Thursday 12 November 2026 is for lawyers and the people who support them: in-house counsel, law-firm associates and an entry-level legal assistant. We read these Bayt adverts on Tuesday 10 November and opened all ten again on Thursday morning. Nine name Dubai as the work location and one Abu Dhabi. Cigna wants a regional head of legal, Majid Al Futtaim needs a manager for its shopping-mall legal work, and Raytheon is hiring a general counsel for its UAE entity. Experience runs from fresh graduates at Caliberly to fourteen years in practice at Raytheon. Aventus Global Talent has two roles, the most we allow.

Legal adverts screen on qualification, post-qualification years and matter types, so state those plainly, check jurisdiction and language requirements, apply only through the Bayt advert or the named employer or agency, and never pay to be shortlisted.

In-house counsel, law-firm associates and legal support: what these teams need

Most of these posts are in-house. Cigna’s head of legal for the Middle East and Africa leads a team from Dubai, drafts broker, distribution and partnership agreements, and handles claims and disputes for a health insurer with offices across the Gulf and partnership arrangements in eleven African jurisdictions. Majid Al Futtaim’s manager supports the regional shopping-mall business of MAF Properties with leases, joint ventures, litigation and due diligence. IFFCO’s counsel moves between contracts, mergers, trademark protection and company formation across the IFFCO Group’s businesses. Ghobash Group’s advert describes CNS, a technology company, where the counsel also acts as contract manager for cloud, cybersecurity and managed-services deals.

Raytheon’s general counsel sits in Abu Dhabi and advises Raytheon Emirates Limited on customer and teaming agreements, subcontracts, trade, anti-corruption and data privacy. Nathan & Nathan and RecruitMe Plus each advertise a group or corporate lawyer post for an unnamed Dubai employer. Aventus Global Talent is recruiting senior associates for international law firms in technology and M&A work. Caliberly’s junior legal assistant is the one clear opening for a law graduate.

  • In-house leadership: regional head of legal, general counsel and group counsel
  • Commercial counsel: real estate, consumer goods, technology contracts and private wealth structures
  • Private practice: senior associate roles in TMT and corporate M&A
  • Legal support: an entry-level legal assistant role for law graduates

Ten legal listings checked on Bayt, 10 and 12 Nov 2026

We opened every link below on 10 November 2026 while writing this roundup and again on 12 November 2026, and each loaded a live Bayt advert. Bayt’s card showed more than 30 days before closing, and no advert text gives an earlier date. IFFCO’s role is the nearest to closing, with 92 days left on 12 November. Several employers are not named in the adverts: Nathan & Nathan and Aventus Global Talent say they are recruiting for clients, and the RecruitMe Plus and Caliberly adverts do not name a separate employer. Raytheon’s Bayt card says only United Arab Emirates, but the advert states the job is onsite at ADGM in Abu Dhabi, which is how we have labelled it. It typically needs 14 years of practice in a common law jurisdiction, or 12 with an advanced law degree, plus periodic travel. Cigna asks for at least 10 years after qualifying, four of them in an international law firm; health insurance experience is preferred, not essential. Majid Al Futtaim requires a law degree, five to seven years and GCC legal experience; we wrote its name in title case rather than Bayt’s capitals. IFFCO wants 10 to 12 years, ideally five or six in the GCC, prefers bar admission or a practising licence, and lists Arabic or French as an advantage only; the same text also appears under another IFFCO Group listing, which we did not repeat. Aventus’s corporate role wants a solicitor trained and qualified in the UK, US or Australia at a Legal 500 firm, with Middle East market experience; Arabic is described as highly advantageous but not essential. Its TMT role asks for about six to eight years’ post-qualification experience. RecruitMe Plus strongly prefers an LLM in tax law, and Nathan & Nathan wants strong UAE market experience. Caliberly prefers fresh graduates or one to two years and treats Arabic as an advantage. Pay, visas and relocation are not promised here. We left out adverts that required Arabic fluency or a native Arabic speaker, roles open only to UAE nationals, and listings with no city or 30 days or fewer left.

Apply tip: lead with your qualification, PQE and the matters you handled

Legal recruiters read the first lines of a CV for three facts: where you qualified, how many years since then, and what kind of matters you handled. Put them in your headline, for example “English-qualified solicitor | 7 PQE | technology transactions” or “LLB | in-house counsel | real estate and leasing”. Under each role, name the matter types and your own part in them, such as leading a share purchase, running a lease portfolio or negotiating managed-services contracts, without naming confidential clients or deal values you cannot disclose. Match the version to the advert. Cigna and Raytheon count years in practice and international firm experience, Majid Al Futtaim looks for GCC real estate work, CNS wants technology contracts, and IFFCO wants litigation coordination as well as transactions. For Caliberly, a law graduate can show research, drafting and document control from internships or moot work. Our step-by-step UAE application guide explains how employers usually screen, and the free GulfJobss CV maker helps you prepare a clean, editable CV for each version.

Legal interview questions to practise

Legal interviews in the UAE usually test judgement and communication as well as technical knowledge. Prepare honest examples from your own matters with client names and figures removed.

  • Tell us about a contract you negotiated where the business wanted to accept a risk you were uneasy about.
  • How do you decide when to brief external counsel and how do you control their cost?
  • Which UAE jurisdictions, such as onshore courts, DIFC or ADGM, have you worked with, and what changed in your approach?
  • How would you explain a regulatory change to a non-lawyer executive in five minutes?
  • Describe how you keep track of deadlines, signatures and renewals across many open matters.

Verify the firm before sending certificates or ID

Legal candidates are asked for sensitive papers: practising certificates, passports, degree records and references. Check that a recruiter’s email domain matches the agency named on Bayt, confirm the client before you send identity documents, and never pay a fee to be put forward. Our guide to vetting Gulf recruitment agencies explains what a genuine agency will and will not ask for.

  • A request to pay for licence registration, bar admission or visa processing before an offer
  • An “offer” from a law firm that has no listed office, partners or regulator details
  • A recruiter who refuses to name the client after an interview has been arranged
  • A request to send a former client’s documents as a writing sample
  • Pressure to hand over your original degree or passport

Documents to prepare for legal applications

Have redacted, current documents ready so you can respond quickly once an employer is confirmed. If an employer asks for an attested law degree, read our guide to degree attestation before paying anyone to arrange it.

  • A CV stating your qualifying jurisdiction, admission date and years of experience
  • Law degree, LLM or other relevant certificates
  • Proof of bar admission or practising licence where you hold one
  • A redacted drafting sample that contains no client-identifying details
  • Two professional referees, ideally a supervising partner or general counsel

The Bottom Line

These ten roles range from a junior legal assistant to regional head of legal and general counsel, across in-house teams and law firms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Check each advert’s qualification, experience and jurisdiction requirements, prepare a version of your CV for the matter types it names, and apply only through the Bayt advert or the employer’s or agency’s own application route.