Legal Manager I, Corporate Legal Services Full Time

Job Summary

To provide strategic corporate legal support across oil and gas transactions, business operations, strategic matters, projects, and advising on the legal aspects of regulatory engagements, in order to ensure the company’s interests are protected and mitigate legal and reputational risks.

Key Responsibilities Areas (KRAs) and Initiatives

• Legal Advisory and Guidance
• Provide specialized legal guidance to senior management and operational teams, to ensure day-to-day activities and strategic decisions align with applicable laws and industry regulations.
• Independently prepare or assess preparation of legal memoranda, transactional documents, and advisory notes, to maintain accuracy, consistency, and commercial soundness in legal outputs .
• Handle legal issues arising from upstream operations to protect business continuity and minimise exposure.
• Provide legal input on governmental and regulatory matters, including engagements involving the National Assembly (NASS) and Nigerian
• Content Development (NCD) obligations, to support adherence to national legislative and local content frameworks.
• Contribute to the refinement of internal legal standards, document formats, and operating procedures to improve consistency and operational effectiveness.
• Provide oversight, review, and quality control of legal opinions, contracts, research, and other legal outputs prepared by the attorneys to ensure accuracy, compliance with internal standards, and alignment with business objectives.

Contract Review, Negotiation, and Risk Management

• Conduct detailed reviews of significant commercial and technical contracts to confirm alignment with company policies and safeguard key legal and financial interests.
• Represent the company in contract discussions with external parties, to ensure negotiated terms are balanced, commercially advantageous, and appropriately mitigate risk.
• Draft and refine complex agreements—covering operational services, technical support, procurement, and strategic initiatives—ensuring legal robustness and operational clarity.
• Work alongside commercial, technical, and financial departments to integrate legal considerations into contract structures and execution strategies.
• Provide oversight and guidance on attorneys’ work relating to contract drafting, review, negotiation, and risk assessment to ensure accuracy, compliance, and alignment with the company’s commercial objectives.

Transaction and Project Management

• Manage assigned legal components of corporate transactions—including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestments—providing thorough document review, due diligence, and regulatory analysis.
• Support cross-functional project teams by embedding legal insights into planning, approvals, and implementation phases to ensure regulatory-compliant execution.
• Prepare and review major transaction documents (e.g., SPAs, shareholder agreements, transfer instruments), to ensure they reflect the company’s strategic and commercial priorities.
• Analyze transaction risks and present clear recommendations to senior leadership to aid decision-making and deal approvals.
• Assist in resolving transactional issues or disputes to maintain value, timelines, and partnerships.
• Oversee and guide attorneys in the review, drafting, negotiation, and monitoring of legal aspects of transactions and projects, ensuring high-quality outputs that support successful execution.

Dispute Resolution and Cost Control

• Attend to disputes arising from commercial, operational, or regulatory activities, to provide the most efficient resolution pathways.
• Provide guidance on the selection and use of dispute-resolution mechanisms including litigation, arbitration, mediation, and negotiated settlements, to ensure alignment with cost and business objectives.
• Work with external counsel to monitor case strategies, ensure quality deliverables, and achieve cost-effective outcomes.
• Review completed matters to capture lessons learned, to ensure more resilient processes and improved future responses.
• Support efforts to manage legal expenses by increasing reliance on internal capabilities to ensure external engagements are efficiently scoped and monitored.
• Oversee and guide attorneys in handling disputes, litigation, and claims, while monitoring and controlling associated legal costs to ensure efficient, cost-effective, and strategically sound resolution.

Qualification and Experience Requirements

Minimum Qualification:

Bachelor’s degree in Law (minimum of second class (lower division)).

Required Professional Certifications / Accreditations / Registrations:

Membership of the Nigerian Bar Association

Minimum Years of Experience and Relevant Areas:

Minimum of 8 years total post-call experience either from the oil and gas or corporate practice of a reputable law firm or within the legal department of a reputable and structured oil and gas company or both.

Proven experience in:

• Energy and natural resources, mergers and acquisitions and commercial law.
• Planning and executing complex assignments and recommending and implementing solutions.
• Business communication and strategic thinking
• Any Additional Qualifications / Certifications or Experience (Desirable but not essential):
• Master’s degree in Law