Associate

The role

DLA Piper is a globally recognised provider of a full range of commercial, intellectual property (IP), privacy, sourcing, and technology law services for leading businesses worldwide. 

As the premier Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) team in the region, we are seeking a dynamic, highly motivated, and exceptional private practice lawyer to join our team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, supporting significant clients on a variety of complex and interesting work. Our ideal candidate will have demonstrable experience in drafting, negotiating and advising on a variety of complex commercial, IP and IT contracts / transactions. Furthermore, they should excel in delivering pragmatic and business-savvy counsel across a wide spectrum of other matters and issues managed by the team. This includes in-depth knowledge of digital economy regulations (such as data protection, cloud computing, and telecommunications regulations), proficiency in drafting and negotiating a wide range of commercial contracts and advising on intellectual property protection and commercialisation. 

Our team handles both contentious and non-contentious transactional and regulatory work across diverse sectors including, aviation, financial, government, life sciences, media, retail, technology, and telecoms sectors. As a full-service law firm, we collaborate with colleagues from our employment, corporate, tax, finance, real estate, and litigation groups across the Middle East region as well as our international offices, to provide clients with full service seamless legal coverage and advice. 

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Projects: Advise clients on intricate, large-scale national and cross-border IT, telecommunications, outsourcing, and digital transformation projects. Provide guidance, including understanding client needs, drafting and negotiating documentation (including front-end terms and conditions, schedules, appendices, and statements of work), concluding transactions, and providing ongoing contract management support.

Regulatory Compliance: Advise clients on regulations, including AI, data protection, outsourcing, cloud computing, and telecommunications regulations, both as they apply to relevant transactions and in relation to organisational compliance programs Ensure compliance with relevant regulations in contractual documentation, support compliance-related programs, and provide relevant stand-alone advice. 

Intellectual Property: Advise clients on the protection and commercialisation of intellectual property assets. Offer insights into intellectual property laws application to technology and draft relevant commercial contracts including consultancy, development, licensing, and assignment agreements.

Commercial Contracts: Proficiently draft and negotiate a diverse range of commercial contracts, supporting clients with various contract types, including franchising, distribution, and agency arrangements, and collaboration agreements.

Corporate Support: Assist our corporate team in reviewing and analysing intellectual property, technology, digital economy regulatory, and commercial matters, and documentation related to corporate transactions. Draft and negotiate supporting commercial documentation such as transitional services agreements.

Coordination: Efficiently manage and oversee projects spanning the office and the global landscape, collaborating 
seamlessly with other firm offices, third-party law firms, consultants, and clients.

Matter Management: Handle all aspects of matter management, from client onboarding through to billing and collections, ensuring a smooth matter management cycle.

Marketing & Business Development: Proactively promote the firm and the practice through appropriate marketing and business development activities. Contribute to community building, thought leadership, presentations at client seminars, and industry events to develop personal career, the practice, and the firm. 

Quality: Proactively support the team’s quality initiatives, including contributing to learning and development, training, precedent development, and guidance notes. Share knowledge and expertise with the team and wider group. 
Optimise, Transform, Innovate: Engage in the team’s and firm’s initiatives to optimise, transform and innovate. Embrace and contribute to the digital evolution of legal services. 

Sector Contribution: Align with and proactively support the development of at least two of the firm’s sectors as relevant to the team. 

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

We pride ourselves on having a collegiate environment and we are looking for down-to-earth but confident lawyers with solid core-skills and experience. 

We do not set upper or lower limits of PQE for any of our vacancies. We have however given an indicative PQE as an approximate guide for applicants. While the role is open to more candidates, candidates who have approximately 2 to 5 years PQE are likely to have the right level of knowledge and have gained the right level of experience needed to be able to undertake this role. 

Successful candidates will have the following skills and attributes:

• Qualifications and Academic Record: An exceptional academic record, including a 2:1 or higher in a qualifying law degree (or international equivalent).
• Technical Skills and Experience: Strong relevant technical skills and experience in the types of work described above, including demonstrable experience in drafting, negotiating and advising on a wide range of complex and high value commercial, IP and IT contracts / transactions.  Experience across areas of practice in the TMT space is also desirable. 
• Client-Centric Approach: Demonstrated commitment to delivering superior value to clients, with a strong client-centric focus. Ability to understand and align legal services with clients’ broader business objectives, cultivating lasting client relationships.
• Organizational Skills and Initiative: Excellent organizational skills, including the ability to work autonomously and collaboratively within local and virtual teams. Capable of juggling numerous tasks at once, meeting demanding deadlines and taking initiative and ownership to achieve agreed objectives.
• Communication Skills: Outstanding verbal and written English communication skills. Proficiency in drafting high-quality legal documents, creating presentations, thought leadership content, marketing materials, and business development resources. Ability to convey information concisely and with meticulous attention to detail.
• Passion and Work Ethic: A genuine passion for our areas of practice, combined with a strong work ethic dedicated to serving clients and contributing to the firm’s success.
• Team Collaboration: A growth mindset, a positive and collaborative approach when working within the team (both in KSA and regionally) and with clients (local and international), fostering cooperation and support.
• Alignment with Firm Values: Strong alignment with the firm’s values, including being bold, exceptional, collaborative, and supportive. Building relationships founded on respect, trust, and integrity.
• Experience and Commercial Acumen: Previous experience working within a leading multi-jurisdictional law firm, displaying commercial acumen and a commitment to staying current on key legal and business developments.
• IT and Language Skills: Impressive IT skills, including proficiency in typing, creating slide decks, and using MS Office products. Experience in developing IT solutions is advantageous but not essential. Arabic language skills would be advantageous but not essential.

This job description is not designed to be exhaustive and can be varied as required to develop or fulfil this role. 

The firm offers excellent training, learning and development programmes, as well as a genuine opportunity to experience a wide range of work and clients in a friendly, supportive environment

ABOUT US
DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers and business service professionals located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

OUR VALUES
In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

• Be Supportive – we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully
• Be Collaborative – we are proactive, passionate team players investing in our relationships
• Be Bold – we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions
• Be Exceptional – we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion underpins how we live our values and everything we do. We believe that everyone has a voice, and that everyone’s voice counts. We know that the rich diversity across our firm makes us stronger, more innovative and creative, which helps us to better serve our clients and communities. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment and culture across our global firm, where everyone can bring their authentic self to work.

Diversity of perspective, thought, background and culture combine to make us the leading global law firm; that’s why we actively seek to build balanced teams. We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.

HYBRID WORKING
We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

PRE-ENGAGEMENT SCREENING
In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits and where relevant, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and work-related references.