Legal Attorney

Oando Trading DMCC (“Oando”), the trading arm of Oando Plc (“Oando Plc”) is looking to hire a corporate/commercial legal attorney to join its legal team.

The Legal Attorney will primarily assist the Legal Advisor in providing day-to-day legal services support to Oando on various strategic legal transactions and corporate projects/assignments. The incumbent is responsible for providing comprehensive, real time and practical legal support to the various units within Oando in a bid to achieving effective and efficient management of the legal needs of each transaction/assignment handled. This will include without limitation, the preparation and drafting and or review of contracts, legal opinions, project work plan monitoring, status report preparation, project documentation and filing, legal risk management, in addition to handling assigned responsibilities. The Legal Attorney will also undertake legal transactions to comply with the overall philosophy, strategy and policies of Oando Plc, and local and international laws and regulations and partner agreements.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Execute/implement work best practices for legal services on assigned transactions.
• Draft and review various letters, contracts relating to physical commodities trading, including Incoterms sale and purchase contracts, joint venture agreements, financing contracts, charterparties, and other agreements as may be required by users from time to time.
• Provide high quality and comprehensive legal opinions and reports, manage quality & quantity claims, demurrage, and claims arising from charterparties.
• Provide comprehensive legal advice to employees on the legal implications of proposed policies, decisions, and actions (in areas including, but not limited to oil and gas, commodities trading, employment law, contracts, sanctions, litigation, leases, regulatory compliance, etc).
• Provide updates on and interpretation/application of new laws/regulations to the various internal teams/departments and make recommendations to management with respect to necessary action required.
• Liaise with and provide legal support to different teams and departments on ongoing initiatives, projects, and operations.
• Monitor contract performance and compliance in accordance with set KPIs, contract management planning, obligation tracking, risk management and compliance with the company’s policies and procedures.
• Assess merits of claims and deal with them and where required, support the Legal Advisor in managing external legal counsel in relation to such claims.
• Provide dispute resolution management and advisory services, including liaising with external solicitors and consultants, and obtaining regular updates on ongoing litigation and dispute resolution matters.
• Drive the continuous improvement of standard form agreements and legal processes.
• Maintain and periodically update electronic and paper databases maintained by the legal department.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Key Performance Indicators

• Process turnaround and general performance against Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
• Level of adherence to mandatory reporting requirements (quality of reporting and completion deadlines)
• Availability of up-to-date and comprehensive information on each legal document affecting the company
• Ease of access to company business, transaction and legal records
• Quality and effectiveness of day-to-day administrative support provided.
• Promptness/timeliness of service delivery
• Customer’ satisfaction levels
• Quality and comprehensiveness of legal information/data
• Error rates in transactions processed, opinions drafted and other legal documents.

Qualifications & Experience

• A good first degree in Law (minimum of second-class lower division) (Master’s degree – added advantage)
• 4 – 5 years Commercial/Contract law experience (post NYSC) gained either from the oil and gas and general law practice of a reputable law firm or within the Legal Department of a reputable and structured oil and gas company, or both.
• Experience in downstream petroleum sector sale and purchase transactions and trade finance.
• Significant finance law experience is an added advantage.

Core Competencies

• Oil & Gas Industry dynamics
• Commercial/Contract law.
• Excellent negotiation, drafting and communication skills.
• Keen attention to detail.
• Ability to perform general legal analysis.
• Legal documentation management.
• Team player/Strong interpersonal skills
• Self-motivated and personable.
• Good understanding of Oando’s oil and gas trading business, and business acumen.
• Ability to co-ordinate cross functional teams to achieve an agreed outcome.
• Knowledge of the local and international laws and regulations pertaining to the various industries in which Oando operates.