Associate General Counsel at Rainforest Alliance

Position summary:

The Assistant General Counsel, under the supervision of General Counsel, will work on a broad range of legal matters primarily in the Africa region as well as collaboratively working with regional directors and staff in Africa. The Assistant General Counsel will give legal advice to management about all relevant issues.

 Responsibilities: 

Purpose

• Effectively ensure legal conformity and minimize probability of exposure; and
• Advise corporate and affiliate boards and representatives, and departments/staff, solicited and unsolicited, in all legal areas including (international) employment law, contract law, corporate law, civil law, data privacy, intellectual property, disputes and international human rights law.

Engagement

• Responsible for all regional contract law matters including drafting, negotiating and interpreting agreements including consultancy, employment, grant, lease, services, license, vendor, and other contracts;
• Responsible for advising on employment and labor law issues for the Africa region;
• Responsible for corporate governance matters for RA entities and branches in the Africa region;
• Assist the Legal, Global Internal Compliance, and HR departments with drafting policies and training staff;
• Collaborate and coordinate with external legal advisors/specialists/company secretaries;
• Manage the selection, oversight, vetting and engagement of outside counsel and/or specialist (including tax) advisors;
• Oversee, in coordination with the General Counsel and the relevant staff/department contract, employment and litigation disputes;
• Support data privacy matters in the Africa region;
• Being overall responsible for supporting Africa regional directors and staff with day-to-day legal advice;
• Review French translations of policies for accuracy;
• Assist in global management of trademark and other intellectual property portfolio including disputes, registrations and licensing;
• Assist the office of the General Counsel with ongoing projects as assigned;
• Support risk management and compliance efforts across the organization; and
• Other projects and activities as assigned.
• Delivery
• Deliver business legal services;
• Keep knowledge up to date through training and technical information by own initiative; and
•  Attend relevant meetings, projects meetings, events and conferences, etc.

 Qualifications: 

• Qualification to practice law in any of Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya or Democratic Republic of Congo;
• 6+ years law firm and in-house experience
• Familiarity with general corporate law in Africa region;
• Experience with local government laws and regulations related to contracts/grants;
• Experience in anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies and rules;
• An affinity towards sustainable and corporate social responsibility;
• Excellent writing, editing and verbal communication skills in English and French required; and
• Excellent intercultural skills.

 Salary:

Commensurate with experience.