Legal Counsel - Finance Focus / Lawyer

About the Company

Essar Oil UK is a leading UK-focussed downstream energy company whose main asset is the Stanlow Manufacturing Complex, one of the most advanced refineries in Europe and situated close to the major cities of Liverpool and Manchester.  Stanlow is a key strategic national asset, annually producing over 16% of the UK’s road transport fuels, while playing an important part in Britain’s petrochemical industry by providing key feedstocks.  

The business is a major supplier in the North West and beyond with customers including most of the major retail brands operated by international oil companies and supermarkets, Manchester Airport, leading commercial airlines and the region’s trains and buses.

The business covers crude and product trading, refinery operations, HSE implementation, maintenance support and technological services, together with marketing and retail activities.  Our commitment to maintaining safe and healthy working conditions and following the best operating practices to protect the environment underpins everything we do. 

We employ over 800 highly trained and loyal staff, who are at the heart of everything we do.  The company has an embedded safety culture, technically challenging work across the different parts of the business and some of the best training available in the energy industry.

Essar is committed to playing a key role in the decarbonisation of the UK.

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity for a lawyer with transactional finance law experience to join a dynamic and progressive business, which is developing to play a key role in a low-carbon future.

Essar utilises large financing facilities: including an inventory monetisation facility, a secured extended payment crude trading facility and receivables factoring facilities. Essar also monitors compliance with covenants applicable to the loan facilities used by the wider group that incorporates Essar.

The successful applicant for this role will be required to review and advise on complex financing facilities (facility sizes in excess of $100m), to negotiate and agree amendments, waivers and consents required from financiers, and to assist with compliance checks and reporting required by financiers, in each case, with a view to Essar operating at all times in accordance with its financial covenants.

The successful candidate will also be involved in negotiating and documenting new facilities required by Essar and its related companies, these include assisting with satisfaction of conditions precedent and preparation of board minutes and other required corporate authorisations.

This is a high profile role that will see the successful candidate:

• Drafting, negotiating, reviewing and advising on various financing facilities, including term sheets, inventory monetisation facilities, receivables factoring facilities, pre-export financing facility, prepayment facilities and term loan facilities, security and inter-creditor agreements, and other agreements, including non-disclosure agreements and engagement letters.
• Working with our external legal counsel on Essar finance matters with a view to ensuring Essar business objectives are addressed comprehensively.
• Monitoring compliance with various financing covenants including liaising with internal stakeholders, advising on permitted business activities and requirements for amendments, waivers and consents.

The successful candidate should also be willing to work on and develop their expertise in the following:

• A diverse range of corporate and commercial matters, including drafting and advising on commercial agreements for various business areas, including Tax, Risk, HR, Communications, Business Services, Finance, Procurement, Regulatory Compliance.
• Advising on existing and new corporate documentation (joint ventures/shareholder agreements, term sheets, share purchase agreements, asset purchase agreements, commercial contracts and NDAs) including for acquisitions/disposals.
• Drafting and negotiating ancillary corporate documentation and interpreting corporate governance requirements including in relation to the Companies Act 2006, health and safety legislation, data protection legislation and the Modern Slavery Act.
• Assisting with corporate governance requirements (general company law and internal shareholder arrangements) and the development of / compliance with internal policies and processes.
• Supporting the company secretarial work for UK companies, with assistance from others in the team.
• Liaising with all internal business teams including the Executive Team, HR, Finance, Operations, Marketing and advising the business partners on a wide range of legal topics, including undertaking training on legal concepts where necessary.
• Ensuring compliance with internal compliance framework and corporate approvals policies.

About You

You will be a UK qualified Lawyer with several years post-qualification experience in lending and security law.

Experience:

• Demonstrable, extensive experience working post qualification in the UK or similar common law jurisdiction.
• Able to demonstrate solid post-qualification experience in a private practice or in-house in a corporate/commercial or energy/ industrial/ finance environment.
• Transactional experience in the energy and infrastructure sector would be an advantage.
• Experience of debt finance, credit finance, and asset-backed lending, factoring and ideally crude oil trading.
• Solid understanding of company and commercial law.
• Experience instructing and managing external counsel.
• Familiarity with corporate transactions and joint ventures.
• Experience in drafting and negotiating relevant transaction documents.
• Understanding of applicable regulatory and compliance areas.

Skills and Attributes:

• Strong business acumen with ability to assess legal risk and identify commercial or practical considerations.
• Good technical drafting skills and familiarity with the documents and types of work covered in above.
• High proficiency in using Office 365 and open mind-set to embracing technology to improve efficiency and workflow.
• Enthusiastic, diligent, highly motivated, hardworking approach and a team player.
• Proactive, flexible attitude, well organised and with the ability to multitask. Strong time management / prioritisation skills.
• Ability to deal confidently and build strong relations with business colleagues at all levels in the organisation.
• Strong written, verbal communication and English skills.
• Good logical and numerical reasoning.

Please Note, We work with a carefully selected set of recruitment agencies and we are not looking to add to the current preferred suppliers list. We are unable to accept representations from agencies that are not on that preferred supplier list