Head of Legal & Compliance

ALFA LAVAL; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 350,000 - 500,000; Full time

Job summary

A global leader in sustainable solutions is seeking a Head – Legal & Compliance MEA in the UAE. This senior role involves providing legal support across various business segments, managing a high-performing legal team, and ensuring compliance with local laws. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in legal affairs, fluency in Arabic, and a strong understanding of labor laws. This position offers a dynamic environment to contribute to impactful solutions in the region.

Qualifications

• 10-12 years of progressive legal experience required.
• Experience leading a legal and compliance team of 2-3 professionals.
• Proven track record in managing legal affairs within a multinational.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal expertise in business and commercial law.
• Draft and negotiate commercial contracts.
• Educate colleagues on legal and compliance matters.

Skills

Fluency in Arabic

Strong commercial orientation

Labor laws knowledge (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)

Experience negotiating complex agreements

Education

LLB/LLM from a recognized law university

Job description

Alfa Laval is looking for a Head – Legal & Compliance MEA

At Alfa Laval, we always go that extra mile to overcome the toughest challenges. Our driving force is to accelerate success for our customers, people, and planet. You can only achieve that by having dedicated people with a curious mind. Curiosity is the spark behind great ideas. And great ideas drive progress.

As a member of our team, you thrive in a truly diverse and inclusive workplace based on care and empowerment. You are here to make a difference. Constantly building bridges to the future with sustainable solutions that have an impact on our planet’s most urgent problems. Making the world a better place. Every day.

At Alfa Laval, we drive progress by offering sustainable solutions in energy, environment, and food – and the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region plays a vital role in that journey.

With a growing footprint across more than 40 countries, Alfa Laval MEA supports customers across key sectors such as energy, marine, food processing, water treatment, and heavy industries. Our presence is anchored by strategic hubs in the UAE (regional headquarters), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, South Africa, Angola, Egypt, and Kenya, along with strong service and distribution networks throughout the region.

As industries in MEA transform and grow, Alfa Laval is at the forefront – delivering cutting‑edge technologies, localized support, and customer‑centric innovation. We are investing in people, digitalization, and sustainability to shape a smarter, more resilient future for the region.

Joining Alfa Laval MEA means being part of a diverse, dynamic, and purpose-driven team, working closely with customers to create real impact – today and for generations to come

We are now looking for a for an Inspirational leader to spearheading Legal function in MEA , partnering closely with the business leaders and managers.

Role Description

You will be a member of Management team, directly reporting to Cluster President of Alfa Laval MEA.

Moreover, you will be responsible for leading, developing and securing a high performing team in line with the Alfa Laval culture.

Organization Chart

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced legal professional to join our team. This role is responsible for developing and implementing legal strategies that align with the company's goals and objectives. The ideal candidate will provide proactive legal advice to support decision-making across various business segments, ensuring compliance with all relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide legal expertise and support in either a specific legal competence area (specialist competence) and/or all fields of business and commercial law (generalist competence area), including commercial contracts, R&D, product liability, M&A and intellectual property (except for patent and design) through sound commercial, legal and ethical risk assessments.
• Proactively partner with and advise management on potential legal matters to maximize business opportunities.
• Drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts.
• Implementing and actively participating in the continuous improvement of related policies and processes, template agreements, and supporting tools.
• Educating business colleagues in legal competence areas and/or commercial contract, corporate governance and ethics and ensuring knowledge sharing within the legal and compliance team.
• Managing and coordinating disputes and litigations in liaison with external counsels.
• Keep updated on legislative trends and changes, and support the business to mitigate risks, which may affect the business.

To contribute effectively to our business, you will require these essential skills

• LLB/LLM from a recognized law university with 10–12 years of progressive legal experience.
• Strong working knowledge of labour laws across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar is highly preferred.
• Proven experience and capability in leading and developing a high‑performing legal and compliance team of two / three professionals.

• Fluency in Arabic is essential for effective stakeholder engagement.
• Proven track record of managing legal affairs within a multinational organization.
• Demonstrated experience in negotiating and structuring complex commercial agreements with global entities.
• Strong commercial orientation with the ability to align legal strategy to business objectives and build trusted partnerships across functions.

Reporting Relationship

This role reports to the Cluster President MEA

Location

Dubai / Abu Dhabi / Al Khobar

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.