Principal Counsel

About the role

Principal Counsel at Air India in Gurugram supports the airline's fleet modernisation program by providing comprehensive legal support for aircraft acquisition and financing initiatives. The role involves structuring multi-jurisdictional aircraft and engine transactions, ensuring regulatory compliance across domestic and international jurisdictions, and formulating strategic legal positions for negotiations and risk management. The successful candidate will be an important member of the in-house legal team, leveraging legal expertise to drive operational excellence and financial optimization for India's flag carrier.

What you’ll do

• Provide comprehensive legal support and guidance to Air India Group, ensuring compliance with aviation laws and regulations while protecting its interests
• Support multi-jurisdictional aircraft and engine transactions including leasing, financing, novation, restructurings, and sale-leasebacks
• Ensure regulatory compliance across domestic (DGCA, RBI, IFSC, etc.) and international jurisdictions affecting Air India Group's fleet acquisition
• Formulate strategic legal positions for Air India Group's aircraft acquisition, aircraft delivery and redelivery negotiations, maintenance reserve disputes, and lessor default scenarios
• Assist with financing transactions within the aviation industry, such as debt or equity offerings and finance arrangements for aircraft purchases or leases
• Participate in transactional negotiations with external parties, such as clients, vendors, or business partners
• Support and mitigate risks, manage contract lifecycles, track deadlines, and facilitate effective contract administration to protect Air India's interests
• Drafting and negotiation of purchase agreements, facility agreements, aircraft and engine lease agreements, mortgages, security agreements and technical acceptance protocols

What you’ll bring

• 12+ years PQE with demonstrable expertise in aircraft (or asset) financing, leasing and acquisition transactions with good grounding in commercial law
• Demonstrated ability to independently handle complex negotiations and documentation with minimal supervision
• Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail with capacity to resolve complex legal issues under tight timelines
• Proven track record managing transactions with stringent delivery timelines
• Exceptional writing and communication skills
• Capacity to make time-sensitive legal determinations during critical windows
• Ability to align legal strategy with Air India's commercial and operational objectives
• Demonstrated ability to close multiple concurrent aircraft transactions within compressed timeframes

Skills