
Dubai Future Foundation
Manager – Legal Affairs
- Permanent
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Experience 5 - 10 yrs
Job expiry date: 04/06/2026
Job overview
Date posted
20/04/2026
Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Salary
AED 30,000 - 40,000 per month
Compensation
Comprehensive package
Job description
The Manager – Legal Affairs at Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) is responsible for supporting the Chief of Legal Affairs in delivering strategic, commercially focused legal services across the organization and its affiliated entities in Dubai, UAE. The role involves ensuring that all contracts, agreements, frameworks, policies, and operational structures comply with applicable UAE laws and regulatory requirements while enabling innovation-driven initiatives. The position supports full contract lifecycle management including drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and executing complex commercial contracts and ancillary legal documents in coordination with internal stakeholders across departments. The role requires conducting legal and regulatory research, assessing risks, and escalating critical legal matters to senior leadership. It includes responsibility for policy development, SOP drafting, compliance monitoring, and legal operational support across multiple future-focused initiatives such as AI, innovation governance, and emerging technologies. The role also involves managing relationships with external counsel, regulators, government authorities, and third-party vendors. A key aspect of the position is balancing legal risk management with DFF’s mandate to enable innovation, ensuring commercially practical legal advice that supports strategic objectives. The role requires familiarity with corporate and commercial law, IT contracts, intellectual property, data privacy regulations, and artificial intelligence governance frameworks, including automated decision-making and AI-generated outputs within the UAE regulatory landscape.
Required skills
Key responsibilities
- Support the Chief of Legal Affairs in implementing legal strategy across Dubai Future Foundation and affiliated entities
- Draft, review, negotiate, and manage complex commercial contracts and legal documents ensuring compliance with UAE laws and internal policies
- Manage full contract lifecycle including drafting, negotiation, execution, and contract change control processes
- Conduct legal research, regulatory analysis, and risk assessment to identify and escalate legal risks to senior leadership
- Develop, review, and implement legal policies, frameworks, and standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Provide commercially focused legal advice to internal departments, project teams, and innovation initiatives
- Coordinate legal workload prioritization to ensure timely and efficient delivery of legal services
- Support audit and compliance monitoring activities across DFF and its affiliated entities
- Build and maintain relationships with external counsel, government entities, regulators, and third-party vendors
- Assist in legal engagement with UAE courts and regulatory authorities when required
- Contribute to legal thought leadership on emerging technologies, including AI governance and regulatory frameworks
- Ensure legal alignment between business initiatives and UAE regulatory and policy requirements
Experience & skills
- Law degree from a recognized university
- Minimum 6+ years post-qualification legal experience
- Experience in international law firm or private practice
- Strong experience in drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts
- Experience in corporate and commercial law, IT contracts, and commercial transactions
- Knowledge of intellectual property law and data privacy regulations
- Familiarity with UAE legal and regulatory frameworks (preferred)
- Experience working with UAE government, semi-government, or sovereign entities (highly desirable)
- Fluency in English and Arabic (written and spoken)
- Understanding of artificial intelligence concepts and AI governance (desirable)
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced legal environment