Legal Officer / Company Secretary at International Energy Services Limited (IESL)

Job Description

• To effectively support the functions of the legal & secretariat dept and provide corporate secretarial services required for IESL with a view to promoting effective board communications, organizing board meetings and providing contract administration support to the project office.
• The legal officer will also see to the prevention of statutory and contractual liabilities, advise on corporate governance, and drive best legal & secretariat practices, whilst effectively reducing legal and compliance costs.

Responsibilities

Legal Officer:

• Oversee and supervise the review and administration of contracts including but not limited to MOA, commercial agreements, leases and all other commercial legal instruments.
• Ensure the conduct of regular internal legal audit / internal due diligence with respect to company’s contracts.
• Ensure up-to-date maintainanace of accurate database including documentation management and information reporting with respect to all contracts.
• Promptly monitor and advise on identified and potential legal and contracts risks, threats and developments in the company’s legal and regulatory environment including key regulatory issues that affect company’s contracts such as local content, business approvals, environmental compliance etc.
• Support Internal Audit and responsible departments to ensure the administering of the compliance risks register of the company
• Interface and monitor external consultants and solicitors (where applicable) for the effective delivery of legal jobs/assignments including the company’s litigation and pre-litigation portfolios
• Support the functions of legal personnel including the affairs of the legal & secretariat dept under the supervision of the department manager
• Develop and implement governance processes, relevant legal policies, compliance training, performance budgets, SLAs, and other budgets concerning the department.

As Company Secretary of IESL:

• Advising the Board of IESL on corporate laws, statutory requirements and corporate governance
• Organizing and preparing agendas and papers for board meetings, board committees and Annual General Meetings (AGMs).
• Taking minutes, drafting resolutions, and filing / lodging required forms and annual returns with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
• Following up on actions from both management, board meetings and board committees’ meeting.
• Initiating and overseeing relevant policies, making sure they are kept up to date and referred to the appropriate committee for approval.
• Maintaining statutory books, including statutory registers of members, directors and secretaries.
• Dealing with correspondence, collating information and writing reports, ensuring decisions made are communicated to the relevant company stakeholders.
• Contributing to board meeting discussions as when required, and advising members of the legal, governance, accounting and tax implications of proposed policies or decisions.
• Ensuring that directors are up to speed with statutory requirements such statutory disclosure forms and directors codes of conduct attestation forms etc.
• Monitoring changes in relevant corporate and industry legislations and the regulatory environment and taking appropriate actions for prompt enlightenment of the board.
• Liaising with investors and external regulators and advisers such as lawyers, governance professionals and auditors.
• Driving and championing corporate governance standards, codes of conducts and business ethics across the organization.
• Supporting relevant departments in then anchoring of Whistleblowing Policies / Procedures, Regulatory Compliance and Codes of Conduct implementation
• Taking responsibility for documentation and information management of the Corporate Secretariat Dept.
• Designing innovative and efficient systems and processes to aid efficient and seamless coordination and evaluation of board activities and decisions.
• Supporting all internal systems that ensure the company and relevant departments comply with applicable legal, core statutory, and key governance requirements.

Requirements

• Minimum of 6 to 8 years post-call-to-bar experience with bias for company laws, corporate secretariat and governance practice.
• Memberships of Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) is highly preferred.
• Very strong corporate backgrounds preferably from reputable or high standard organizations (not necessarily from a big corporation)
• Strong academic background and capable of applying jurisprudence and tactfulness in real situations
• High confidence and mannerliness to deal with top ranking officials including executive and non-executive directors
• Ability to maintain high confidentiality in processing of board decisions, deliberations and information.
• Ability to work as part of a team and with both internal and external stakeholders with diverse cultural backgrounds
• Sufficient knowledge of the oil & gas business regulatory framework and environment would be an added advantage. Relevant experience of energy industry and engineering laws.
• Ability to act as Company’s spoke-person and governance advocate and ambassador.