Legal Assistant at Flexi-Personnel

Scope of Work.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance.  

• 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 manufacturers’ statutory obligations, labour laws, health and safety at work regulations and leaf growing marketing legislation.
• Ensure an improved control environment in Legal in line with the business strategy.
• Participate and contribute to cross-functional business projects and initiatives to assess, monitor and anticipate potential threats with a view to removing or minimizing legal risks and ensuring achievement of business objectives.
• Render timely legal advice to the business on Anti-Illicit Trade (AIT), Competition Law, Intellectual Property law (including trademark protection and management) and regulatory engagements.  
• Co-ordinate, monitor and track licensing and permits compliance within the business and provide advisory opinion on any changes in the licensing and permits requirements.
• Champion and monitor and track adequate measures are in place for adherence to the Client’s applicable policies and internal controls/systems.
• Support with Legal Audits and Compliance whether undertaken internally or by an external audit body.
• Oversee implementation and tracking of control systems and appropriate company policies to proactively deal with risks, violations of legal, governance guidelines and internal policies and evaluate the efficiency of internal controls for continuous improvement.

Contract Management and Compliance.

• Draft, negotiate and review contractual documentation and develop appropriate standard formats to optimize efficiencies within the Legal sub-function.
• Track contract compliance through systems in place and ensure Contract Management Policy and Processes compliance across ESA.
• Support with training on compliance with contract management requirements. 

Stakeholder Management.

• Execute relevant administrative activities in the Function to ensure the availability of resources, continuous flow of information and updated records.
• Effectively communicate across functions and within the department to keep all stakeholders informed and to find solutions for problems of mutual interest.
• Execute relevant administrative activities in the Legal function to ensure the availability of resources, continuous flow of information and updated records.
• Co-ordinate monitor and track communication of an effective area wide governance and corporate reporting framework to senior management and external regulatory bodies as appropriate

Legal Research and Advisory Opinions.

• Carry out research on various legal issues and risks impacting the business and prepare timeous and satisfactory advisory opinions for the business.
• Undertake Due Diligence activities as and when directed by the supervisor and provided detailed report on outcomes and recommendations.
• Undertake training on various topical areas of research, to facilitate knowledge transfer and compliance of any legal issue within the business.

Litigation Management.

• Update the litigation tracker and extract reports to be shared with the business on status of various litigation matters.
• Manage external counsel quarterly review meetings intended to discuss litigation strategies and status of litigation matters.
• Regularly update witnesses on next court appearances and manage hearing preparations.
• Keep all litigation documents in accordance with records management requirements.
• Draft pre-litigation demands letters and/or responses to demand letters.
• Review and update draft litigation documents shared by external counsel and support with provision of information and documents necessary for litigation matters.

Records Managements.

• Ensure legal documents are stored in accordance with internal policy and systems requirements.
• Always keep all digital and physical legal records up to date.

Qualifications and Experience.

• A recognized legal qualification through a reputable academic institution and competence in providing legal advice to internal stakeholders.
• At least 5 years’ experience in private legal practice and 2-3 years’ experience in a corporate environment or 5-7 years relevant post admission legal experience.
• Thorough knowledge of local substantive and procedural laws relevant to areas of responsibility e.g. Commercial Law, contracts, labour laws, land laws, factory/manufacturing regulations, occupational health and safety legislation, environmental laws, data protection, competition law, intellectual property legislation, etc.
• Strong research skills.
• Strong stakeholder management skills.
• Experience in managing compliance issues or advising on good governance practices in a corporate environment is an added advantage.
• Sound knowledge of applicable regulatory requirements, corporate governance practices and emerging trends and issues on the same.
• Excellent knowledge of reporting procedures and corporate record keeping.
• Ability to speak up and be heard on matters critical to the function.
• Collaborative team player with strong negotiation, communication and dispute resolution skills.
• High personal and professional integrity and strong work ethics.
• Ability to act on his or her own initiative, lead others and work well with peers and senior management.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and to provide exemplary job outputs aligned to the business objectives.