Principal Legal | Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide

About the Team

The Corporate Legal team provides legal support to the corporate, treasury and other head office functions in Melbourne and London, and supports material merger, acquisition & divestment transactions globally.

About the Role

 The Principal Corporate will provide general corporate and company law advice, support the head office functions in Melbourne and London, and support material merger, acquisition and divestment transactions.  This role is expected to deliver independent, commercially focused, strategic advice across all of the subject areas covered by the Corporate Legal team.  This will involve liaising with Legal and PS&D personnel across BHP’s offices in Australia, London, Toronto, Singapore and Santiago. This necessarily involves telephone and videoconference calls outside of regular working hours.   

The ability to travel within Australia and internationally will also be required, in particular to meet the requirements of M&A transactions. Reporting to Head of Legal Corporate, the core accountabilities include:

• Establish and maintain relationships with key internal client groups and stakeholders, with a particular focus on PS&D, Reporting and Group Governance
• Provide subject matter expertise to the Client Groups on public company regulation, corporate law, disclosure and reporting requirements.
• Provide subject matter expertise and strategic input to merger, acquisition & divestment transactions.
• Supports the Head of Corporate in leading Group Legal and Corporate projects as required.
• Assess, monitor and advise the Client Groups on commercial risks as they arise or potentially may arise on the matters raised with Corporate Legal by the Client Groups
• Lead legal workstreams for projects led by Client Groups (for example, internal reorganisations)
• Lead legal workstreams for material merger, acquisition & divestment transactions, such as:
  • drafting, reviewing and negotiating transaction documentation related to merger, acquisition & divestment transactions;
  • coordinating legal due diligence, including coordination with transaction team on multi-discipline issues;
  • coordinating merger filings with competition authorities; and
  • preparing and managing internal approval documentation and management updates relating to those transactions.
• Accountable for identification and management of legal risks affecting BHP (including participation in risk reviews). 
• Support the Head of Corporate in the coordination and preparation of relevant internal reports.

About You

As a successful candidate you will possess the following:

• Demonstrated experience in company and corporate law matters and in management of complex M&A transactions.
• Law degree.
• Admitted to practice in Australia (or qualified to do so).
• Desirable to have experience in:
  • Advising on public and private corporate structures, and in particular public company regulation and reporting requirements.
  • Cross-border and public M&A transactions across multiple jurisdictions and time zones, including leading key work streams and outputs, and negotiating transaction documentation (including multi-discipline issues such as bankability, competition, compliance, finance and tax).
• Knowledge of typical SPA, SHA and JVA structures and significant experience in their negotiation and interpretation.
• Regulatory knowledge in key jurisdictions (Australia, United States and England)
• Experience in the resources sector is desirable.
• Track record in significant and effective engagement with senior business stakeholders.
• Robust negotiation skills and able to take and hold firm positions. Ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, with an ability to synthesise and concisely present legal positions and risks to executives and project team members.

Application close on Friday, 24 May 2024.