(Senior) Legal Counsel International Projects

To strengthen the legal team, Van Oord is looking for a (Senior) Legal Counsel International Projects within the business unit Offshore Energy, with a focus on the maritime side of the business.

The position

In this senior advisory role, you will provide specialist legal support on all maritime and offshore aspects of Van Oord’s offshore energy activities. You will work at the heart of complex offshore projects and services, supporting them from development and tender stage through execution and operations and beyond.

Your impact

As Senior Legal Counsel, you are the trusted adviser to maritime operations, project, procurement and logistical teams. You combine deep maritime law expertise with a pragmatic, solution-oriented mindset. You understand offshore risk, vessel operations, the economy of vessel ownership and relevant contractual interfaces — and you translate that knowledge into clear, commercially sound advice.

Your responsibilities

You are engaged in legal support across a broad range of maritime and offshore contracts. This includes time-, voyage- and bareboat charterparties, BIMCO standard forms and clauses, offshore support (maintenance, repair) agreements and transport and installation contracts.

You draft, review and negotiate agreements relating to offshore construction, transportation, installation and maritime services, and advise on risk allocation concerning vessel operations and ownership, weather exposure, delays and complex maritime operations.

You advise on a wide spectrum of national and international maritime law matters, including various IMO conventions relative to cabotage, safety, liability, work/rest hours and other labour conditions.

You provide guidance, in close cooperation with the insurance department, on marine insurance matters such as P&I, hull and machinery (H&M) and offshore project insurances.

You also provide guidance on offshore safety and environmental regulatory frameworks applicable to marine operations, all in the context of construction, transport and installation and maintenance and repair projects.

In addition, you are deeply involved in marine-related claims and disputes, including charterparty disputes, off-hire, damage and delay claims.

About you

You are a qualified lawyer in the UK, any EU member state, Norwegian or other common law jurisdiction, preferably with a master in maritime law and typically 8–15 years or more post-qualification experience, at least half of which in the maritime or offshore field, ideally gained within offshore energy, shipping, marine construction or insurance. You have proven experience with charterparties, marine services contracts and offshore vessel operations.

You combine deep technical knowledge of maritime and offshore law with strong commercial awareness. You are decisive, calm and effective in high-risk, time-critical situations, and you excel in drafting, negotiating and stakeholder coordination.

A seagoing or marine engineering background or upbringing would further strengthen your profile.

We offer

Working at Van Oord means contributing to challenging international projects and being part of an entrepreneurial and collaborative culture.

You will benefit from an attractive pension scheme, and we invest in your development through extensive learning opportunities.

Show what you can do and where your ambition lies, and you’ll get every opportunity to act on it. That’s something I’m proud of!

Renske Category Manager Engineering