Legal and Regulatory Compliance in an Oil and Gas Company

Human Leadership Resources Limited - Our client in the Oil and Gas industry is recruiting suitably qualified candidate to fill the position below:

Job Title: Legal and Regulatory Compliance Location: Headquarters - Accra Ghana Job Type: Regional Reports to: General Counsel Division: Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Key Job Accountabilities & Responsibilities Regulatory and Compliance Management: Regulatory Stakeholder Engagement:

• Provide strategic legal guidance to the leadership team in engaging with regulatory stakeholders
• Be the organisation’s Lead advocate at hearings before relevant regulatory bodies
• Championing the organisation’s interest or position at various fora to safeguard Company’s interest
• Lead technical discussions on legal regulatory matters with relevant regulatory bodies
• Determine the necessity for and advise on the engagement of a third-party expert to provide support/advice on a regulatory matter in question

Internal Compliance Framework:

• Support the GC to manage the Company’s internal compliance programme(s) incorporating a system of policies, procedures and tools to enhance compliance and help prevent and detect infractions.
• Coordinate the review of internal policies and procedures to ensure ongoing compliance with changes in law and regulations
• Coordinate with designated Divisional compliance liaisons to confirm status of compliance with relevant legal regulatory requirements
• Develop regulatory compliance training manuals and facilitate periodic training sessions to raise regulatory compliance awareness levels for staff and third-party contractors
• Develop and review Company’s compliance manual and/or code of conduct to guide corporate conduct and business operations
• Liaise with Internal Audit team to monitor and review compliance programmes to assure effective operation of internal controls, policies and procedures
• Coordinate the preparation/updating of Company’s Annual Business Assurance Statements by the Senior Management Team
• Supervise the administration of the corporate Annual Business Assurance Programme to provide written assurance on Business and internal controls to Shareholders
• Endorse materials or manuals used for compliance training and orientation sessions
• Oversee the state of Company’s compliance programmes and provide management and Board/Board Audit Committee with periodic reports on the status of internal compliance, compliance measures, trends and developments
• Oversee the administration and maintenance of the organisation’s Legal and Regulatory Compliance Register to assure overall corporate compliance
• Conduct periodic report and assessment of existing internal compliance programmes vis a vis new risks identified, changing business environment, emerging trends, international best practices and recommend appropriate revisions thereto
• Provide support to corporate, divisions/departments in the development of departmental internal controls to facilitate identification and mitigation of compliance risks
• Administer the Company’s conflict of interest programme to assure proper stewardship, integrity and objectivity in all decision-making processes

External Regulatory Compliance Framework:

• Design and provide strategic legal direction for an efficient and effective legal regulatory compliance programme
• Provide legal guidance to corporate Divisions/Departments in the development of departmental internal controls
• Provide strategic legal direction in managing fallouts of compliance violations including the conduct of internal investigations and other consequence management processes
• Align existing regulatory compliance framework with changing business environment, emerging trends and international best practices
• Be a change agent for aligning existing regulatory compliance framework with international best practices
• Oversee the institution and operation of a corporate whistle-blowing mechanism to detect and address possible regulatory violations

Ethics and Integrity Management: Ethics and Integrity Framework:

• Serve as the Division’s focal person for addressing actions arising from audit assurance and risk assessments
• Coordinate and/or facilitate periodic training on corporate ethics to deepen employees’ understanding of the moral dimensions and implications of business situations and raise corporate ABC and ethics/integrity awareness levels
• Develop and/or review policies and procedures in force in the organization to ensure they reflect the corporate ethical standards
• Champion activities and systems that promote inculcate a strong culture of integrity in the workplace
• Liaise with HR team to develop and administer a system of rewards and consequence management to positively influence adherence` to ethical values
• Conduct post incident reviews to identify and implement opportunities for continuous improvement of ethics management processes

Anti-bribery and corruption (ABC):

• Evaluate and identify particular areas of anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) risks that the Company may be vulnerable to and recommend/review appropriate control mechanism(s) to address same
• Conduct detailed risk assessment, develop divisional risk assessment plan and provide guidance on the use of Risk Management Framework
• Develop/review ABC policies/code of conduct and processes to guide corporate behavior, positively influence adherence to ethical values and monitor compliance
• Develop ABC training manuals and facilitate training sessions to raise corporate ABC awareness levels.
• Evaluate or assess the effectiveness of risk management implementation strategies
• Provide legal counsel and guidance to relevant in house clients on Anti-Bribery and Corruption matters and applying a risk based approach in the discharge of their functions
• Provide legal guidance/representation in managing fallouts of ABC policy breaches to mitigate potential corporate/individual liability

Corporate Governance (Principles and Structure):

