Senior Lawyer

Our client, an Oil & Gas Operator, is currently recruiting for a Senior Lawyer. Based in Aberdeen, the role is on a contract basis and offers hybrid working.

ROLE

The Legal Department provides a legal and commercial advisory service within the UK. The Legal Department also provides a Company Secretarial service. Matters include:

• Highly sensitive matters within the company or of interest beyond.
• Highly complex matters where the law may not provide a black or white answer and where legal documentation is frequently complex.
• Politically sensitive matters, seen as high risk or commercially very important to the whole company.

Both legal and commercial negotiations are often conducted with multiple parties, requiring careful coordination and attention to multiple documents. The lifespan of documents (e.g., licenses, joint venture agreements, gas contracts) may span decades. The department also provides other non-legal services such as insurance services. As appropriate, the Legal Department will call on and manage lawyers in private practice to pursue litigation cases.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Carry out the activities of the job.
• Be responsible for meeting agreed objectives.
• Act in the best interest of the company at all times.
• Seek out learning opportunities and transfer new skills and knowledge to the job.
• Proactively seek advice from and consult with senior lawyers in the team.
• Adhere to the values and principles of the Company Code of Conduct at all times.
• Openly question established practices and achieve continuous quality and commercial improvements.
• Willingly and openly share knowledge and good practice, providing legal support to all Group entities operating in the United Kingdom.
• Actively identify best practices (industry, technical, professional, etc.) and share with other members of the team in a structured manner, for example, by presenting at team meetings and/or preparing briefing notes.
• Develop value awareness and think in terms of cost/benefit trade-offs.
• Adapt creative and alternative approaches to problem-solving by initiating proposals for improvement.

Under the supervision of a senior lawyer in the team or, when considered appropriate by the General Counsel, autonomously:

• Provide a 'help desk' service to colleagues on a range of legal matters, providing a 'headline' response to phone calls, memos, and other requests for help, in order to provide a prompt and accurate response to simple queries.
• Provide detailed advice and guidance on specific matters, based on a full understanding of the matter and including detailing options and consequences, to enable colleagues to make legal and commercial decisions based on considered and measured risks.
• Ensure clarity of understanding of the commercial and legal requirements of the business, provide legal and commercially aware advice, and prepare legal documentation for negotiation.
• Negotiate legal and contractual matters with third parties on behalf of the company, build and manage relationships with third parties, and provide high-quality legal input to achieve a successful outcome for the company.
• Carry out research, provide summaries, and analysis of legal issues required and/or instruct external counsel to carry out this work when deemed appropriate by the General Counsel.
• Provide legal advice on a portfolio of matters, some of which may be handled over some months, to ensure that all matters are handled professionally and successfully.
• Maintain a professional awareness of legal developments relevant to the industry and with internal compliance requirements.
• As requested by the General Counsel, assist in the discharge of the company secretarial function of the Legal Department, preparing documents for the signature of the company's Managing Director, together with appropriate explanation (e.g., summaries of documents) in support of the Company Secretary.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Law degree in Scotland or England and Wales.
• Fully qualified lawyer in Scotland or England and Wales.
• Experience, including practicing at a senior level as a commercial lawyer, gained in private practice or industry, preferably with experience of legal practice as an upstream oil and gas lawyer.