Middle East: Legal Advisor – Utilities posted by MECS Africa

Responsibilities:

Strategic Legal Guidance and Project Development

• Legal Guidance and Strategic Input: Provide strategic legal insights and protect the organization’s interests in projects related to growth and strategy.
• Project Management: Oversee all aspects of project development and financing documentation, focusing on power, water, wastewater, and renewable projects.
• Legal Support Across Teams: Offer essential legal backing to finance, business development, construction, and operations teams throughout project deployment.

Legal Documentation and Negotiation

• Document Structuring and Review: Draft, review, and effectively negotiate a variety of documents, including but not limited to debt, equity financing documents, and agreements such as MOUs, NDAs, JDA, SHA, etc.
• Internal Approvals: Engage in internal approvals, collaborating with diverse teams, management, and the board.
• Legal Negotiations Leadership: Lead legal discussions up to Financial Close and provide the necessary support to the JV Support department.

External and Stakeholder Liaison

• Stakeholder Relationship Management: Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders, including lenders, developers, and investors.
• Consultant and Adviser Management: Oversee consultants and advisers involved in projects from recruitment to final settlements.
• Client Communication: Address ambiguities by raising clarifications with clients and responding to RFP issuers’ queries promptly.

Knowledge Management and Sharing

• Industry Knowledge Maintenance: Maintain and share knowledge on completed projects and emerging best practices in the industry.
• Preparation and Learning: Document and prepare for challenges encountered in past transactions to inform future projects.

Legal Management of Diverse Projects

• Comprehensive Legal Oversight: Manage all legal aspects of tendered greenfield, brownfield construction projects, M&A, and bilateral projects.
• Contractual Review: Legally review contracts and create risk matrices.
• Legal Due Diligence: Conduct legal diligence for tendered greenfield/brownfield, M&A, or bilateral projects.

Compliance and Quality Assurance

• Legal Documentation: Prepare standardized legal documentation and Due Diligence Reports for management and the Board of Directors.
• Legal POC: Act as the primary point of contact for all legal-related activities during the project development stage.
• Quality and Compliance Assurance: Ensure alignment with relevant safety, quality, and environmental management procedures and controls, as well as legislative compliance and the delivery of high-quality products/services.

Collaborative Bid Development and Report Preparation

• Collaboration with BD Teams: Work with Business Development teams/Managers and JV Support managers to prepare bids and BOD Due Diligence (DD) Reports.
• Bid DD Report Preparation: Prepare bid DD Reports with team support for the BDD manager/JV Support/General Manager and other relevant stakeholders.

Minimum Qualification & Experience

Minimum Qualification

• Bachelor’s or advanced law degree from a recognized university.
• MBA from an internationally recognized business school preferred.

Minimum Experience

• Minimum of 12 years overall experience, with expertise in managing legal aspects of BOO/BOOT project development from inception to financial close.
• Strong experience in legal documentation preparation, negotiation, and due diligence.