Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs at Kenya Tea Development Agency (MS) Ltd

Position scope

Reporting to the Group Company Secretary, the successful candidate will be responsible for the effective and efficient management of the Legal department, provision of legal advisory services and ensuring effective management of legal and contractual risks.

Key Responsibilities

• Reviewing all contracts or any other documentation where the Company has committed itself and assess legal implications that need to be brought to the executive management’s attention;
• Preparing, reviewing and modifying contractual instruments to assist and support various business activities;
• Negotiating, reviewing and drafting documentation for business transactions and preparing and advising on the necessary checklist to be adopted to ensure information is submitted on time;
• Providing continuous leadership, supervision, training and development of department staff ensuring an effective and motivated team;
• Liaising with the HR department in conducting performance appraisals and ensure competency and training gaps are addressed;
• Reviewing and providing legal advice on tender documents;
• Reviewing ongoing cases and advice management accordingly;
• Ensuring that contracts, leases and legal documents have been prepared in the proper manner and that the relevant registers are updated;
• Liaising with external lawyers on legal matters for and against the Group Companies;
• Taking minutes for KTDA Holdings subsidiary and committee meetings;
• Continuously monitoring compliance with statutory obligations and advising management accordingly;
• Liaising with relevant departments to ensure that where legal risks have been identified, appropriate courses of action have been taken;
• Providing legal protection and risk management advice to management especially on contract management;
• Providing and interpreting legal information, conduct training and disseminate appropriate legal requirements to staff;
• Reviewing and advising management on legal implications of internal policies and procedures;
• Reviewing government and other relevant regulations that will impact on the operations of KTDA [H], its subsidiaries and managed factory companies and advice on the necessary actions to ensure compliance;
• Reviewing progress of outstanding litigation and liaise with and manage external lawyers;
• Ensuring regulatory compliance by formulating compliance check-lists to be used for the purpose of ensuring that all information required is provided accordingly;
• Verifying adherence to internal (KTDA) policies and external regulations;
• Ensuring the carrying out legal research as required and registering legal documents with relevant registries;
• Continuously monitoring compliance with statutory obligations and advise management accordingly.

Qualifications/Skills/Experience

The ideal candidate must possess the following qualifications and competencies: –

• A Bachelor of Laws degree from a recognized institution;
• A Certified Public Secretary;
• Member of ICPSK in good standing
• An advocate of the High Court
• Member of Law Society of Kenya with a current practicing certificate
• A Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies from the Kenya School of Law;
• A minimum of ten (10) years’ experience, four (4) of which should be at a senior level in either a comparable position in medium to large public or private institution;
• Demonstrates good grasp of Commercial law, the Constitution of Kenya and other relevant national laws;
• Must have demonstrated ability to handle departmental budgets, resources, processes, projects and relationships;
• Should have thorough knowledge of the relevant industry/sector as well as knowledge of regulatory requirements affecting the relevant sector;
• Must have ability to plan, organize, implement and evaluate departmental goals;
• Must demonstrate ability to handle multiple and conflicting priorities, and work under strict deadlines;
• Should have strong analytical and be result oriented;
• Must have high standards of integrity and ethical practice;
• Must be capable of functioning effectively both as a team player and a team leader;
• Must have management and Leadership skills;
• Must have ability to accurately plan work assignments, prioritize tasks and deliver deadlines;
• Should have problem solving and decision making abilities;
• Should be an effective communicator with the ability to handle both internal and external communication;
• Should demonstrate ability to identify and respond to risk areas within the department;
• Should have effective people management and conflict resolution skills;
• Must have knowledge in use of MS office packages;
• Demonstrate excellent relationship and networking management and communication skills necessary for interaction with both internal and external stakeholders;
• Demonstrate success in managing and conducting a variety of litigation matters;