Role overview
Our client is a leading UAE-headquartered bank with a large international corporate and institutional banking business. They are looking to hire a Senior Legal Counsel to join a small team supporting the bank's corporate finance activities across both conventional and Islamic finance. The work covers bilateral and syndicated lending, project, acquisition and leveraged, fund, real estate and asset-backed finance, as well as debt restructurings. The successful candidate will work with a high degree of autonomy, dealing directly with the business, external counsel and counterparties on live transactions. This is an excellent opportunity for a banking and finance lawyer moving in-house, or already in-house, to join one of the region's most active lenders.
Key responsibilities
- Draft, review and negotiate bilateral and syndicated facility documentation across project, structured, leveraged, acquisition, fund, real estate and asset finance
- Advise on debt restructurings and other complex lending arrangements
- Advise the corporate finance business, balancing commercial aims with the bank's legal risk framework
- Instruct and coordinate external counsel on cross-border transactions
- Support new product launches, including legal and regulatory due diligence
- Keep facility templates and standard terms up to date
- Track legal and regulatory changes affecting lending and advise the business
Candidate profile
- Qualified lawyer, England and Wales preferred, with around 8 to 10 years' PQE
- Banking and finance background from a law firm or a major financial institution
- Significant conventional and Islamic finance experience
- Confident with LMA documentation and complex facility structures
- Recent UAE or GCC transactional experience required
- Comfortable working independently in a fast-paced environment
- Open on law firm background, the focus is on experience rather than pedigree
- Committed to building a career in the region
About Meyssa Legal
Meyssa Legal places lawyers across private practice and in-house roles in the UAE, with deep experience in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We work consultatively with leading firms, in-house teams, and senior counsel across banking and finance, disputes, corporate, regulatory, and TMT.
Our approach prioritises judgment over targets and discretion over volume. We brief every role in confidence, submit only candidates we genuinely believe fit, and treat every conversation as the start of a long-term relationship.
