About the Role
The Vice President, Legal M&A leads legal execution across acquisitions, disposals, co-investments, joint ventures, financings, portfolio transactions, restructurings, and exits. The role owns assigned transaction workstreams from structure and diligence through negotiation, governance approval, closing, and implementation. It protects economic and governance rights, provides decision-ready advice to investment teams, and supports active ownership and realization. Additionally, the position strengthens transaction precedents, manages external counsel, and upholds institutional execution disciplines across the platform.
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Job Responsibilities
- Lead legal execution across acquisitions, disposals, carve-outs, minority investments, co-investments, joint ventures, financings, and exits.
- Translate investment objectives into robust structures, critical-path work plans, approvals, and executable documentation.
- Support fund formation, capital raising, LP negotiations, side letters, and co-investment arrangements relevant to transactions.
- Advise deal teams and the Investment Committee on due diligence, structure, governance, risk allocation, and residual exposure.
- Draft and negotiate term sheets, acquisition and sale agreements, shareholder arrangements, and ancillary documents.
- Protect economic and governance rights through reserved matters, Board rights, minority protections, and exit provisions.
- Direct legal due diligence across corporate, regulatory, contractual, financing, employment, and integrity matters.
- Lead acquisition-finance, shareholder-funding, guarantees, security, and refinancing legal workstreams.
- Support add-ons, reorganisations, management incentives, distressed situations, and portfolio value creation.
- Lead legal execution for IPOs, strategic sales, sponsor-to-sponsor transactions, and recapitalisations.
- Coordinate merger control, foreign-investment, sanctions, and regulatory approvals.
- Manage external counsel and develop transaction playbooks, precedents, and knowledge resources.
Job Knowledge & Skills
- Strong understanding of private-equity investment, governance, active ownership, value creation, portfolio performance, and realization considerations relevant to the function.
- Proven ability to coordinate effectively across Investment, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Investor Relations, Portfolio Operations, portfolio companies, and external advisers.
- Strong analytical, commercial, and problem-solving capabilities, with disciplined documentation and sound escalation judgment.
- High integrity, independent judgment, resilience, ownership mindset, and willingness to challenge constructively.
- Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills, including confidence with investment committees, boards, management teams, and sophisticated external counterparties.
- Demonstrated ability to lead small teams, manage multiple workstreams, and develop junior professionals in a high-performance environment.
- Cross-border experience and cultural fluency are strongly preferred. Professional fluency in Arabic, Spanish, French, or another relevant language is a plus but not a requirement.
Job Experience
- Typically 10 or more years of progressive experience in M&A, private equity, and corporate transactions within private equity, alternative asset management, investment banking, consulting, professional services, or a complex multinational environment.
- Demonstrated experience leading or supporting complex cross-border workstreams with clear ownership of analysis, execution quality, stakeholder coordination, and outcomes.
- Experience preparing decision-ready materials for senior executives, Boards, Investment Committees, or comparable governance forums.
- Experience operating in sponsor-backed, entrepreneurial, and rapidly scaling environments with high standards of accountability and execution.
Competencies
- Agility
- AI Fluency
- Build High-Performing Teams
- Contract Law L4
- Due Diligence L4
- Laws and regulations L4
- Leadership
- Legal Research L4
- Provide Direction
- Quality
- Risk Management L4
- Boldness
Education
- Bachelor's Degree in Law
- Master's Degree in Law
