Governance & Legal Officer - Dubai Campus

Job Posting Title: Legal and Governance Officer 

Position Title: Legal and Governance Officer 

Grade and Salary: Grade 6 (Starting Salary AED 168,000-180,000 Annually Depending on Experience)

FTE and working pattern: Full Time 

Organisation Name: Heriot Watt University (Dubai Campus)

About our School/Directorate and Team: 

The Governance, Assurance and Legal Services (GALS) Directorate supports effective and accountable governance, compliance, and institutional safety to enable the delivery of Strategy 2035. Our mission is to drive improvement in legal services, governance, and compliance through high-quality legal advice, monitoring of compliance, and capacity building at the Dubai Campus of Heriot-Watt University.

We are seeking a detail-oriented and proactive Legal and Governance Officer to join our team, with a primary focus on legal documentation, advice, research, and internal stakeholder engagement. This role will also support broader activities within the GALS portfolio.

 The GALS Directorate, is responsible for the provision of a range of services to the University as follows:

• Legal Services – Custodianship of the legal repository; drafting, reviewing, and supporting the approval of legal documents in line with the University's governance structure; providing clear and pragmatic legal advice; contract negotiation; and preparing legal updates for senior stakeholders.
• Information Governance – Ensuring compliance with local and international data protection laws; developing and implementing related policies and procedures.
• Risk Management – Supporting the maintenance of the University’s risk registers and risk management framework; contributing to reporting for University committees and governance groups.
• Internal Review Activities – Supporting internal compliance and governance reviews in coordination with the University's internal audit providers.
• Business Continuity Planning – Assisting with the development and communication of business continuity plans and staff/student training.
• Insurance – Supporting the management of institutional insurance cover and handling of queries including travel and consular documentation.
• Controls Assurance – Supporting development and implementation of a business assurance framework and monitoring the effectiveness of key internal controls.

Summary of Key Duties and Responsibilities (Essential functions and duties): 

In this role, you will primarily be responsible for administrative tasks related to legal matters, internal audit, internal stakeholder management, with a particular emphasis on ensuring compliance with the University’s governance structure and delegations, and local Laws and Regulations.  You will also be expected to support in the broader areas of services offered by the GALS Directorate from time-to-time.

The role will work closely with the Head of GALS, and other GALS team members at the Dubai Campus. The detailed job description is as follows:

• Assist in drafting, reviewing, and coordinating the approval process for legal agreements, contracts, and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) related to the Dubai Campus.
• Organise and maintain legal files, contracts, and the legal document repository to ensure accurate and efficient document management.
• Provide timely and pragmatic legal advice under supervision of the Head of GALS, in line with University policy and local regulations to all internal stakeholders.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of governance and legal processes to ensure alignment with University policies and relevant UAE laws and regulations.
• Provide internal guidance on legal and governance issues, business processes, and control effectiveness.
• Stay informed about legal and regulatory developments in the UAE, UK, and other jurisdictions relevant to the University’s operations.
• Working closely with all Professional services directorates across the campus to assist the Head of GALS to conduct quarterly internal reviews to identify potential risks, recommend mitigation strategies, and track follow-up actions.
• Provide general support for Head of GALS on production of papers for the University Executive, the Court (its governing body), and Committees of Court, guidance notes, procedures, reports and coordinating training workshops.
• Support risk management training and development activities.

Education, Qualifications & Experience [Attributes]

Essential

1. Bachelor’s degree in Law or a related discipline.
2. Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a legal, governance, or compliance-related environment.
3. Strong organisational and time management skills.
4. Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
5. Ability to communicate clearly and professionally, both verbally and in writing.
6. Experience using Microsoft Office and other relevant IT tools.
7. Demonstrated ability to work flexibly and efficiently in a dynamic environment.
8. Strong stakeholder engagement and customer service skills.
9. Working knowledge of UAE laws and regulations.

Desirable

1. Experience in a higher education or similar public sector setting.
2. Understanding of risk management principles and frameworks.
3. Prior experience conducting or supporting compliance reviews.
4. Background in legal practice or in-house legal support.

Heriot-Watt University Values

With a history dating back to 1821, Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and professionally relevant, leading-edge research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for business and industry.

We are a vibrant, forward-looking university, well known for the quality of our degrees with employers actively seeking out our graduates.  Heriot-Watt is also Scotland’s international university with an unsurpassed international in-country presence. We deliver degree programmes to circa 30,000 students in 143 countries around the world, have a further overseas campus in Dubai and boast the largest international student cohort in Scotland.

At Heriot-Watt we’ve created an environment that nurtures innovation and leadership - where our researchers, staff and students can realise their potential and develop their ambitions.

We are proud of our collegiate atmosphere and integrated teaching and research approach which has helped to build a community of committed academics and highly motivated students.  Our focus on careers delivers results and we’ve an excellent reputation for graduate employability.

In addition to the Edinburgh campus, we currently have campuses in  the Scottish Borders, Orkney, Dubai and Malaysia.  For all of our campuses we aim to provide stimulating, supportive environments conducive to effective learning and research, where staff and students can excel. At Heriot-Watt, we have an established set of values that help us to nurture innovation and leadership, and show our commitment to continuous improvement and development in all our activities.

Our values describe our deeply held beliefs and our community spirit. They characterise not only how we are as a higher education institution but also frame how we want to be.

Our values are:

• Belong
• Collaborate
• Inspire
• Celebrate

As learning, living and working institution, we use our values as the building blocks of how we go about doing our work and how we each conduct ourselves as members of Heriot-Watt University. They represent what binds us together as a University community and help us to become the best at what we do.

For full details on our University, please view our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/about.htm

How to Apply

Please submit your application via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system attaching a Cover letter describing your interest and suitability for the post and an updated CV 

Shortlisted candidates may be invited to complete an on-demand-video interview as the first stage of the selection process. Successful candidates will then proceed to in-person formal interviews at our Dubai campus, where you will be asked to deliver a brief presentation on a relevant topic.  Following the formal interview, the preferred candidate will attend a second interview with senior staff at the Dubai campus before a final offer decision is made.

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team. 

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

The appointment is conditional upon successful completion of all Labour and Immigration formalities, and the start date will need to be delayed if the employment visa is not in place.