JOB PURPOSE

Provide senior legal counsel across the Gulf Air Group, with a primary focus on the Gulf Air (airline) workstream – the Group’s largest and most complex book of legal work – and with duties at Group level as required. Reporting to the General Counsel, the role leads the delivery of legal advice on complex commercial, aircraft, operational, financing, corporate, governance and dispute matters; helps protect the Group’s interests and manage legal and regulatory risk; ensures compliance with applicable Bahraini and international law and aviation industry standards; and provides guidance, supervision and development to Legal Counsel and Para Legal team members.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Legal Advisory & Risk Management

• Act as a senior legal adviser to the Gulf Air (airline) business – commercial, operations, technical, fleet, network and finance – and provide legal advice at Group level as required.

• Provide strategic and practical advice to management on complex, high-value and sensitive matters, balancing legal risk with commercial objectives.

• Advise on aviation-specific legal and regulatory matters under Bahraini and international law, including civil aviation, passenger rights, sanctions and other relevant matters.

• Identify, assess and help mitigate legal and regulatory risk across the airline and the wider Group.

Contracts, Transactions & Negotiation

• Lead the negotiation, drafting and review of complex commercial, aircraft and corporate agreements (including aircraft leases and financings, OEM, MRO and ground-handling contracts, codeshare / interline, GSA and supplier agreements).

• Act as a senior point of contact for the Group’s negotiating teams on key transactions.

Disputes & Litigation

• Manage litigation, arbitration and other disputes – including aviation claims involving manufacturers, lessors, insurers and suppliers – instruct and supervise external counsel, and maintain oversight of the Group’s litigation and disputes register.

Business Plan

• Support business-plan execution with Legal in a supporting role.

• Advise on joint ventures, codeshare / interline and other strategic commercial partnerships.

Governance & Compliance

• Support corporate governance and the Group compliance framework, under the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

External Counsel & Legal Operations

• Operate within the external legal panel and manage external legal spend against budget – engagement, scoping, fee arrangements and performance review.

• Contribute to the Legal Division’s internal ways of working – procedures, document and file management, knowledge repositories, templates and legal technology – and actively look for practical ways to improve how the team saves files, processes documents and runs its day-to-day operations.

Team Leadership

• Provide guidance, supervision, mentoring and development to Legal Counsel and Para Legal team members; allocate and review their work.

• Help embed shared routines and flexible cross-cover so the team supports the airline, airport and Group as one team rather than in rigid silos.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in Law (LLB) as a minimum; postgraduate qualification (LLM) and admission to practice law in a recognized jurisdiction preferred.

• Minimum of 8 years’ post-qualification legal experience, including in-house and/or law firm experience; aviation, transport or corporate-commercial sector experience strongly preferred.