Legal Counsel

The Legal Counsel will be a member of the Legal and Compliance Team and provide legal support and risk management services to Eastern Pacific Shipping, Quantum Pacific Shipping Services and their associated entities. The Legal Counsel will work closely with the General Counsel, executive offices and functional department heads on a wide range of day-to-day legal issues. The Legal Counsel will also supervise the work of more junior lawyers in the team.

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

-Reviewing, commenting and/or negotiating a range of commercial contracts such as service agreements, supplier and subcontractor agreements, novation agreements, confidentiality agreements and various terms & conditions

- Assisting on variety of disputes relating to charter parties, MOAs and ship building contracts

-Assisting in various corporate and finance transactions that may include joint ventures and capital market transactions

-Legal support for the establishment of new foreign subsidiaries/branch offices of the Group

-Assisting with the development and implementation of policies and procedures

-Reviewing and assessing current legal processes, structures and procedures (including control procedures) within the Group, identifying areas of weakness, recommending scope for improvement and implementing appropriate changes

-Assisting with insurance mortgage documentation

- Assisting with various aspects of company secretarial work including drafting internal board minutes, powers of attorney and other company documents

-Assisting with KYC and compliance processes

-Assisting with contract management

-Further development, maintenance and updating of legal systems and records.

-Supervising more junior lawyers in the team.

The role of Legal Counsel will also require the successful candidate to establish excellent working relationships and liaise closely with a wide range of both external and internal contacts.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Formal legal qualification at University Degree level or above.
• Qualification as a practicing lawyer in England and Wales, Singapore or another common law jurisdiction.
• Minimum 5 years relevant direct working experience either in the legal department of an international business or in a professional law firm. Some shipping experience is preferable, but not essential.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Have outstanding verbal and written communication skills, the ability to work effectively in a team and demonstrate a self-starting attitude and a high level of independent thought
• Be able to quickly form strong working relationships with internal and external colleagues and contacts
• Demonstrate an ability to understand and identify legal issues and develop proposals which clearly define, evaluate and mitigate risk while demonstrating commercial awareness and legal compliance
• Have strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• Demonstrate a high degree of personal motivation and the desire to develop within the role and take on additional responsibility
• Demonstrate an ability to align and coordinate team efforts on a particular task or project.
• Demonstrate an awareness of macro issues and advanced knowledge of the business strategy.
• Excellent time management and the ability to deliver consistently good legal advice while managing a wide variety of matters with often conflicting deadlines and
• Be proficient with the use of Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.