Legal Counsel - General Commercial & Operations at British American Tobacco (BAT)

British American Tobacco has an exciting opportunity for a Legal Counsel – General Commercial & Operations to join our team in Nairobi.

The Role reports to the Area Head of Legal, to ensure proactive timely delivery of legal counselling to BAT’s operations within East & Central Africa Area [ECAA] and to successfully implement and execute the Legal & External Affairs [LEX] Functional strategy and objectives.

To take responsibility in advising BAT entities in ECAA on all legal matters pertaining to Commercial and Operational sides of the business while representing the Legal department on the Functional Leadership Teams.

• Operational/Professional/Business:
  • Contribute to the development and execution of the LEX functional strategy.
  • Monitor and interpret the ECAA legislative environment in which the business operates, to ensure that the business understands and meets its legal obligations.
  • Maintain a thorough understanding of regulatory issues and the regulatory framework in which the business operates and take responsibility for the development of informed solutions enabling the business to respond to and deal with regulatory constraints.
  • Management of any litigation instituted by or against the business as allocated by the Area Head of Legal within ECAA, including devising and executing case strategy. Assist the Area Head of Legal to ensure cost effective management of External Counsel.
• Management:
  • Participate and contribute to cross functional business projects and initiatives to assess, monitor and anticipate potential threats to minimize legal risks and ensure achievement of business objectives.
  • Monitor and interpret the legislative environment to ensure that proactive legal advice and support is provided on manufacturer’s statutory obligations, labour laws, health and safety at work regulations and leaf growing marketing legislation.
  • Draft, negotiate and review contractual documentation and develop as appropriate standard formats to optimise efficiencies within the Legal sub-function.
  • Execute relevant administrative activities in the Function to ensure the availability of resources, continuous flow of information and updated records.
  • Ensure an improved control environment in Legal in line with the business strategy.
  • Effectively communicate across functions and within the department to keep all stakeholders informed and to find solutions for problems of mutual interest.
    Identify and take steps in conjunction with management to minimise commercial risks.
• Leadership Capabilities:
  • Support, implement and achieve the strategic plans and objectives of the Legal sub-function in line with the business strategy.
  • Powerful and effective communication to the business on the relevance and strategic business importance of the area of responsibility of this role.
  • Identify new initiatives and proposals in line with the business strategy and values to ensure legal operates at the heart of the business and as effective risk managers and business partners.
  • Continuously develop technical and managerial skills as identified and agreed in personal development plan.
  • Build and maintain good relationships with experts in the legal field.
  • Map out internal and external stakeholders pertinent to areas of responsibility and build those relationships to optimise effectiveness of legal actions.
  • Continually optimise and build improved systems and work process to drive efficiency and reduce costs.
• Relationships:
  • Various Business Leadership Teams and other cross functional teams
  • The East & Central Africa Area [ECAA] Legal team
  • LEX Centres of Excellence in Globe House
  • Third Party Consultants and stakeholders
  • Appointed External Lawyers

Essential requirements

• A recognized legal qualification through a reputable academic institution and competence in providing legal advice to internal stakeholders.
• At least 4 years’ experience in a private legal practice or in a corporate environment.
• Thorough knowledge of local substantive and procedural laws relevant to areas of responsibility e.g. Commercial Law, labour laws, land laws, factory/manufacturing regulations, EHS legislation, etc.
• Strong negotiation, written and verbal communications skills
• Ability to apply strong strategic, analytical skills and good judgement.
• Ability to act on his or her own initiative, lead others and work well with peers and senior management.

Working at BAT

​British American Tobacco is all about freedom of choice — whether it’s our people or our products. Combined with our entrepreneurial spirit, it’s what’s driven our phenomenal success. We started trading tobacco over a hundred years ago. Today, we’re a multibillion dollar company with more than 200 brands in our portfolio. With robust positions in each of our regional markets, our future looks equally bright too.

There’s no doubt our industry is controversial — we’re the first to admit that. But rest assured, we take a responsible approach to our trade. In each of our markets, we observe every local law regarding tobacco (in many cases going further through our own voluntary code). Not only that, we treat our farmers fairly, invest in the environment and help to sustain local communities.

We also excel at developing our own people into leaders of the future. As a firm with a high-performance culture, we’ll expect a lot from you. But we’ll support you every step of the way to help you deliver. If you’re passionate and ambitious, rapid career progression is a reality here. And because we’re such a large firm (we employ more than 55,000 people worldwide), there are plenty of exciting opportunities for you to develop a truly extraordinary career.