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

Our Company, a leading and foremost international oil & gas engineering/consultancy company headquartered in Lagos with branches across Africa is looking to employ a well-grounded company lawyer and governance professional as a legal officer in the Legal & Company Secretariat Dept.

Summary of work deliverables: To provide prompt and professionally skilled legal advisory and secretariat services to the company;  to effectively support the Company Secretary and Head of Legal to efficiently manage and oversee the legal & secretariat dept in providing sound corporate secretariat services for effective board communications, board meetings and decisions’ effectiveness; and to proactively minimize the crystallization of legal risks arising from the company’s business and operations by the provision of prompt, sound and professionally skillful legal advisory services for the company’s business and operations. 

Key Accountabilities 

As Legal Officer:

• Undertake the review and administration of all contracts including but not limited to leases and all commercial legal instruments.
• Ensure the conduct of regular internal legal audit / internal due diligence with respect to the company’s contracts.
• Ensure up-to-date maintenance of accurate database including documentation management and information reporting with respect to all contracts.
• Promptly monitor and advise on identified and potential legal and contract risks, threats and developments in the company’s legal and regulatory environment including key regulatory issues that affect the company’s contracts such as local content, business approvals, environmental compliance etc.
• Support the Internal Audit and responsible departments to ensure the administering of the compliance risks register of the company 
• Interface with and monitor external consultants and solicitors (where applicable) for effective delivery of legal jobs / assignments including the company’s litigation and pre-litigation portfolios
•  Assisting the Company Secretary to organize and prepare agendas and papers for board meetings, board committees and Annual General Meetings (AGMs).
• Assisting the Company Secretary to take minutes, draft resolutions, and file required forms and annual returns with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
• Following up on actions from both management, board meetings and board committees’ meetings.
• Assisting the Company Secretary to maintain 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.
• Monitoring changes in relevant corporate and industry legislations and the regulatory environment and taking appropriate actions for prompt enlightenment of relevant stakeholders.
• Liaising with investors and external regulators and advisers such as lawyers, governance professionals and auditors.
• Supporting relevant departments in the anchoring of Whistleblowing Policies / Procedures, Regulatory Compliance and Codes of Conduct implementation 
•  Ensuring effective documentation and information management in the Corporate Secretariat Dept. 
• Supporting all internal systems that ensure the company and relevant departments comply with applicable legal, core statutory, and key governance requirements.
• Reviewing all necessary contractual arrangements of the company with third-party counterparts and providing legal advisory thereon.
• Reviewing all employee policies and practices and advising the company thereon. 
• Providing legal opinions on legal, regulatory and contractual arrangements that the company may desire to undertake with a view to minimizing potential legal risks on the company. 
• Undertaking all other tasks as may be necessary and or incidental to the role and function or as may be required by the company. 

The Candidate must possess / display:

• Minimum of 7 years post-call-to-bar experience with bias for company laws, corporate secretariat and governance Practice.
• 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.

SUMMARY OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Education Required    

• LLB, BL, LLM Oil and Gas Law
• MBA or MSC in Corporate Governance is an advantage

Minimum Experience Required    

• 7 years post-call experience, part of which must have been spent in a similar role in a structured and organized corporate environment. 

Supportive Core Skills Required:    

• Process management skills
• Good team spirit – collaborative and confidentiality skills
• Planning and organizational skills, including the ability to anticipate tasks, set priorities, and meet deadlines promptly and smoothly.
• Good character and integrity