Senior Legal Counsel (Freelance)

The Senior Legal Counsel is responsible for providing strategic legal support across ZainTECH’s regional business operations, ensuring effective legal risk management while enabling commercial growth and operational agility. The role supports the organization across a broad range of legal matters, with a strong focus on complex technology, ICT, and commercial agreements across the GCC and wider MENA region.

Working closely with senior leadership and cross-functional teams, the Senior Legal Counsel acts as a trusted advisor on contractual, regulatory, and compliance matters, supporting business initiatives while ensuring alignment with applicable laws, corporate governance standards, and industry best practices.

Responsibilities:

Contract Management

• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of ICT-related agreements, including but not limited to: software licenses, SaaS agreements, cloud infrastructure contracts, reseller agreements, service level agreements (SLAs), NDAs, and strategic partnership contracts.
• Ensure contracts are legally robust, commercially viable, and aligned with internal governance standards and risk appetite.
• Manage the end-to-end contract lifecycle, including amendments, renewals, and terminations.
• Maintain contract templates and support process improvements in contract management systems.

Commercial and Transactional Legal Support

• Provide legal support during the pre-sales and post-sales phases of ICT transactions.
• Collaborate with business development, sales, procurement, and finance teams to structure, negotiate, and close complex commercial deals.
• Lead legal aspects of negotiations with hyperscalers (e.g., AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud), partners, and enterprise customers.
• Advise on regulatory considerations and risk mitigation in ICT transactions.

Legal Advisory & Risk Management

• Advise on a broad range of corporate, commercial, data protection, and regulatory matters relevant to ICT operations in the GCC.
• Monitor legal developments, industry trends, and emerging risks related to ICT, data governance, cybersecurity, and AI.
• Support the implementation of legal policies and governance frameworks.

Stakeholder Engagement & Training

• Act as a legal business partner to internal teams including sales, product, technical, and operations.
• Develop and deliver internal training on key legal topics such as contract law, negotiation best practices, confidentiality, and IP management.
• Manage and coordinate with external counsel for complex, jurisdiction-specific, or high-value matters.

Corporate Governance & Regulatory Compliance

• Draft, review, and maintain legal documents required for the company and its affiliates, including shareholder and board resolutions, powers of attorney, and company policies.
• Support the renewal and amendment of trade licenses, commercial registrations, and regulatory approvals for entities operating in the GCC, including mainland and free zone jurisdictions.
• Liaise with external government relations officers (PROs) and relevant authorities to ensure timely filings, renewals, and compliance with statutory obligations.
• Track and follow up on legal and regulatory deadlines (e.g., license expiries, reporting obligations, etc.) to avoid business disruption.

Regulatory Monitoring & Implementation

• Stay abreast of applicable ICT-related laws and regulations across the GCC, including those related to data protection, cybersecurity, cloud computing, AI, and digital content.
• Ensure regulatory requirements are appropriately reflected and implemented in customer and vendor contracts, particularly in relation to data protection.
• Collaborate with compliance business teams to support the operational implementation of legal and regulatory mandates.

Requirements:
• Bachelor’s degree in Law (LLB or equivalent); LLM or equivalent is a plus.
• 5-8 years of post-qualification experience, preferably with in-house experience in the ICT or technology sector.
• Proven experience in negotiating and managing commercial contracts.
• Fluency in English and Arabic is a must.
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to align legal solutions with business objectives.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, cross-border environment, and deliver under pressure.
• High degree of professional ethics, integrity, and sound judgment.
• Proactive, solutions-oriented, and collaborative mindset.