Legal Manager at 21 Search Ltd

The Opportunity: This role is a commercial legal role within the Legal & Regulatory Affairs Department, with responsibility for providing legal and regulatory advice and guidance across the Group and to support the Commercial team with legal advice and contract negotiations.  

The duties and responsibilities captured within this role are as follows:

Commercial Legal Affairs:

• Providing guidance and oversight to the business on legal matters.
• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating agreements/contracts.
• Providing legal support to the commercial teams through the drafting of and reviewing of contracts, negotiating of commercial terms and legal execution for commercial relationships.
• Serving as legal advisor to support internal stakeholders such as IT, commercial, treasury, compliance, and other support departments.
• Oversight of the contract management tool/system for commercial contracting.
• Oversight of contract lifecycles and arranging for re-negotiation of terms where necessary.
• Conducting periodic reviews of existing legal documentation to ensure they remain relevant, applicable, and up to date.
• Identifying legal and regulatory risks in transactions, contracts and other activities conducted by the Group.

Regulatory Affairs:

• Providing guidance and oversight on regulatory matters.
• Monitoring and responding to regulatory developments across Africa and advising on the impact, if any, on Organization and its business strategy.
• Supporting the Group’s efforts in acquiring new licenses and/or expansion of existing licenses.
• Playing a key role in ensuring ’s compliance with the laws and regulations of each country in which we operate, by conducting frequent regulatory horizon scanning and advising on changes in law and regulation and how these might impact the organization and its businesses.

Other Legal Matters

• Managing IP and IP registrations related to the business.
• Handling of contractual disputes.
• Together with external legal counsel, coordinating all litigation and legal proceedings.
• Providing data protection and privacy related advice.
• Carrying out legal audits from time to time to assess and monitor the legal standing of the organization and its existing legal obligations.
• Adhoc legal advice.

Qualifications and Experience

• Qualified lawyer or holder of Degree of Master of Laws in a relevant jurisdiction, with working experience within the financial sector or at a law firm
• 5+ years’ experience in FinTech, consumer/digital financial services, and/or regulatory engagement.
• Deep, demonstrable, practical knowledge of driving, interpreting, and applying regulation in the context of consumer financial services.
• Pan-African exposure, experience, excitement, and expertise will be invaluable.
• Understanding of market and industry developments within the broader financial services sector that relate to legal and regulatory risks in Africa.