Legal and Regulatory Compliance in an Oil and Gas Company

Human Leadership Resources Limited – Our client in the Oil and Gas industry is recruiting suitably qualified candidate to fill the position below:

Job Title: Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Location: Headquarters – Accra Ghana
Job Type: Regional
Reports to: General Counsel
Division: Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Key Job Accountabilities & Responsibilities
Regulatory and Compliance Management:

Regulatory Stakeholder Engagement:

• Provide strategic legal guidance to the leadership team in engaging with regulatory stakeholders
• Be the organisation’s Lead advocate at hearings before relevant regulatory bodies
• Championing the organisation’s interest or position at various fora to safeguard Company’s interest
• Lead technical discussions on legal regulatory matters with relevant regulatory bodies
• Determine the necessity for and advise on the engagement of a third-party expert to provide support/advice on a regulatory matter in question

Internal Compliance Framework:

• Support the GC to manage the Company’s internal compliance programme(s) incorporating a system of policies, procedures and tools to enhance compliance and help prevent and detect infractions.
• Coordinate the review of internal policies and procedures to ensure ongoing compliance with changes in law and regulations
• Coordinate with designated Divisional compliance liaisons to confirm status of compliance with relevant legal regulatory requirements
• Develop regulatory compliance training manuals and facilitate periodic training sessions to raise regulatory compliance awareness levels for staff and third-party contractors
• Develop and review Company’s compliance manual and/or code of conduct to guide corporate conduct and business operations
• Liaise with Internal Audit team to monitor and review compliance programmes to assure effective operation of internal controls, policies and procedures
• Oversee the administration and maintenance of the organisation’s Legal and Regulatory Compliance Register to assure overall corporate compliance
• Conduct periodic report and assessment of existing internal compliance programmes vis a vis new risks identified, changing business environment, emerging trends, international best practices and recommend appropriate revisions thereto
• Provide support to corporate, divisions/departments in the development of departmental internal controls to facilitate identification and mitigation of compliance risks
• Administer the Company’s conflict of interest programme to assure proper stewardship, integrity and objectivity in all decision-making processes
• Coordinate the preparation/updating of Company’s Annual Business Assurance Statements by the Senior Management Team
• Supervise the administration of the corporate Annual Business Assurance Programme to provide written assurance on Business and internal controls to Shareholders
• Endorse materials or manuals used for compliance training and orientation sessions
• Oversee the state of Company’s compliance programmes and provide management and Board/Board Audit Committee with periodic reports on the status of internal compliance, compliance measures, trends and developments

External Regulatory Compliance Framework:

• Design and provide strategic legal direction for an efficient and effective legal regulatory compliance programme
• Provide legal guidance to corporate Divisions/Departments in the development of departmental internal controls
• Be a change agent for aligning existing regulatory compliance framework with international best practices
• Oversee the institution and operation of a corporate whistle-blowing mechanism to detect and address possible regulatory violations
• Provide strategic legal direction in managing fallouts of compliance violations including the conduct of internal investigations and other consequence management processes
• Align existing regulatory compliance framework with changing business environment, emerging trends and international best practices

Ethics and Integrity Management:
Ethics and Integrity Framework:

• Serve as the Division’s focal person for addressing actions arising from audit assurance and risk assessments
• Coordinate and/or facilitate periodic training on corporate ethics to deepen employees’ understanding of the moral dimensions and implications of business situations and raise corporate ABC and ethics/integrity awareness levels
• Develop and/or review policies and procedures in force in the organization to ensure they reflect the corporate ethical standards
• Champion activities and systems that promote inculcate a strong culture of integrity in the workplace
• Liaise with HR team to develop and administer a system of rewards and consequence management to positively influence adherence` to ethical values
• Conduct post incident reviews to identify and implement opportunities for continuous improvement of ethics management processes

Anti-bribery and corruption (ABC):

• Evaluate and identify particular areas of anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) risks that the Company may be vulnerable to and recommend/review appropriate control mechanism(s) to address same
• Conduct detailed risk assessment, develop divisional risk assessment plan and provide guidance on the use of Risk Management Framework
• Provide legal counsel and guidance to relevant in house clients on Anti-Bribery and Corruption matters and applying a risk based approach in the discharge of their functions
• Provide legal guidance/representation in managing fallouts of ABC policy breaches to mitigate potential corporate/individual liability
• Develop/review ABC policies/code of conduct and processes to guide corporate behavior, positively influence adherence to ethical values and monitor compliance
• Develop ABC training manuals and facilitate training sessions to raise corporate ABC awareness levels.
• Evaluate or assess the effectiveness of risk management implementation strategies

Corporate Governance (Principles and Structure):

