Legal Counsel Financial Services at Jumia

About the Role 

• As Legal Counsel (Financial Services) for Jumia (East Africa), you will manage all legal and regulatory matters relating to the company’s payments business in East Africa (Kenya and any other countries in the region) as well as support the company’s finance operations and treasury teams on intercompany cash flows and cross-border payment issues. At times, you will also support strategic projects in other Jumia countries of operation as and when necessary.
• The ideal candidate will come from “start-up” like environments in digital payments or the financial services industry, be result-oriented, and a clear communicator with a solid background in banking, payments or the fintech space. The role is located in Nairobi, Kenya with possible travel to other markets as and when required. 

Responsibilities

• Serve as main point of contact to the local business team for all legal and regulatory matters in respect of the company’s affairs in East Africa including but not limited to contract drafting and review, general legal advisory, product risk reviews and company secretarial matters
• Master a deep understanding of the rules and regulations governing the East African market in which we operate, including monitoring of any changes and developments and maintaining active relationships with regulatory counterparts
• Work closely with the company’s risk, business, finance, regulatory, compliance, product, sales, and other teams to understand and appropriately resolve legal, regulatory and other related risks in supporting the company’s business
• Manage external counsel in East Africa, and occasionally in other markets, to drive the business goals of the company
• Support internal, external audits or local regulatory examinations in the East African market
• Provide strategic legal and regulatory advice on core company initiatives that drive the company’s mission forward

Requirements

• 5 - 10 years of experience as a qualified lawyer working on complex regulatory or technology matters, preferably in payments or financial services
• A broad legal knowledge that enables you to spot and resolve a variety of legal issues (e.g., regulatory, contract, IP, data privacy, employment, consumer protection, risk), and an ability to distill complexity and to identify and clearly communicate practical, risk-based solutions 
• You must be a strong self-starter and able to thrive in a fast-paced environment with priorities that frequently change and occasionally compete
• You must be a great communicator and solid project manager, able to effectively prioritize and advance a large number of matters, often on tight deadlines
• You must be able to work independently to drive execution on business objectives and with teammates across various jurisdictions
• Experience with banking and financial services laws and regulations, payments and card network rules
• Experience advising startups on structuring their products and services
• Compliance experience or experience partnering with compliance and risk teams
• Experience working at a PSP or mobile money platform and on matters relating to fintech in general is desirable