LEAD / PRINCIPAL LEGAL COUNSEL

Our client, a global oil and gas operator is seeking a Lead / Principal Legal Counsel to join their Legal team based in London. This is a PAYE 12-month contract role.

Purpose of Role:
This position will be responsible for monitoring trading activities to ensure compliance with relevant regulations. The role will involve collaborating with the marketing and trading, and marketing and trading legal teams to enhance monitoring activities, introduce control processes, and develop risk mitigation strategies.

Critical Responsibilities:
Ensuring that all activities are carried out in a safe manner complying with all regulatory requirements, legislation and Client's HSES Procedures

Ethics and Compliance Responsibilities:
Ensure that all activities and behaviours are carried out in accordance with Client's Ethics and Compliance Policies and Procedures, and to complete any compulsory compliance training as required

Areas of Accountability, Responsibility and Competence:
Regulatory compliance risk register:
Develop and maintain a risk register to capture the principal legal and regulatory risks (market abuse/financial crime) for the expanded Harbour M&T business.
Manage and lead risk assessment activities to identify potential M&T Regulatory risks and develop strategies to mitigate them effectively. Be forward looking in seeking to identify risks and making proactive recommendations to the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer to mitigate/eliminate such risks.
Policies and procedures to strengthen:
Roll out of key (updated) M&T processes including the Market Conduct Standard and REMIT
Market Conduct Standard: work to widen the scope and types of offences relevant to Harbour M&T activity
REMIT: formalise the REMIT framework (which will include a policy and a separate procedure) to ensure accountability for responsibilities under REMIT are clearly defined
Updates to other processes including:
Conflict of Interest Procedure (in development) to restrict personal account dealing / update to the optimisation standard to ensure hard wired limits around non-hedging proprietary transactions
Transaction monitoring procedures
Regulatory reporting:
Coordinate regulatory reporting across M&T functions / finalise a responsibilities matrix with:
Middle office as first line team for reporting
Treasury performing the position limit threshold monitoring
E&C responsible for submitting regulatory / exemption applications
Manage breach reporting and notifications to regulators
Manage the interface with relevant regulators
Key physical controls to implement and manage:
Introduce right sized market surveillance systems: introduce manual M&T surveillance system to detect suspicious transactions and/or orders
Introduce information barriers: introduce information barriers and/or other mitigations appropriate for our Business to ensure compliance with any separation needed of hedging and non-hedging proprietary transactions (and other transactions that could have outsized market abuse risk)

Critical Skills, Qualifications, Experience, etc.:
Bachelor's degree in law, business administration, or related field is essential.
Strong understanding of relevant regulations and industry standards.
Previous experience in a regulatory compliance within Marketing and Trading is essential.
Strong attention to detail and analytical skills.
Self-starter, strong initiative and ability to work under minimal supervision
Excellent communication and organisational skills.
Ability to work effectively under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
Ability to handle multiple projects and work in a team environment
Awareness of Client's HSEQ Policies and Business Management System (BMS)
Awareness of Client's Values & Business Principles