Legal Counsel at Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC)

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) is the pioneer and leader of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. We invest heavily in our employees, which is reflected in our industry-leading development programme and our commitment to see our employees’ ideas travel and come to fruition.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Legal Counsel

Job Requisition ID: R97466
Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full time
Experience Level: Experienced Professionals

The Role

• If you are a curious person, strategic, creative and solution driven thinker with significant experience in managing and advising on complex legal and regulatory issues, then this could be your chance to join a world class organisation and contribute to enable Shell’s strategy and purpose. 
• You will play a role in transforming Shell Legal into a simpler, agile and more affordable function.

Where you fit in

• Shell’s Legal's Strategic intent is to partner with our businesses and functions in the delivery of the organization’s Purpose and Strategy.
• The Upstream Legal team in Nigeria, located in Lagos and Port Harcourt, provides a wide range of integrated legal services to the business and functions with operational excellence, supported by a culture that embeds and sustains differentiated behaviors and networked performance.
• You will be a key member of the Nigerian upstream legal team accountable for providing legal services (excluding litigation management) to all the Shell companies in Nigeria.  

What’s the Role?

• The role of the Legal Counsel (LC) is to provide a wide range of integrated legal advice, support and related services primarily to Shell’s Upstream business in a proactive, timely, cost-efficient and professional manner with a view to furthering business objectives and protecting shareholder interests in collaboration with the business and other functions.
• The LC will report to and work closely with the Managing Counsel, Upstream Nigeria and other senior lawyers to provide support on a wide range of critical operational, commercial & related stakeholder issues and projects, and advice on JV Governance, reputational and regulatory compliance related issues.

More specifically, the role will include:

• supporting the asset teams in the management of all operational and related stakeholder issues to enable operations.
• providing legal support in the management of land acquisition and post- acquisition issues, oil spill compensation and providing legal guidance to the related governance board.
• Supporting compliance issues and, if required, delivering mandatory compliance training to the business (e.g. Anti Bribery & Corruption/Anti Money Laundering, Anti-trust).
• Espousing Shell’s Business Principles and core values honesty, integrity and respect for people at all levels.
• Encouraging and contributing to a team culture of strong performance, collaboration with an enterprise first mindset.
• Supporting the investigation of Health Safety Security and Environmental related incidents across the Shell’s operations in Nigeria, and the Emergency Response team.
• Ensuring documentation is appropriately drafted to accurately reflect agreed legal obligations, and is in line with Shell’s Control Framework and professional standards.

What We Need From You?

• We’re keen to hear from candidates who love challenging work with experience in complex operations, commercial transactions and regulatory compliance issues including drafting and have been called to the Bar as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria for a minimum period of at least 8 years.
• Prior exposure to working with the Energy Industry is highly preferred.

Beyond that, we are looking for a candidate with:

• Demonstrable track record as team player, with strong communication, collaborative, influencing and facilitation skills.
• Familiarity with/experience in dealing with regulatory, commercial transactions and operational issues in the petroleum industry.
• A learner mindset with ability to respond quickly to issues whilst exercising sound legal judgement.
• Ability to develop and build strong relationships with clients with diverse cultural background at all levels and across the organisation and handle complex and sensitive government and partner relations.
• Ability to think creatively and find pragmatic solutions to legal, commercial and operational issues, within acceptable legal and risk frameworks
• Good commercial mindset and the ability to handle and prioritise multiple demanding clients
• Problem-solving and strategic decision-making skills with demonstrated sound judgment in sensitive areas and on difficult issues

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply