Legal / Contractual Advisor

Decima International is a professional services company, providing project management and controls services to clients in the United States and the Middle East. Our mission is to become the premier professional services provider across all industry sectors we are engaged in. To accomplish this, Decima International’s founders established a simple yet powerful formula:

Approach each client engagement as a partnership, create an environment that attracts the most talented professionals and allows them to flourish, and regulate growth to maintain excellence in our service standards.

We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Legal / Contractual Advisor to provide legal, contractual, and commercial support for large-scale construction and EPC projects in Dubai, UAE. This client-facing role requires strong knowledge of construction contracts, EPC contracting structures, FIDIC-based agreements, UAE law, contract drafting, negotiation, claims avoidance, and contractual risk management.

The ideal candidate will be a construction lawyer, contracts specialist, or senior contractual advisor with experience supporting complex construction, infrastructure, industrial, mission-critical, or data center projects. The role requires the ability to advise project teams on contractual rights, obligations, risks, notices, variations, claims, and dispute avoidance throughout the project lifecycle.

You will play a key role in protecting the client’s commercial and contractual position by supporting contract preparation, negotiation, administration, risk review, and issue resolution across procurement, delivery, construction, and closeout phases.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide legal and contractual advisory support for EPC, construction, consultancy, subcontract, supplier, and professional services agreements.
• Draft, review, and negotiate EPC contracts, contract amendments, letters of intent, framework agreements, consultancy agreements, subcontract terms, and related contractual documents.
• Advise project leadership, commercial teams, procurement teams, and technical stakeholders on contractual rights, obligations, liabilities, risks, and remedies.
• Support the development and review of tender and contract documents, including conditions of contract, scopes of work, pricing schedules, performance obligations, warranties, bonds, insurances, payment terms, delay provisions, and termination clauses.
• Review contractual terms and identify legal, commercial, and project delivery risks prior to contract execution.
• Provide guidance on FIDIC-based contracts, UAE law requirements, EPC contracting models, variation mechanisms, claims provisions, notices, dispute resolution procedures, and risk allocation.
• Support contract negotiation with contractors, consultants, suppliers, vendors, and other project stakeholders.
• Advise on contractual notices, change orders, delay events, extensions of time, claims, back-charges, liquidated damages, payment disputes, and closeout matters.
• Coordinate with project management, commercial, procurement, cost control, planning, engineering, and construction teams to ensure contractual issues are properly identified, documented, and managed.
• Support claims avoidance and dispute prevention by ensuring timely notices, accurate documentation, clear correspondence, and proper contract administration.
• Review contractor and consultant correspondence to identify potential contractual exposure, claims risk, or non-compliance.
• Assist in preparing contractual letters, position papers, risk assessments, negotiation briefs, and settlement recommendations.
• Maintain accurate records of contractual issues, claims, notices, variations, key correspondence, and contract deliverables.
• Support internal governance, approval processes, and compliance with client requirements, company policies, and applicable legal standards.
• Provide contractual training, guidance, and awareness to project teams where required.
• Perform other related duties as required and assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience as a construction lawyer, contractual advisor, contracts specialist, legal counsel, or senior contracts professional supporting large-scale construction, infrastructure, industrial, EPC, or mission-critical projects.
• Bachelor’s degree in Law, Construction Law, Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Commercial Management, or a related field.
• Strong experience in EPC contract drafting, review, negotiation, and administration.
• Strong knowledge of UAE construction law and/or FIDIC-based contracts.
• Experience advising on construction contracts, consultancy agreements, subcontract agreements, supplier agreements, amendments, claims, variations, and dispute-related documentation.
• Strong understanding of contract risk allocation, payment terms, performance obligations, warranties, bonds, insurances, delay provisions, termination rights, and dispute resolution procedures.
• Ability to identify contractual risks, commercial exposure, scope gaps, ambiguous terms, and potential claims issues.
• Experience supporting tender reviews, contract negotiations, contract awards, change management, and project closeout.
• Strong drafting skills with the ability to prepare clear contractual correspondence, legal notices, contractual position papers, and negotiation documents.
• Ability to work effectively with project management, commercial, procurement, engineering, cost, planning, and construction teams.
• Strong communication, negotiation, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal English fluency.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple contract matters, deadlines, and stakeholder requirements.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Preferred qualifications:

• Qualified lawyer, admitted attorney, solicitor, barrister, or equivalent legal professional registration.
• Master’s degree or postgraduate qualification in Construction Law, Commercial Law, Contract Management, Arbitration, Quantity Surveying, or a related field.
• Experience working on data center, hyperscale, mission-critical, industrial, infrastructure, or large-scale commercial building projects.
• Experience working in a PMC, owner’s representative, consultant, developer, contractor, or client-side legal/commercial environment.
• Previous experience working in Dubai, the UAE, or the wider GCC region.
• Strong knowledge of FIDIC Red Book, Yellow Book, Silver Book, or other international standard forms of contract.
• Experience with claims management, dispute avoidance, adjudication, arbitration support, mediation, or settlement negotiations.
• Professional certifications or memberships such as FIDIC certification, CIArb, RICS, MRICS, CIPS, or equivalent.
• Familiarity with contract management, procurement, cost management, or document control platforms such as Aconex, Procore, Oracle Primavera Cloud, SAP, or similar systems.
• Arabic language capability is preferred but not required.

POSITION DETAILS

• Location (On-site): Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Position: Legal / Contractual Advisor
• Position Classification: Salary-based full-time hours

Decima International is an Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to the safety and well-being of all. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding), age, medical condition, marital or domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression and transgender status, mental disability or physical disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, citizenship, low-income status or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable law.