Job description
Regional Head of Legal – Middle East & Africa
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Employment Type: Full-Time
About the Role
A leading multinational organization is seeking an experienced Regional Head of Legal to lead its legal function across the Middle East & Africa (MEA). This is a strategic leadership role responsible for providing legal direction, ensuring regulatory compliance, mitigating legal risk, and safeguarding the organization's interests across multiple jurisdictions.
Reporting to the General Counsel, the successful candidate will partner closely with senior business leaders to provide commercially focused legal advice while leading legal operations, governance, compliance, litigation management, intellectual property protection, and regional legal strategy.
Key Responsibilities
Legal Strategy & Governance
- Develop and implement the regional legal strategy aligned with business objectives.
- Establish and maintain legal policies, standards and governance frameworks.
- Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and corporate policies across the region.
- Identify legal and regulatory risks and implement effective mitigation strategies.
- Provide strategic legal advice to executive leadership on key business initiatives.
Commercial & Corporate Legal
- Draft, review, negotiate and manage a broad range of commercial contracts and strategic agreements.
- Advise on complex commercial transactions, corporate matters, joint ventures and strategic partnerships.
- Provide practical legal guidance to business units on contractual, regulatory and operational matters.
- Support business expansion, market entry initiatives and corporate restructuring where required.
Litigation & Dispute Resolution
- Oversee litigation, arbitration and other dispute resolution matters.
- Manage external legal counsel and monitor litigation strategy and budgets.
- Protect the organization's legal interests through proactive dispute management.
Compliance & Risk Management
- Develop and implement legal compliance programmes and internal policies.
- Ensure adherence to corporate governance principles and ethical business practices.
- Support anti-bribery, anti-corruption and regulatory compliance initiatives.
- Conduct legal risk assessments and provide recommendations to minimize organizational exposure.
Intellectual Property
- Oversee the registration, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
- Manage trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual property matters across the region.
Leadership
- Lead, mentor and develop the regional legal team.
- Build a high-performing legal function through coaching, succession planning and capability development.
- Foster collaboration across Legal, Compliance, HR, Finance, Procurement and Business teams.
Skills
Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree in Law (LLB). Master's Degree (LLM) is advantageous.
- Qualified lawyer admitted to practice in a recognized jurisdiction.
- 10–15+ years of post-qualification experience in Corporate & Commercial Law, with significant in-house multinational experience.
- Demonstrated expertise in:
- Corporate Law
- Commercial Contracts
- Corporate Governance
- Regulatory Compliance
- Legal Risk Management
- Litigation Management
- Intellectual Property
- Cross-border Legal Advisory
- Experience leading legal matters across multiple countries within the Middle East and/or Africa.
- Strong familiarity with government authorities, regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies.
- Proven ability to partner with senior executives and influence business decisions.
- Excellent contract drafting, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
- Fluency in Arabic and English is mandatory.
Preferred Background
Candidates with experience in one or more of the following sectors are highly preferred:
- Technology
- Digital Services
- FinTech & Payments
- Telecommunications
- Healthcare & Life Sciences
- Global Business Services
- Consumer & Retail
- Multinational Corporate Environment