Senior Legal Counsel: Business Banking at Absa Bank Limited

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Job Summary

To develop tactical strategy and delivery plans, formulate associated practice/s and to ensure operational implementation and adoption with regards to legal methodology, governance and delivery objectives.

Job Description

Accountability: Management of Legal Risks

• Proactive updating of templates and identification of clauses for continuous improvement.

• Ensure effective and appropriate verbal and written communication of the legal policies to internal clients.
• Proactive monitoring of compliance of the legal risk control framework.
• Adhere to Absa frameworks, policies and procedures applicable to the role, demonstrating sound judgement and responsible risk management and when required highlight breaches and request dispensations & waivers on a timely basis.
• Report all risk events/incidents/issues immediately upon discovery and escalate significant events/incidents/issues using the defined process for the business area.
• Understand why risk events/incidents/issues happened and identify how to prevent them in future - focusing on fixing root causes and taking ownership of identified actions.

• Actively 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 equally 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 Absa Group Limited and how it interacts with other functions and the business.
• Identify and escalate non legal and legal risk issues
• Contributes to the creation of policies and controls

Accountability: 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 Bank' strategy.
• Consider, comment, 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 seeing to it that they are sufficiently mitigated in the agreements drafted.
• Conduct legal due diligences on transactions.
• Represent Absa at Industry Forums such as but not limited to, Banking Association of South Africa.

Accountability: 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 and collaboration with Legal colleagues from other teams, particularly where matters are business facing or are related to another area of expertise (e.g. employment law).
• Timeous and proactive escalation of issues to manager (technical, stakeholder related and where matters have been open for more than 3 months), blocking out contract review time with manager sufficiently in advance so as to avoid urgency and delays.
• Timeous and accurate matters reporting, providing adequate detail and drafted in a manner that can be easily copied into a General Counsel report.
• Explain legal concepts, clauses in agreements and risks to internal clients.
• Provide training that is beneficial / informative to internal clients by way of presentations, such as training on new legislation or recent legal precedents.
• Manage external counsel were applicable.
• Familiarisation with the Bank’ internal governance.
• Contribute to industry wide initiative and develop a good network amongst peer group externally.
• Proactively collaborate across different teams and geographies within Legal to break down silos.

Accountability: Leadership & Management

• Demonstrates strong relationship management skills with clients
• Plan and manage projects and matters through to completion, including resourcing
• Contribute to the development and implementation of team objectives and strategy and provide high quality support to the business as required by interacting with different legal and business stakeholders.
• Work independently with minimal supervision and demonstrate the ability to supervise where appropriate

Accountability: Commercial

• Demonstrate strong analytical skills and solve complex problems creatively and effectively
• Drives good cost control behaviour, especially around external spend and consistently deliver against a broad range of competing target
• Manage external counsel and represent AGL on relevant industry forums and professional bodies where required
• Add value in commercial as well as technical discussions, and provide training that is beneficial / informative to internal clients
  

Accountability: Risk and Control

• Actively 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 equally 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.

Accountability: Teamwork:

• Proactively collaborates across different teams and geographies within Legal to break down silos
• Provide objective and constructive feedback and openly shares knowledge and expertise

Accountability: Technical

• Acts as a trusted advisor to business and other infrastructure areas; understands market and legal developments and their impact on business
• Contribute to industry-wide initiatives and have a good network amongst peer group externally

Professional/technical experience

• At least 7years’ PQE in the field of commercial law.
• 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, Public Sector expertise, Renewable Energy, Transport and Logistics experience and Franchising and Manufacturing experience will be an added advantage.

• 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 organised and efficient.
• Excellent negotiating and influencing skills.
• Integrity and reliability.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Commercial acumen.
• Business awareness, prioritisation of risk and strong commercial focus.
• Ability to manage a large (and often fluid) workload with effective prioritisation as well as 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