• Draft resolutions to be tabled before Board/Shareholders to ensure alignment with Company Bye-Laws/Shareholder Agreement
• Coordinate the preparation of governance and ethics learning material for periodic Board trainings
• Advise Staff/Management on aligning corporate actions with prevailing governance structure and principles
• Coordinate the completion and transmission of requisite statutory forms, records and filings with relevant agencies in Bermuda and across the 4 WAGP States
• Advocate Company’s position in technical discussions on corporate governance issues with relevant government agencies/bodies and the Regulator as appropriate
• Draft and review key corporate documents and records
• Analyse corporate governance framework and diagnose governance risk issues
• Develop and/or review compliance processes and structures that feed into the corporate compliance framework
• Monitor adherence to compliance processes and structures and generate appropriate reports thereon

Gas Transportation Business (Tariff Regime):

• Demonstrate reasonable understanding of natural gas pipeline systems and principles underpinning pipeline transportation tariff regimes
• Draft agreements to reflect revisions agreed upon during the tariff development/tariff review process, relevant correspondence etc. to safeguard company’s interest
• Coordinate with CBD to engage key stakeholders in the tariff development process
• Guide the commercial Team in distilling and applying the tariff methodology principles underpinning tariff determination as contained in relevant governing documents
• Liaise with CBD to gather relevant legal date to support the tariff development/tariff review process

General Legal Advisory/Consulting: Interdisciplinary Knowledge:

• Demonstrate widespread understanding of the core business of WAPCo and reasonable appreciation of the operations and activities of the various in-house clients
• Provide counsel to various divisions on the import and application of relevant laws, regulations, etc.
• Provide legal counsel and guidance to shape policies/processes/procedures for in-house clients
• Ability to harness knowledge of other fields to provide sound and practical legal counsel to in-house clients
• Keep abreast with legislative and regulatory changes, case law and emerging issues affecting the core business of the company to inform internal policy reforms and make recommendations accordingly.

Legal Risk Management:

• Review and recommend appropriate mitigation/control measures relative to legal risks identified
• Evaluate legal exposure and potential liability issues and take appropriate action to mitigate exposure
• Develop controls framework to manage legal risks, review and propose measures to enhance suitability of existing legal risks control framework
• Provide guidance and counsel to non-legal colleagues on applying a risk based approach in the discharge of their functions
• Dispute Resolution and Crisis Management

Investigation Support:

• Review the facts and documentation relevant to an issue at hand and endorse the need for initiating internal investigations
• Develop terms of reference for investigating moderately complex to high impact/sensitive matters
• Provide oversight / serve as an investigation team member to assure attorney-client privilege and provide legal guidance to investigation team to ensure that key legal principles of neutrality, confidentiality, principles of natural justice, etc. are respected; following the outcome of investigations, review and endorse the need to self-report/notify relevant regulatory Agency/Body and advise company on appropriate actions
• Recommend appropriate legal actions to be taken following the outcome of an internal investigation into moderately complex matters
• Provide legal support and guidance for investigations; develop terms of reference for investigating moderately complex matters
• Following the outcome of investigations, determine whether or not self-reporting/ notification to relevant regulatory Agency/Body is required and recommend the appropriate actions

Crisis Management:

• Review risk assessment and advise on mitigation measures to address the fall-outs portended by a crisis, negative press coverage, possible regulatory action, criminal investigation, civil lawsuits
• Provide legal input in developing of Crisis Management Plan
• Develop protocols to:
  • Manage confidential or privileged documents/information in crisis situations
  • Preserve relevant records
  • Ensure preservation of legal privilege
• Participate and provide legal counsel in the conduct of post crisis management audit/reviews
• Review corporate compliance programmes to best position the company to successfully navigate, even prevent, crisis situations

Key Deliverables / Key Performance Indicators (KPIS):

• Effective development and administration of comprehensive systems and processes for compelling adherence to external legal regulatory requirements and internal policies and governance framework
• The effective engagement of regulatory bodies to ensure effective navigation of a complex regulatory landscape and influence attitudes, decisions and actions to mitigate regulatory risks
• Identify and advise on legal risk and liability issues; develop alternatives for managing legal risks; recommend appropriate controls to mitigate legal risk
• Apply commercial judgment in providing legal advice; draft, review and interpret contracts in line with applicable law and contracting policy; identify legal implications and challenge contracts accordingly;
• Assess the dynamics of interests and needs of negotiating parties; support to resolve conflict and reach mutually acceptable and legally sound solutions; draft documents to reflect negotiated position.

Educational qualification / Skills / Knowledge / Required Knowledge:

• Bachelor of Laws and Professional Law Certificate; with minimum 10-14 years post-call experience. A Minimum of 5 years supervisory or managerial experience required
• Professional certification in risk and/or compliance management will be an advantage
• Experience in Oil and Gas industry will be an advantage
• Reasonable experience in both civil and criminal legal practice
• Reasonable experience in corporate risk and compliance management

 

How to Apply Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to: [email protected] using the Position as subject of email. Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted