Legal Counsel

Job Summary

Zurich International Life Limited is part of Zurich Insurance Group, one of the world’s largest and most experienced insurers. Our mission is to help our local community understand and protect themselves from risk both locally and globally.

Reporting to the Middle East Head of Legal of Zurich International Life Limited, the Legal Counsel is expected to identify, manage and mitigate legal, regulatory and corporate governance risks, to enable the business to achieve its strategic and commercial goals in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and to protect and preserve Zurich’s tangible and intangible assets. You will be required to provide professional, independent and high-quality legal advice and related support to the business and other functions. You will provide in-house legal, regulatory and governance advice on Insurance, Governance, Human Resources, Labor and Employment, Communications, IT, Data Protection, Group Operations, Mergers & Acquisitions, Finance, and Regulatory Affairs.
 

Job Accountabilities

As Legal Counsel, your role will involve: 

Corporate Legal – Regulatory, and Governance

• Support the Head of Legal and the management in developing open and transparent relationships with key stakeholders which is consistent with the organization values and compliant with the spirit and the letter of the law.
• Support and advise the organization on developing and maintaining an adequate and transparent corporate governance system of principles, policies, procedures, and clearly defined responsibilities and accountabilities to ensure they are in line with applicable laws and regulations and enable effective and timely decision making. 
• Promote the practice of the organizational values, ethical and responsible business conduct.
• Actively monitor and report on legal trends and laws allowing for timely anticipation of new requirements and their potential impact on the organization as well as the preparation of appropriate responses.
• Guide the business in relation to insurance laws and regulation along the business value chain, from licensing, product development through to reinsurance, hereby supporting the business to achieve its strategic and commercial goals.

Corporate Legal – Corporate Transactions

• Support the strategy for structuring, negotiating and resolving local legal issues of corporate transactions to enable the transaction whilst protecting Zurich’s assets.
• As a member of ZILL ME Legal Team provide legal advice to address and manage local legal issues and regulatory requirements in relation to a proposed corporate transaction.

Shared Service Legal

• Develop the relationship, interaction and information flow with the different Shared Service stakeholders ensuring consistency of legal services and standards.
• Support the senior team members in advising the business on laws and regulation related to the full range of non-insurance related commercial activities, from sourcing, data protection to human resources, and facilitate establishing and support executing the related activities.
• Draft and solidify agreements, contracts and other legal documents to ensure the company’s full legal rights.

Litigation

• Follow up and engage external counsels on litigation matters.
• Manage all litigious issues related to insurance and commercial disputes/cases.

Job Qualifications

To be successful in this role, you will need: 

• 3 to 5 years of experience in related field (i.e insurance, financial services or banking) within UAE.
• Qualified Lawyer/Attorney at law
• Bilingual - English and Arabic a must
• Proven experience and in-depth knowledge of CBUAE and DFSA regulations.
• Familiarity with Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) regulations and Bahrain laws is preferred.
• Proactive
• Good communication skills
• Stakeholder management skills 

Skills:

• Analytical and problem-solving mindset.
• Accuracy and Attention to details.
• Effective personal organization and planning skills, 
• Intermediate knowledge of Microsoft office packages– Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Excellent negotiation and communication skills both written and verbal in Arabic and English.