Legal Counsel

JobsCloseBy Editorial Insights

Teneo is seeking its first UAE based Legal Counsel to support Strategy & Communications, Consulting, Financial Advisory, Risk Advisory and People Advisory across the Middle East and Asia Pacific, reporting to the Deputy General Counsel in Washington, DC. The Dubai role requires eligibility to obtain and maintain dual employment in Saudi Arabia and travel to Riyadh as needed. You will draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, update templates, collaborate with the global legal team, support data protection and governance, and monitor regional regulatory changes. Essentials: about 5 years PQE with in‑house multinational experience, UAE/Middle East contract experience, English fluency, excellent communication and organizational skills; Arabic or other languages are a plus. To apply, tailor your CV to regional cross‑border experience, quantify deals and demonstrate a proactive, collaborative, fast paced approach.

The Role

Teneo is looking for its first UAE based Legal Counsel to support our expanding and evolving operations across its Strategy & Communications, Consulting, Financial Advisory, Risk Advisory and People Advisory businesses in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions, in addition to supporting our corporate functions.

This is an excellent opportunity to be our first lawyer in the region, working closely with Teneo’s global legal team based in London and the US.  This role will report to the Deputy General Counsel based in Washington, DC.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, commercially minded and collaborative lawyer with inhouse legal experience. You will bring intellectual curiosity, excellent attention to detail, and the ability to handle multiple priorities in a small, supportive team.

This role is based in Dubai, but the successful applicant must be eligible and willing to obtain and maintain dual employment in Saudi Arabia. Travel will be required to our Riyadh office.  

Key Responsibilities

• Draft, review and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements, with a diverse range of clients including professional services agreements, data processing agreements, vendor supply agreements, confidentiality agreements
• Assist with updating and creating template documents
• Collaborate closely with the global legal team to ensure legal practices are aligned and consistent across the organisation
• Respond to day-to-day enquiries from internal clients and external counterparties, providing commercially minded advice
• Monitor changes in relevant laws and regulations across the region to ensure our ongoing compliance
• Document legal know-how and contribute to internal knowledge sharing initiatives.
• Understand data protection laws and support on data protection initiatives and governance processes
• Support the development improvement of processes and, policies as needed, to meet legal and regulatory requirements, industry standards and best practices
• Assist with corporate matters as required, including group reorganisations, incorporation of new group entities, company secretarial work, and related powers of attorney, notarisation and apostille processes

Essential Skills & Experience

• Qualified lawyer with around 5 years’ PQE (guideline), including in-house experience in a multinational business
• Experience drafting and negotiating contracts in the UAE and/or Middle East region and of working across a variety of commercial contracts including government contracts
• Comfortable taking a hands-on approach across the full range of legal tasks in a lean team environment
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to explain legal principles to non- legal colleagues at all levels in the business and build effective stakeholder relationships
• Organised, with the ability to prioritise competing workloads and tight deadlines
• Practical and solutions oriented, with the ability to balance legal risks and business needs
• Able to manage a varied workload independently, with support from experienced senior counsel as needed
• Fluency in English (written and spoken) is required

Preferred skills & Experience  

• Proficiency in additional languages such as Arabic, French, German, Spanish, or Mandarin is advantageous.
• Experience within another consulting or professional service firm 
• Ability to work in a fast paced, dynamic environment 
• Self-starter confident in using their own initiative to work as part of an effective team

What we can offer

New joiners are supported by induction programmes, and continuous development is a key focus of life at Teneo - learning and knowledge sharing are at the heart of this. We have an environment and culture that is focused on supporting your development and career progression. We support this with a dedicated Learning Team who provide a range of learning opportunities and personal development support.  

Our face-to-face learning is supported by some 100 modules of e-learning available on our internal knowledge management system. 

Given our client base you’ll be working on career-defining (and often news-worthy) work that is exciting, rewarding and one where you can make a real impact to high profile projects. 

Company Benefits 

• Competitive salary (depending on experience) 
• Annual discretionary bonus 
• Discretionary annual salary review 
• Private medical insurance for employees and dependents  
• Participation in the Company’s Group Life Assurance Scheme  
• 25 days’ paid holiday leave, plus national holidays observed in Saudi Arabia  
• Regular social, cultural and charitable activities 
• Flexible working with office laptop provided 
• 10 days remote working abroad per year 

About Teneo

Teneo is the global CEO advisory firm. We partner with our clients globally to do great things for a better future.

Drawing upon our global team and expansive network of senior advisors, we provide advisory services across our five business segments on a stand-alone or fully integrated basis to help our clients solve complex business challenges. Our clients include a significant number of the Fortune 100 and FTSE 100, as well as other corporations, financial institutions, and organizations.

Our full range of advisory services includes strategic communications, investor relations, financial transactions and restructuring, management consulting, physical and cyber risk, organizational design, board and executive search, geopolitics and government affairs, corporate governance, ESG and DE&I.

The firm has more than 1,700 employees located in 40+ offices around the world.