About

Representing one of Spain’s leading engineering and technologies organisations, SENER’s legal team of 13 professionals aim to control all legal and operational risk across the group’s diverse industrial holdings. Led by Ramón Varela Aldazábal, the team is deeply embedded in the group’s operational activities and individuals travel frequently across the world to wrap-up important business transactions. Before the financial crisis the group used to be largely domestically driven, but recent developments have forced it to move into great range of new markets, resulting in material changes to the legal team’s hiring strategy. ‘We’ve created a pretty well-rounded team, with people that have joined recently specialising in different fields to give us an all-round service,’ says Varela. ‘The fact that our business units differ quite significantly means that we need to provide an all-round service, which requires people who are proficient in a variety of different matters. The scope of activities that we have to deal with ranges from licencing in Japan and building plants around the world to sending and supplying products and services to the aerospace industry’. Varela and his team have captured the attention of Spain’s legal community by taking a leading role on a number of important deals and projects for SENER, with external providers only providing advice when it is sought. For example, the team has recently struck a flagship deal with ACWA Power International, to construct what would be the biggest solar thermal project in the world. ‘This deal generated an ongoing, continuous value for our team, as we were not merely delegating work, but took on the steering wheel. At the same time, the deal has accounted for money saving for the company and helped build up valuable experience,’ says Varela. Maintaining an ongoing close contact with the management, the team is embedded in everything that the SENER Group does, from operational work to long-term projects. Varela explains: ‘We are not a back office role and are not afraid to get our “boots dirty”. We visit project sites and meet engineers who work there, which enables us to handle and process things there better’.