litigation cases including legal proceedings instituted on behalf of the Company and/or to defend the Company and ensure timely response and best protection of the Company’s legal interests;
- Able to prepare and review legal briefs, when necessary, and review pleadings and provide assistance to outside counsels in relation to legal proceedings to ensure that Company’s legal position is protected and supported by facts and applicable laws and regulations;
- Where required, attend arbitration hearings to present and defend the Company’s position and ensure best representation to optimize successful and favorable completion;
- Maintain a registry of all lawsuits and arbitration claims to ensure proper and timely follow-up.
Human Capital:
- Draft and review all HC policies in conjunction with the HC department;
- Advise on the Labour Law compliance;
- Assist HC in dealing with employees’ violations of the established HC policies, codes and procedures.
