Legal Officer

Responsibilities:

Legal Advisory, Dispute Resolution & Contract Management:

• Provide legal advice and support to various departments within the organization.
• Interpret laws, rulings, and regulations for the institution.
• Appropriately advice external counsel to either institute or defend new litigation cases on behalf of the company.
• Follow up with external counsel handling litigation cases on behalf of the company and updating the litigation schedule, as necessary.
• Drafting and reviewing of legal documentation such as letters, agreements, memorandums and legal opinions, including but not limited to provision of sound and instructional inputs that will guide contractual reviews and negotiations.
• Provision of timely advisory support across a variety of legal topics, including but not limited to labour law, contractual compliance and regulatory provisions.
• Maintain a comprehensive database of all contracts and legal documents.
• Work with relevant teams within the business’s operations to appropriately resolve and manage customer complaints which are adversarial in nature.

Regulatory Compliance & Corporate Governance:

• Assist in ensuring the organization complies with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
• Support the implementation and monitoring of compliance programs and policies
• Support corporate governance activities, including preparing and maintaining corporate records, minutes of meetings, and other documentation.
• Assist in ensuring adherence to corporate governance standards and best practices.

Other Support:

• Oversee and coordinate the execution and circulation process of all legal documents.
• Conducting legal and non-legal research and providing analytical feedback upon which advice will be proffered to the requesting officer/team. 
• Keep the business updated with new applicable laws, rules or regulations to ensure that the company is consistently compliant.
• Conduct legal training sessions and workshops for employees to enhance their understanding of legal requirements and best practices.
• Develop and distribute educational materials on legal topics relevant to the organization.
• Attendance of relevant meetings and documentation of minutes.
• Other general administrative duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Head of the Unit/Department.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in law (LLB) from a recognized institution.
• Admission to the bar (lawyer's practicing license) is mandatory.
• Minimum of 2 - 5 years of experience as a legal officer in a commercial law firm or in a similar role, preferably within the financial services industry.
• Experience in consumer lending or financial services is an advantage.
• Strong understanding of laws and regulations relevant to the financial services industry.