Senior Regional Legal Director - Commercial & Strategy

Baker Hughes; Dubai; On-site; AED 550,000 - 850,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical care

Life insurance

Disability programs

Tailored financial programs

Additional benefits

Job summary

Baker Hughes in the United Arab Emirates seeks a Legal Staff Director to provide strategic legal and compliance guidance for OFSE operations across the Middle East. You will lead regional legal support, manage disputes, advise on complex commercial matters, and align legal with business strategy across multiple jurisdictions.

Based in the UAE, you will partner with Compliance, governance and product teams to optimize contracting, governance and risk management while mentoring a high-performing

Qualifications

• Law degree from an accredited law school.
• Active bar membership or equivalent authorization to practice law.
• At least 12 years of legal experience, in-house or private practice, with Middle East exposure.
• Strong commercial legal experience in oil & gas, energy services, infrastructure, or similar.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation and communication skills for senior stakeholders.
• Experience advising across multiple jurisdictions and business environments.
• Based in the UAE.

Responsibilities

• Leading, coaching and developing a high-performing regional legal team, building capability, consistency and commercial judgment across countries, cultures and reporting lines.
• Partnering with regional business leadership to align legal support with business strategy, growth priorities and operational execution.
• Providing strategic and practical advice on complex commercial, regulatory, compliance, labor and employment, public procurement, HSE, competition and integrity matters.
• Reviewing, drafting and negotiating a broad range of commercial agreements, including customer contracts, vendor agreements, channel partner arrangements, nondisclosure agreements and memoranda of understanding.
• Strengthening legal operations by improving internal expertise, reducing unnecessary external legal spend, increasing contracting efficiency and supporting better use of legal technology.
• Partnering with Compliance and Integrity teams to support program execution, investigations, third-party diligence, risk mitigation and business enablement.
• Managing regional disputes and litigation matters in coordination with litigation counsel, including reserves, accruals, reporting and risk mitigation activities.
• Serving as a senior legal focal point for key customer relationships and engagement with customer legal departments across the Middle East.
• Supporting regional legal entity governance, channel partner risk management and cross-functional collaboration with corporate, product line, segment and regional legal teams.
• Monitoring legal and regulatory developments affecting OFSE operations and advising stakeholders on potential commercial and operational impacts.
• Helping ensure consistent legal support across the regional Geozone structure while remaining responsive to local business, customer and regulatory requirements

Skills

Active bar membership

12+ years experience

Commercial law

Oil & gas experience

Cross-jurisdiction advisory

Negotiation & drafting

Executive stakeholder management

Digital literacy in legal tech

Education

Law degree

Tools

Microsoft Word

PowerPoint

Excel

Redlining tools

Legal tech platforms

Job description

Baker Hughes in the United Arab Emirates seeks a Legal Staff Director to provide strategic legal and compliance guidance for OFSE operations across the Middle East. You will lead regional legal support, manage disputes, advise on complex commercial matters, and align legal with business strategy across multiple jurisdictions.

Based in the UAE, you will partner with Compliance, governance and product teams to optimize contracting, governance and risk management while mentoring a high-performing