• Draft resolutions to be tabled before Board/Shareholders to ensure alignment with Company Bye-Laws/Shareholder Agreement
• Coordinate the preparation of governance and ethics learning material for periodic Board trainings
• Advise Staff/Management on aligning corporate actions with prevailing governance structure and principles
• Coordinate the completion and transmission of requisite statutory forms, records and filings with relevant agencies in Bermuda and across the 4 WAGP States
• Develop and/or review compliance processes and structures that feed into the corporate compliance framework
• Monitor adherence to compliance processes and structures and generate appropriate reports thereon
• Advocate Company’s position in technical discussions on corporate governance issues with relevant government agencies/bodies and the Regulator as appropriate
• Draft and review key corporate documents and records
• Analyse corporate governance framework and diagnose governance risk issues

Gas Transportation Business (Tariff Regime):

• Demonstrate reasonable understanding of natural gas pipeline systems and principles underpinning pipeline transportation tariff regimes
• Draft agreements to reflect revisions agreed upon during the tariff development/tariff review process, relevant correspondence etc. to safeguard company’s interest
• Coordinate with CBD to engage key stakeholders in the tariff development process
• Guide the commercial Team in distilling and applying the tariff methodology principles underpinning tariff determination as contained in relevant governing documents
• Liaise with CBD to gather relevant legal date to support the tariff development/tariff review process

General Legal Advisory/Consulting:
Interdisciplinary Knowledge:

• Demonstrate widespread understanding of the core business of WAPCo and reasonable appreciation of the operations and activities of the various in-house clients
• Ability to harness knowledge of other fields to provide sound and practical legal counsel to in-house clients
• Keep abreast with legislative and regulatory changes, case law and emerging issues affecting the core business of the company to inform internal policy reforms and make recommendations accordingly.
• Provide counsel to various divisions on the import and application of relevant laws, regulations, etc.
• Provide legal counsel and guidance to shape policies/processes/procedures for in-house clients

Legal Risk Management:

• Review and recommend appropriate mitigation/control measures relative to legal risks identified
• Evaluate legal exposure and potential liability issues and take appropriate action to mitigate exposure
• Develop controls framework to manage legal risks, review and propose measures to enhance suitability of existing legal risks control framework
• Provide guidance and counsel to non-legal colleagues on applying a risk based approach in the discharge of their functions
• Dispute Resolution and Crisis Management

Investigation Support:

• Review the facts and documentation relevant to an issue at hand and endorse the need for initiating internal investigations
• Develop terms of reference for investigating moderately complex to high impact/sensitive matters
• Provide legal support and guidance for investigations; develop terms of reference for investigating moderately complex matters
• Following the outcome of investigations, determine whether or not self-reporting/ notification to relevant regulatory Agency/Body is required and recommend the appropriate actions
• Provide oversight / serve as an investigation team member to assure attorney-client privilege and provide legal guidance to investigation team to ensure that key legal principles of neutrality, confidentiality, principles of natural justice, etc. are respected; following the outcome of investigations, review and endorse the need to self-report/notify relevant regulatory Agency/Body and advise company on appropriate actions
• Recommend appropriate legal actions to be taken following the outcome of an internal investigation into moderately complex matters

Crisis Management:

• Review risk assessment and advise on mitigation measures to address the fall-outs portended by a crisis, negative press coverage, possible regulatory action, criminal investigation, civil lawsuits
• Provide legal input in developing of Crisis Management Plan
• Develop protocols to:
  • Manage confidential or privileged documents/information in crisis situations
  • Preserve relevant records
  • Ensure preservation of legal privilege
• Participate and provide legal counsel in the conduct of post crisis management audit/reviews
• Review corporate compliance programmes to best position the company to successfully navigate, even prevent, crisis situations

Key Deliverables / Key Performance Indicators (KPIS):

• Effective development and administration of comprehensive systems and processes for compelling adherence to external legal regulatory requirements and internal policies and governance framework
• The effective engagement of regulatory bodies to ensure effective navigation of a complex regulatory landscape and influence attitudes, decisions and actions to mitigate regulatory risks
• Identify and advise on legal risk and liability issues; develop alternatives for managing legal risks; recommend appropriate controls to mitigate legal risk
• Apply commercial judgment in providing legal advice; draft, review and interpret contracts in line with applicable law and contracting policy; identify legal implications and challenge contracts accordingly;
• Assess the dynamics of interests and needs of negotiating parties; support to resolve conflict and reach mutually acceptable and legally sound solutions; draft documents to reflect negotiated position.

Educational qualification / Skills / Knowledge / Required
Knowledge:

• Bachelor of Laws and Professional Law Certificate; with minimum 10-14 years post-call experience. A Minimum of 5 years supervisory or managerial experience required
• Reasonable experience in both civil and criminal legal practice
• Reasonable experience in corporate risk and compliance management
• Professional certification in risk and/or compliance management will be an advantage
• Experience in Oil and Gas industry will be an advantage

Deadline: 10th July, 2020.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to: cv@humanleadershipresources.com using the Position as subject of email.

Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.