Senior Legal Counsel (Team Lead)

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.

With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.

Job Summary

Responsible for identifying and managing legal risk for the South African business. Key point of contact on a day-to-day basis for the business team, and responsible for providing pro-active legal advice, support and risk management. Key focus area within our payments, acquiring, issuing and cash management business.

Job Description

Key Accountabilities

• Negotiate, Draft and Review Agreements :
• Ensure agreements are drafted as quickly and efficiently as possible while protecting the Bank and mitigating risks.
• Attend to queries as quickly as possible.
• Successful conclusion of agreements, taken into account how certain clauses would impact the Business Unit and Bank's strategy.
• Comment on, negotiate and give advice on commercial agreements and schedules.
• Assist in structuring, negotiating and drafting commercial agreements and schedules relating to standard agreements, technology agreements and related transactions.
• Address all probable risks by ensuring they are sufficiently mitigated in the agreements drafted.
• Conduct legal due diligences on transactions.
• Advisory and Opinions :
• Delivering excellent and effective legal advice and service to stakeholders, applying strategic thinking with advice given.
• Ensure technical correctness of agreements drafted by ensuring that the latest legal requirements have been included in the agreement.
• Staying up to date with all relevant laws, case law and regulatory directives and guidance by regular research on legal developments and training interventions.
• Ensure that all risks are sufficiently addressed in agreements entered by the Bank, understanding business requirements, legal issues and possible business risks and incorporating clauses to address such risks.
• Obtain and update sufficient legal knowledge to reflect latest developments in the agreements drafted.
• Management of Legal Risks :
• Proactive updating of templates and identification of clauses for continuous improvement.
• Ensure effective verbal and written communication of legal policies to internal clients.
• Proactive monitoring of compliance with the legal risk control framework.
• Adhere to Absa frameworks, policies and procedures applicable to the role, exercising sound judgement and responsible risk management; highlight breaches and request dispensations & waivers as needed.
• Report risk events / incidents / issues immediately upon discovery and escalate significant events / incidents using the defined process for the business area.
• Understand root causes of risk events / incidents / issues and identify preventive actions for the future.
• Raise the profile of the legal function and improve on Legal Key Risks.
• Manage and create awareness by embedding legal policies and control requirements in all areas of the business.
• Provide appropriate challenge and be robust in the face of challenges.
• Build strong risk partnerships with colleagues in other functions (especially key control areas).
• Fully understand the role of legal in AGL and how it interacts with other functions and the business.
• Identify and escalate non-legal and legal risk issues.
• Contribute to the creation of policies and controls.
• Stakeholder Management :
• Build relationships with key senior stakeholders within the legal and business functions across the Bank and become a trusted advisor.
• Timeous, appropriate and collegiate engagement with Legal colleagues from other teams, especially where matters are business-facing or related to another area of expertise.
• Escalate issues to manager in a timely manner; block out contract review time with manager in advance to avoid urgency and delays.
• Timeous and accurate matters reporting, providing adequate detail suitable for a General Counsel report.
• Explain legal concepts, clauses in agreements and risks to internal clients.
• Provide training beneficial to internal clients (e.g., on new legislation or recent legal precedents).
• Manage external counsel where applicable.
• Familiarization with the Bank’s internal governance.
• Contribute to industry-wide initiatives and develop a network among peers externally.
• Collaborate across different teams and geographies within Legal to break down silos.
• General :
• Leading and managing the payments team.
• Proactive stakeholder management and raising the profile of the team.
• Identify opportunities for contract automation to improve efficiency.
• Deal leadership – ability and experience in leading large and complex deals.
• Develop and maintain a network with senior stakeholders through informal interactions to achieve visibility and raise the team’s profile.
• Perform duties in line with Absa values and uphold them in dealings with stakeholders, customers and colleagues.
• Provide more than is required from stakeholders to ensure efficiency and excellence.
• Be an active and accountable member of the team by participating in initiatives and workstreams across the Legal function.
• Complete mandatory training on time.
• Coach and mentor junior team members.
• Provide objective and constructive feedback and share knowledge and expertise.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of team objectives and strategy.
• Make recommendations for and implement change.
• Work independently with minimal supervision and supervise where appropriate.
• Plan and manage projects and matters through to completion including resourcing.
• Anticipate market and legal developments and their impact on the business.
• Role / Person Specification
• Professional / Technical Experience :
• At least 4 years’ PQE in commercial legal.
• Ability to advise at a senior business level and establish credibility with senior stakeholders.
• Experience in drafting and negotiating agreements is preferred.
• Academic and Professional Qualifications :
• Appropriate law degree.
• Admitted attorney in RSA.
• Strong Commercial Law experience.
• Degree from a leading educational institution with good academic results.
• Personal Attributes :
• Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team.
• Very strong interpersonal skills.
• Communication skills.
• Well organized and efficient.
• Excellent negotiating and influencing skills.
• Integrity and reliability.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Commercial acumen.
• Business awareness, prioritization of risk and strong commercial focus.
• Ability to manage a large (and often fluid) workload with effective prioritization and the ability to deliver under pressure and at speed.
• Education
• Bachelor Honours Degree : Law, Military Science and Security (Required).

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised

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