Senior Legal Counsel

Context & Environment

• The Legal Department provides legal advice to all of TE’s companies in the UAE & Qatar to protect interest of TotalEnergies and minimize legal risks. 
• The scope of the job includes many high value assets with complex and voluminous contractual arrangements. 
• Working in an environment where the legal regime is not highly developed with recent and constantly changing legislations, so clear answers are often not available. 
• The Legal Department is involved with negotiations and legal discussions which can be protracted and require a flexible, diplomatic approach in order to achieve the business objectives without significant compromise on legal issues.

Activities

The Senior Legal Counsel provides all necessary support and advice for the activities of TotalEnergies in order to: i) minimize legal risks; ii) optimize commercial position; and iii) find pragmatic and diplomatic solutions to problems. Major Activities are:

Negotiations and Agreements

• Participate in negotiations with the national companies, private companies and joint venture partners
• Prepare, review and validate new agreements and major contracts and support their implementation
• Advise on terms of existing agreements, their implications and consequences
• Ensuring that agreements are compliant with local laws and regulations and Group Policies
• Keep informed on new laws and regulations, and transmit information to the affected departments
• Maintain agreements database, and ensure that the agreements are in line with the local regulations

Corporate Requirements

• Coordinating with local authorities for company matters (Customs, Ministry of Economy, JAFZA, DED, etc.)
• Advising the companies’ management on legal aspects of corporate structure, labor law, tax & custom matters, compliance and sanctions related inquiries etc.)

• Supervising documentation for General Secretarial Affairs (e.g. resolutions, share transfer, acquisitions, mergers, establishment of companies, annual general meetings, meetings of board of directors, power of attorneys etc.)

• Provide assistance to the corporate governance and compliance department for due diligence processes and audits etc.
• Manage Corporate Information database and update the relevant stakeholders and department.

Disputes and litigation

• Providing support to the Credits department and to assist with debt-collection (legal notices, client visits, settlements etc.)
• Manage and co-ordinate with the external legal support for the litigation and other legal matters

Corporate Affairs

• Draft resolutions for share transfer, acquisitions, mergers, establishment of companies, annual general meetings, meetings of board of directors, external and internal delegations, power of attorneys etc.

• Conducting awareness campaigns on legal requirements & processes through trainings and presentations (contracts, debt collection, conflict of interest, competition/anti-trust laws etc.).

Corporate Governance & Secretariat:

• Organize and prepare Board of Directors and Shareholders’ meetings (notices, agendas, minutes, resolutions).
• Ensure proper maintenance of statutory registers and corporate records.
• Draft, review, and update Articles of Association, internal regulations, and corporate policies.
• Ensure compliance with local and international corporate law requirements (e.g. oil & gas regulations, anti-corruption, ESG governance).
• Coordinate with external counsel, notaries, and registries for corporate filings.

Administrative Functions

• Coordinate with external agencies and PROs for translations, attestations, notarizations, certificates/letters, and matters related to the trade licenses and all administrative related activities of the entities including updating of company records with the relevant governmental departments etc.
• Assist the internal departments/stakeholders with their day-to-day matters, e.g. tender letters, authority letters, legal forms, general inquiries, applications, etc.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Set up legal structures enabling the business units to operate in these countries in accordance with applicable legislation.
• Inform about the legal constraints and provide legal advice helping the business units to take the right decisions.
• Ensure the agreements signed by our legal entities follow the TOTAL standards.
• Ensure smooth relationships with the foreign partners in our legal entities.

HSSEQ Responsibilities:

• General responsibility to respect company HSSEQ guidelines and practices. Ensure the implementation of group HSSEQ rules and adhere to company policies & systems.

Compliance Objectives:

• Ensure full adherence to the company’s compliance program, its policies and procedures including economic sanctions and export control in all professional activities.
• Promptly notify the compliance officer/economic sanctions referent of any instances of noncompliance or violations of economic sanctions or export control that comes to my attention.

Candidate Profile

Degree: 

• Master’s in law

Experience: 

• Previous experience in a business legal environment (5-7 years’ experience in-house or a corporate law firm)

Knowledge/Skills: 

• Petroleum Law/International Business Law/Public Law; Community law/Environmental Law/Fiscal law; Company law

Required Skills:

• Autonomy, adaptability, capacity to work in a multicultural environment. 
• A "can do" attitude, good interpersonal skills, ability to work independently, whilst consistently applying a proactive business partner approach towards the sales teams. 
• Ability to understand, communicate and explain complex legal issues across countries, cultures and nationalities. 
• Drafting, and document management.

Additional Information

• The NP Level for this position of Senior Legal Counsel is NP12

TotalEnergies is a global integrated energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our more than 100,000 employees are committed to provide as many people as possible with energy that is more reliable, more affordable and more sustainable. Active in about 120 countries, TotalEnergies places sustainability at the heart of its strategy, its projects and its operations.