Legal Counsel - Pakistan & Middle East

Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Pakistan
Full Time
Experienced
Company Overview
10Pearls is a global, purpose-driven AI-Native digital engineering partner helping businesses re-imagine, ‎digitalize, and accelerate. As an end-to-end digital technology partner, 10Pearls helps businesses create future-proof, ‎transformative ‎digital products that leverage emerging technologies. ‎10Pearls' clients ‎include Global 2000 enterprises, high growth mid-size ‎businesses, and some of the most exciting ‎start-ups from industries like healthcare, fintech, ‎energy, education, ‎real estate, retail, and hi-tech. ‎Headquartered in the Washington DC metro area, 10Pearls has product engineering and ‎software development centers in North America, Latin America, Europe, and South Asia. To learn more, visit https://10pearls.com.  

Role
10Pearls is looking for a Legal Counsel to support our Pakistan and Middle East operations. You'll review, draft, and manage commercial contracts with clients, vendors, and partners across Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the wider GCC, and handle day-to-day corporate and compliance matters for our regional entities.
You'll work closely with Sales, Delivery, Finance, HR, and Operations, and with our US legal team on group-level matters. This role suits someone with a solid start in commercial contracting who writes clearly, pays close attention to detail, and understands how business is done in the region.

Responsibilities
  • Review and draft commercial agreements, including NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, software development, AI native engineering scope, SaaS, consulting, vendor, reseller, and partner agreements, using company templates and playbooks.
  • Flag non-standard or risky clauses and suggest revisions, escalating material issues to senior legal leadership.
  • Check key terms such as limitation of liability, indemnities, warranties, IP ownership, confidentiality, payment terms, termination, governing law, and dispute resolution (including local courts, DIFC/ADGM, and arbitration).
  • Support contract negotiations with clients, vendors, and partners, preparing redlines and issue lists.
  • Review public and private sector tenders, RFPs, and procurement terms, particularly for government and semi-government clients in the GCC.
  • Help review data privacy and security terms, including Pakistan's PECA, the UAE PDPL, Saudi Arabia's PDPL, and GDPR where relevant.
  • Handle corporate secretarial and compliance matters for the regional entities, such as SECP filings in Pakistan, trade licenses, and free zone or mainland requirements in the UAE and KSA.
  • Handle employee-related legal matters with HR, including employment contracts, offer letters, non-compete and confidentiality terms, policies, disciplinary actions, terminations, and disputes under Pakistani and GCC labor laws (including UAE and Saudi labor and visa requirements). Advise on handling employee legal matters in a way that complies with these laws and limits exposure.
  • Maintain the contract repository, templates, clause library, powers of attorney, and approval records.
  • Track renewals, amendments, license expiries, and key obligations, and flag upcoming deadlines to the relevant teams.
  • Coordinate with external counsel in Pakistan and the GCC on litigation, registrations, and specialist matters.
  • Keep up with legal and regulatory changes in Pakistan and the Middle East that affect technology services.
  • Identify, assess, and manage legal and commercial risk across contracts, operations, and employment matters. Keep a risk register, propose practical ways to reduce risk, and escalate high-risk issues to leadership early.
  • Support the handling of disputes, claims, and notices, working with external counsel to protect the company's position.

Requirements
  • Law degree from a recognized institution; an LLM is a plus.
  • Enrolled as an advocate with a Pakistan Bar Council, or equivalent qualification
  • Minimum 3-5 years of experience in commercial contracting, corporate law, or an in-house legal team.
  • Good understanding of the legal obligations that apply to software and IT services companies, including IP ownership, software licensing, data protection, cybersecurity, export controls, and service-level commitments.
  • Familiarity with AI and its legal side: how AI tools are used in software delivery, and the related issues around data use, IP in AI-generated work, client restrictions on AI, and emerging AI regulation.
  • Comfortable using AI tools in day-to-day legal work, such as contract review, drafting, and research.
  • Working knowledge of the Contract Act 1872, Companies Act 2017, and related Pakistani corporate laws.
  • Some exposure to UAE or Saudi commercial, labor, or company law.
  • Strong drafting and contract review skills, with a sharp eye for detail.
  • Clear written and verbal communication in English, including the ability to explain legal points simply to non-legal colleagues.
  • Able to manage several contracts at once, meet deadlines, and know when to escalate.
  • Willing to travel to the Middle East as needed.

Nice to have
  • Arabic language skills, especially for reviewing bilingual contracts.
  • Experience in technology, IT services, SaaS, or consulting companies.
  • Familiarity with contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools.
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