General Counsel

Who We Are

RRK Group is a nationally recognised, award-winning Indigenous organisation - and we’re just getting started.

Headquartered in Karratha in the Pilbara, Western Australia, the RRK Group represents the Robe River Kuruma People - Traditional Owners of approximately 15,759 square kilometres of Country, from the coastal waters of Mardie inland to the Hamersley Range.

We operate across three entities:

• RRKAC - the Registered Native Title Body Corporate, progressive advocate for more than 460 RRK members. 
• KML - Kuruma Marthudunera Limited, trustee managing compensation and royalty funds for the benefit of our Community. 
• RRS - Robe River Services, our commercial arm delivering Traditional Owner contracting and joint ventures. 

Together, we pursue a single mission: building the independence, wellbeing, and cultural strength of RRK People - on our own terms.

Purpose

Reporting to the Group CEO, the General Counsel provides integrated legal, governance and compliance leadership across the RRK Group. The role is responsible for the Group's legal strategy, agreement and heritage law, AMOD negotiation support, commercial contracts, litigation management, GRC portfolio oversight and the Company Secretary contract. The GC is the primary legal advisor to the CEO, Board and executive team, and the legal officer to the KML Trustee on Trust governance matters.

This role is fundamental in safely managing its legal obligations across three entities, bringing the Area Mining and Operations Deed (AMOD) to resolution with legal authority, and discharging its Trust governance responsibilities to the standard a Group of this scale and complexity requires.

Key Accountabilities

• Establish and maintain the Group legal document management system, contract register and contract lifecycle process
• Establish and maintain the Group compliance and legal obligations registers, integrated with the Group risk framework as a single source of truth
• Build and maintain the Group legal template suite
• Establish and manage external counsel panel arrangements, engagement protocols, cost discipline and institutional knowledge retention
• Provide proactive, strategic legal advice to the CEO, boards and executive team across RRKAC, KML and RRS
• Develop and maintain the Group legal risk register as a component of the Group risk framework, identifying and mitigating legal exposure across all three entities
• Advise on native title, heritage legislation, cultural heritage protection and PBC statutory obligations across all Group operations
• Manage litigation, disputes and regulatory engagement, instructing external counsel where required
• Own the legal risk position in agreement negotiations — instruct and direct external drafting counsel, advise on commercial and legal terms, and ensure implementation obligations are understood and capable of being met by the Group
• Manage all RRK Agreement portfolio legal matters
• Responsible for commercial contracts for RRS joint ventures, procurement and service agreements
• Act as legal officer to the KML Trustee

Essential Criteria:

• Admitted to practice in Australia, with a current Western Australian practising certificate or eligibility to obtain one on commencement
• Minimum 8 years post-admission experience, including demonstrated expertise in at least three of: native title, heritage and resources sector agreements; corporations law including the CATSI Act; property law; commercial contracts including joint ventures; trust law, ACNC and tax
• Proven experience providing legal advice at executive or Board level in a complex, multi-entity organisation
• Demonstrated experience establishing legal, contracting or governance infrastructure in an organisation where none previously existed
• Demonstrated ability to work respectfully and effectively with Aboriginal organisations, Traditional Owners and community governance structures
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills — ability to translate complex legal matters into clear executive advice