Manal Aboujtila is a senior HR, Compliance and Legal Executive with two decades of leadership experience in the energy sector and commodities (oil and gas), focusing on labour and regulatory compliance, workforce nationalisation, and cross-border governance enabling M&A in the MENA region. Her career spans complex operational environments where she has supported senior management and international operators on Libyan labour law, Exploration Production Sharing Agreements EPSA frameworks, compliance structures, and local-content development.

Before joining SMBC Law, Manal held senior positions at Wintershall AG, where she led HR, compliance, and regulatory workstreams across multi-site operations in North Africa. Her experience includes post-M&A workforce integration, managing the legal structuring of a €20M employee transfer with the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and international partners, and leading negotiations on employment frameworks and labour-law documentation. She also led the legal and commercial negotiation of a €6M international healthcare contract for more than 2,000 members, creating a compliant insurance model aligned with Libyan insurance law, labour regulations, and Sharia principles for the local market.

She also directed the Libyan Integration & Development Program, a national workforce initiative established with the NOC to strengthen localisation, capacity building, and long-term succession planning. Her work further includes oversight of compliance training, internal investigations, and alignment of litigation strategies between headquarters legal teams and external counsels.

Alongside her corporate career, Manal undertook a research-focused assignment at the Libyan Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, attached to the WTO, ILO, and UN desks, contributing to analytical work on investment law and dispute-related matters. She completed a dual LL.M. in International Business Law & Arbitration (summa cum laude) at the University of Fribourg and conducted research on Energy Investment Arbitration at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. She has been invited to speak at major international forums, including Africa Energy Week, Libya Energy Week, and the International Law Summit in London, and has been recognised among Africa’s Top 50 Inspirational Female Energy Executives (AOW 2024) and CNBC Washington’s Top 35 Global Women Thought Leaders (2024).