The Diplomat is your source for Asia-Pacific careers.

Senior Corporate Lawyer

Job Posted 3/7/2025
PanAust
Brisbane, QUEENSLAND 4000
Category Legal
Job Description

Requisition ID 16628 - Posted - Australia

DISCOVER YOUR POTENTIAL. DEVELOP YOUR FUTURE.

GROW WITH PANAUST.

  • Join a high performing and sustainable mining company with a global presence, focused on producing the copper required for the world's renewable energy transition.
  • We offer a great culture with exciting growth and development opportunities.
  • Apply today to work in our Corporate Office on James Street, Brisbane.

Our Company

PanAust Limited is an Australian-headquartered copper and gold mining company with operations in Laos, and pre-development assets in Papua New Guinea and Chile.

In Laos, PanAust owns a 90 percent interest in Phu Bia Mining Limited with the Government of Laos owning the remaining 10 percent. Phu Bia Mining owns and operates PanAust's two award-winning operations - Phu Kham Copper-Gold and Ban Houayxai Gold-Silver, both located in Xaisomboun Province, 120km north of Vientiane.

In Papua New Guinea, PanAust holds a 100 percent interest in the Frieda River Limited Copper-Gold project, which is a transformative pre-development integrated mining, renewable energy and infrastructure project.

In Chile, PanAust holds a 66 percent interest in the Inca de Oro Copper-Gold Project through a Chilean incorporated joint venture company, Inca de Oro S.A.

The Role

We are currently recruiting for an experienced Senior Corporate Lawyer to join our team, based in our Corporate Head Office in Brisbane's James Street precinct in Fortitude Valley. Reporting to the General Counsel, this unique role will be responsible for providing expert legal advice to Senior Management, ensuring compliance and effective decision-making across a range of legal and governance matters. The wide-ranging experience gained from this role will provide a stepping stone to further in-house legal leadership roles.

Key Responsibilities include:

  • Providing and managing the provision of legal advice in relation to a broad range of matters including mineral sale contracts, M&A, joint ventures, due diligence, financing, capital raisings, project development, employment, supply contracts, dispute resolution and general corporate advisory.
  • Drafting of contracts and conducting negotiations in relation to a wide range of commercial activities.
  • Procuring and managing external legal counsel as and when required.
  • Assistance with procuring governmental and regulatory approvals as and when required.
  • Assisting in the review, drafting and implementation of corporate governance policies and initiatives.
  • Assisting in the management of legal compliance matters associated with the PanAust Group's international subsidiaries, including funding and joint venture arrangements.
  • Advising and assisting in the management of Board and other corporate governance processes.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates who:

  • Are admitted as a legal practitioner in Australia, with a minimum of 5 years' post-admission experience with a major projects or energy and resources practice, preferably at a top-tier law firm.
  • Have experience in major M&A and joint ventures within the mining, oil and gas or infrastructure industries.
  • Experience with the development of major projects and infrastructure, including mining, power and port projects, is desired.
  • Prior company secretarial or governance experience is highly valued.

Not only that, but our successful candidate will need:

  • Strong commercial acumen and experience, with an ability to make commercially sound decisions.
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills to work with people from a range of cultures and environments and in cross-functional teams.
  • Integrity, self-starter, flexibility, personal initiative and the ability to inspire confidence at senior levels of management.
  • Ability to work closely with senior management in a small head-office environment.
  • Capable of working independently and to multi-task whilst at all times maintaining a high standard of legal advice.
  • Flexibility to undertake occasional overseas and domestic travel as required by the role to locations such as Laos, PNG, Chile.

You must have full Australian working rights to apply for this role.

Why Join Us?

  • Our Values: Our core values of Care, Leadership, Integrity and Performance represent the foundations of our great culture.
  • Remuneration: We offer a competitive salary, bonus and benefits package.
  • Meaningful Work: The work we do is valuable and connects all of our employees through a shared vision and our values.
  • Sustainability: We actively focus on our environmental footprint and build upon community development initiatives in communities where we operate.

PanAust is focused on building a workforce that embraces diversity and inclusion, aiming to create an environment that brings us all together through connection, security and community and harnessing what makes us unique. As an Equal Opportunity employer, we encourage and welcome applications from all genders, abilities, generations and cultural backgrounds.

Please note that due to the volume of applications we receive, only shortlisted candidates may be contacted regarding their application status.

We are not working with agencies to recruit this role.

If you'd like to learn more about us, please visit