General Counsel Office - Legal Associate Ernst & Young AE

As a large, sophisticated professional services organization, everything we do comes down to having the right people with the right skills in the right place. As a Legal Associate, you ll support us in making it happen. The General Counsel Office, the in-house legal function of this large Professional Services Organization is dedicated to the provision of world class in-house legal services to the organization s service lines and regions.

The GCO Associate will report to a MENA Legal Counsel and support the organization s member firms in MENA. The MENA region includes Saudi Arabia (KSA), UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. You ll be part of the region s legal team and is expected to provide services to the business across the region. This role will be based in Riyadh, KSA.

This is a role for a law degree graduate with up to 4 post qualification experience. Experience with domestic and international clients is a plus.

Your key responsibilities

• Deliver and assist in delivering legal advice and assistance in all practice areas of MENA including corporate and litigation
• Draft and participate in commercial contracts negotiations with clients and service providers and elevate legal risks to management
• Act as trusted advisor and develop relationships with all relevant business stakeholders and team
• Support legal function and team and promote the teamwork & cross-support working between the organization s in-house counsels within MENA and globally
• Advise, draft and negotiating negotiate various legal related aspects of client matters including contracts, master service agreements and tenders
• Assist in reviewing, amending and implementing changes to policies, procedures and standard documentation in light of legal developments

Skills and attributes for success

• Unquestioned ethics, integrity and adherence to strict confidentiality
• Pragmatic with strong business acumen
• Demonstrates a positive and enthusiastic attitude
• High level of self-confidence and energy
• High level of intellectual agility, initiative, self-motivation, resourcefulness, and patience

To qualify you must have

• Degree in law (graduate, paralegal, associate level) or lawyer qualified to practice law in KSA
• Up to 3 years of post-qualification legal experience, preferably with a multi-national corporation or an international law firm in KSA
• Attention to detail in all aspects
• Excellent command of written and spoken English and Arabic
• Developed commercial awareness with an outcome orientated approach
• Ability to apply legal principles pragmatically and learn how to evaluate and negotiate contracts
• Strong personal communication skills
• Effective planning and organising skills to prioritise key areas of responsibility, tasks and projects
• The ability to keep calm in a crisis and to cope well with conflicting deadlines
• Negotiation skills
• Strong teaming spirit with solid commitment to professionalism and flexibility in approach

Ideally, you will also have

• People management and development experience

What we look for

We are looking for people who can combine, great listening skills, collaboration, influencing and commercial acumen. Being able thrive in an ever changing, diverse, multi-cultural environment where we expect exceptional quality and show passion for your work will set you up for success.