Job description

The Senior Legal Counsel (Presight; JV context: Takamul) will provide end-to-end legal leadership for commercial and government contracting to support national-scale financial infrastructure initiatives in the UAE—covering platforms such as Instant Payments, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and the Jaywan domestic card scheme—based in Abu Dhabi within the Legal function. The role drafts, reviews, and negotiates high-value agreements with vendors, technology providers, and government stakeholders; partners with procurement to ensure tendering, RFPs, and vendor selection are legally sound and compliant; advises on supplier performance frameworks, service-level agreements (SLAs), and dispute avoidance strategies; and aligns contract terms with joint venture policies and shareholder requirements. It ensures operations and agreements comply with UAE laws and regulations, including CBUAE regulations, financial services laws, data protection, and labor law; maintains up-to-date knowledge of evolving legislation and provides practical guidance; and develops and maintains internal policies and templates to standardize contracting and compliance. Acting as a trusted advisor to executive management and business leaders, the counsel liaises with external counsel to ensure efficient, value-driven outsourced support and contributes to embedding a culture of compliance and accountability. The engagement spans commercial and scheduling/operations interfaces, with pragmatic, business-oriented counsel that balances legal risk management with strategic objectives. Working conditions are full-time with hybrid/remote options per company policy.