Paralegal

Job Purpose:

The Paralegal provides legal, administrative, and operational support to MBZUAI’s Legal team, contributing to the efficient management of contracts, legal matters, regulatory requirements, corporate and institutional documentation, and legal records.

The role supports Legal Counsel through legal research, preparation and review of standard legal documents, contract administration, matter tracking, due diligence, and coordination with internal stakeholders and external legal service providers. The Paralegal maintains accurate and confidential legal records and supports the timely progression of legal matters in accordance with MBZUAI policies, governance requirements, and applicable UAE laws and regulations.

Key Responsibilities:

Legal & Contract Support

• Support the Legal team in the preparation, review, and administration of standard legal documents, contracts, agreements, amendments, letters, and other legal correspondence using approved templates and guidance.
• Conduct initial reviews of contracts and supporting documentation to identify missing information, inconsistencies, deviations from approved templates, and matters requiring Legal Counsel review.
• Coordinate the contract review and execution process with relevant University departments, ensuring required documentation, approvals, and signatures are obtained.
• Maintain contract trackers and monitor key dates, obligations, renewals, expiries, and outstanding actions, escalating matters requiring attention.
• Support the preparation and organization of documentation for negotiations, contract reviews, and other legal matters.

Legal Research & Regulatory Support

• Conduct legal and regulatory research under the direction of Legal Counsel on matters relevant to the University’s activities and operations.
• Prepare research summaries, background notes, legal matter chronologies, and other supporting materials for review by Legal Counsel.
• Monitor relevant legislative and regulatory developments and maintain updates for consideration by the Legal team.
• Support the Legal team in responding to regulatory, compliance, and governance-related information requests.
• Assist with the preparation and collation of documentation required for regulatory submissions, legal proceedings, investigations, or other formal matters.

Legal Matter & Document Management

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of legal matters, contracts, correspondence, advice, approvals, and supporting documentation within approved legal filing and matter-management systems.
• Maintain legal matter trackers and provide updates on status, deadlines, actions, and dependencies.
• Ensure legal documents are appropriately classified, filed, retained, and accessible to authorized users in accordance with University requirements.
• Maintain strict confidentiality and appropriate access controls for legally privileged, commercially sensitive, and confidential information.
• Support the development and maintenance of standard legal templates, precedents, checklists, guidance materials, and internal Legal procedures.

Governance & Institutional Support

• Support the preparation and organization of legal and governance documentation required for University committees, approvals, delegations, policies, and institutional matters.
• Assist the Legal team in reviewing University policies and procedures for consistency with applicable legal and governance requirements.
• Support due diligence activities by collecting, organizing, reviewing, and tracking required corporate, contractual, regulatory, and institutional documentation.
• Coordinate with relevant University departments to obtain information and documentation required for legal reviews and institutional matters.

External Counsel & Legal Service Coordination

• Support engagement with external legal counsel and other legal service providers, including coordinating documentation, meetings, instructions, and follow-up actions under the direction of Legal Counsel.
• Maintain records of external legal matters, engagement documentation, correspondence, and deliverables.
• Support tracking of external legal fees, invoices, purchase orders, and expenditure against approved budgets and engagements.
• Coordinate administrative requirements associated with external counsel and legal service providers in accordance with the University’s procurement and financial procedures.

Legal Operations & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain Legal team calendars, key deadlines, contract milestones, and other recurring legal requirements.
• Support preparation of Legal team reports, matter statistics, contract information, and other management information as required.
• Identify opportunities to improve legal workflows, contract administration, document management, and tracking processes.
• Support implementation and effective use of legal technology, contract-management systems, automation, and AI-enabled tools approved by the University.
• Contribute to the documentation and continuous improvement of Legal team standard operating procedures and internal controls.

Other Duties:

Perform all other duties as reasonably directed by the line manager that are commensurate with these functional objectives.

Qualifications and Criteria:

• Bachelor’s degree in law, Legal Studies, Business Law, or a related discipline.
• A recognized paralegal qualification or legal professional certification is desirable.
• Admission as a qualified lawyer is not required

Essential:

• Minimum of 3–5 years of relevant experience as a Paralegal, Legal Assistant, Legal Executive, or in a comparable legal support role within an in-house Legal team, law firm, government entity, university, or other complex organization.
• Experience supporting contract preparation, review, administration, and execution processes.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct legal research and prepare clear summaries and supporting documentation.
• Experience maintaining legal records, contract registers, matter trackers, and confidential documentation.
• Strong understanding of confidentiality, legal privilege, document control, and appropriate handling of sensitive information.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple legal matters, deadlines, and priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and familiarity with document-management, contract-management, or legal matter-management systems.

Preferred:

• Experience working within an in-house Legal function in the UAE.
• Experience within higher education, government, technology, research, or another regulated institutional environment.
• Working knowledge of UAE legal and regulatory frameworks relevant to organizational operations.
• Experience supporting corporate governance, regulatory matters, due diligence, or policy review.
• Experience coordinating with external legal counsel and monitoring legal engagements and expenditure.
• Familiarity with legal technology, contract lifecycle management systems, workflow automation, or AI-enabled legal tools.
• Arabic language capability is an advantage.