Legal Counsel – Retail Banking at NCBA Group

Job Purpose Statement

The Legal Counsel is responsible for managing full spectrum of the Bank’s Retail Banking business from lending, securities, contracting and retail projects, litigation and recoveries. The role’s principal goal will be to offer practical legal support to the retail banking business units through balanced business-oriented legal advice that will guarantee that all our retail banking transactions and decisions comply with established laws and regulations in line with the legal risk policy and related contractual, litigation, recovery and securities procedures & processes.

Key Accountabilities (Duties and Responsibilities)

Retail Banking Contract and Customer Documentation Administration and Retail Advisory & Management

• Manage day to day operations of the retail legal contract and customer documentation by providing concise and practical legal solutions
• Ensure that all retail contracts and customer documentation are accurate in compliance with the legal policy and other internal policies, statutory regulations and generate timely parameters required for internal and external deadlines;
• Manage the retail contracting and customer documentation space, personnel and oversee, facilitate, draft and negotiate contracts and customer documentation in support of the retail banking business needs;
• Closure on audit issues raised with respect to retail contracts and customer documentation by ensuring a satisfactory “met” ratings for audit matters raised and providing specific timelines for closure of audit issues (the timelines should not exceed two weeks).

Retail Banking Securities (Perfection and Review) & Credit Approvals Support Management

• Manage the legal securities docket for retail lending in line with the security perfection and review procedure from the credit approval requests and advice;

Retail Recoveries and Retail Legal Queries

• Ensuring compliance with the policy (ies) relating to procedures related to litigation and legal queries management for retail banking.
• Supervise the litigation and queries and ensure reduction of legal exposure through adverse judgements for retail banking; Customer Experience
• Compliance of the SLAs between the department and internal and external customers.
• Ensuring that legal costs are minimised and all opportunities to minimise costs within the department and by digital business and subsidiaries are taken and suggest
• innovative ways of reducing costs within the department.

People &Culture Leadership (5%)

• Ensure attendance of Continuing Professional Development Courses with the LSK and meet the required points for the following year’s practicing requirements.
• Ensure that there is proper succession plans for key roles and career development for direct reports.

Ideal Job Specifications

Academic:

• Bachelor’s Degree Law (LLB)
• Master of Laws (LLM) (Desired but not necessary)

Professional:

• Admission as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya (minimum 5 - 7 years post admission
• A Masters degree in combination with an aggregate of five to seven (7) years of qualifying work experience may be accepted)

Desired work experience:

• A minimum of 5 - 7 years’ experience legal department of a busy organization, financial institution or law firm