Assistant Vice President Legal Counsel - MUFG UAE DIFC Branch

Do you want your voice heard and your actions to count?

Discover your opportunity with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world's leading financial groups.
Across the globe, we're 120,000 colleagues striving to make a difference for every client organization and community we serve.
We stand for our values:
building long-term relationships, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

With a vision to be the world's most trusted financial group, it's part of our culture to put people first, listen to new and diverse ideas, and collaborate toward greater innovation, speed, and agility.
This means investing in talent, technologies, and tools that empower you to own your career.

Join MUFG, where being inspired is expected and making a meaningful impact is rewarded.

The Legal department provides legal services to and manages the legal risk for MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities (EMEA) and the MUSHD international business (collectively the Firm).

Members of Legal are dual-hatted across MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities.
Dual-hat employees will be expected to be entity-neutral across all responsibilities to ensure that services are provided to both entities effectively and without favour or detriment to the other entity.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

We have an exciting opportunity for a legal counsel to join MUFG EMEA Legal Department as a permanent member based in Dubai.
This role will be primarily covering a broad range of transactional work across lending, trade finance, cash management, and structured financing transactions.

From time to time, MUFG may ask individuals to develop new areas of practice either where this is required to meet business needs and/or as part of an individual's career progression.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Providing services which cover MUFG's banking arm and securities business under a dual-hat arrangement.
• Advise on, participate in, and implement Firm and International Business transactions, proceedings, actions, projects, and initiatives.
• Advise on, review, and negotiate legal documentation and provide all related transactional support to the Business on a broad range of transactions and non-transactional work.
• Review, negotiate, and advise on a broad range of transaction documents including bilateral and syndicated loan agreements, intercreditors, security documents, ancillary documents, hedging agreements, and legal opinions.
• Review and advise on client documentation including NDAs, marketing material, and term sheets.
• Act as a strategic advisor to the Business and support the setup of new & complex products and new business initiatives.
• Advise on the legal, regulatory, and reputational issues and work closely with the wider EMEA and International legal teams.
• Participate in working groups, projects, and committee meetings at MUFG.
• Manage the engagement of law firms and legal spend efficiently.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• University graduate.
• 5+ years post-qualification legal experience working in private practice with a major law firm or in-house with another significant financial institution.
• Good technical understanding of loan documentation and knowledge of MENA markets and legal landscape, particularly in KSA, Qatar, and UAE (including DIFC).
• Demonstrate commercial awareness of the latest market issues and regulatory changes.
• Ability to build effective and positive client relationships quickly.
• Ability to explain complex legal concepts to a non-technical audience.
• Ability to speak, read, and write Arabic is essential.

PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Positive with a can-do attitude.
• Collaborative and ability to work with colleagues at all levels of seniority and various office locations.
• Proactive and enthusiastic.
• Results-driven with a strong sense of accountability.
• Pragmatic, curious, and commercially minded.

PERFORMANCE AND DUTIES

The role holder will be assessed in accordance with their employing entity's performance framework and process with relevant input obtained from the dual-hatting entity as relevant.

As duties and responsibilities change, the job description will be reviewed and amended in consultation with the role holder.
The role holder will carry out other duties as are within the scope, spirit, and purpose of the role as requested by their line manager or Department Head.

MANAGING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (ONLY FOR DUAL HATTED ROLES)

• The role holder will have responsibilities for both MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc.
• The role holder will be required to perform their duties and responsibilities on an entity-neutral basis without favour.
• The role holder is required to follow regulatory requirements applicable to ensure each business is appropriately supported and to maintain the legal entity integrity of each of MUFG Bank and MUS.
• The role holder will have responsibility for identifying and resolving where there may be a difference or conflict in needs between MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc, escalating to their manager where required.

We are open to considering flexible working requests in line with organisational requirements.

MUFG is committed to embracing diversity and building an inclusive culture where all employees are valued, respected, and their opinions count.
We support the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion in recruitment and employment and oppose all forms of discrimination.