Vice President - Legal Counsel

Job Purpose   The role will involve advising numerous stakeholders on relevant legal issues, managing a wide array of real estate transactions (disposals, acquisitions and JVs), supporting corporate transactions from a real estate perspective, advising on commercial leasing, day-to-day operational legal issues, mitigating legal risk and supporting the business in achieving its strategic and commercial objectives both within the UAE and internationally.   Roles and Responsibilities   • Structure, draft and negotiate a broad range of strategic investment and partnership real estate transactions which could include assets such as hotels, schools, malls and office space. • Ensure all transactions are executed efficiently and aligned with Aldar’s commercial objectives. • Advise on documentation for leasing transactions across Aldar’s diversified investment portfolio and support the business on all legal aspects of tenant management, renewals, and enforcement. • Draft, review and negotiate property management agreements, facilities management contracts, licences, permits, and service agreements. • Support senior legal team members on large-scale or complex strategic projects, acquisitions, divestments, or group-level structuring initiatives. • Collaborate with internal stakeholders including Commercial, Finance, Treasury, Tax, Insurance, Strategy and Asset Management, coordinating all legal inputs and ensuring smooth execution of transactions. • Provide proactive advice in relation to legal risk mitigation. • Contribute to the continuous improvement of legal processes and templates. • Provide ongoing training to the business as required to ensure efficient use of templates and familiarisation with relevant legal updates. • Experience with hotel and/or school management agreements and franchise agreements preferred. • Provide accurate and timely legal advice to end user departments with a commercial slant. • Appoint external law firms, provide clear legal instructions, manage them throughout transaction negotiations and manage associated external legal spend within budget. • Comply with relevant internal governance documentation. • Research and evaluate different risks regarding business decisions and operations. • Deal with and manage multiple stakeholders (internal and external). • Maintain current knowledge of relevant legal updates and laws. • Co-ordinate, follow up and monitor the progress of active matters. • Prioritise work effectively and efficiently and manage end user Maintain accurate records of advice provided and documents negotiated. expectations.   RELATED YEAR OF EXPERIENCE   • Min of 10+ years of related experience ideally gained in international law firm and/or large in-house environment. • Min of 2+ Years of managerial position preferred.   FIELD OF EXPERIENCE   • Experience in transactional real estate matters and asset management • In depth knowledge of UAE legal systems and regulatory frameworks (onshore and ADGM preferred) • Excellent drafting skills & attention to detail • Systematic organizational capability • Ability to deal with multiple internal and external stakeholders • Good time management • Excellent negotiation skills • Excellent communication and relationship management skills • Good team player • Problem solver   QUALIFICATION   • Law Degree, Bachelors or Post Graduate Diploma in Law • Common Law Qualified