Legal Counsel, Corporate Commercial at Alfred & Victoria Associates

Alfred & Victoria Associates is one of Nigeria’s leading ICT solution based company. Our company offers a wide range of services which are in high demand of today’s emerging market. AVA has three major arms which have been streamlined to meet our customer’s needs.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Legal Counsel, Corporate Commercial

Location: Lagos

Job Summary & Purpose

This role is responsible for ensuring that the company’s interests, operations and business transactions are protected to minimize exposure to potential litigation and fully comply with the law / relevant statutory provisions.

Organisational Relationships:

Reports to: Group Head, General Counsel / Company Secretary
Direct Reports from: Legal Officer
Internal Relationships: All Staff

External Relationships:

Legal consultants/ External solicitors
Government agencies and court officials
Law enforcement agencies (e.g. the Police)
External Auditors
Shareholders.

Responsibilities

Serve as Internal Legal Consultant to other functional units in the company by providing advice on contracts laws, dispute resolution and also provide legal advice on issues and implications that may arise in dealing with external customers.
Draft, vet and review all legal documents and agreements relating to the Group’s operations (e.g. supplier / vendor contracts, insurance contracts, employee contracts, service level agreements) and ensure company standards are properly complied with before sending them to the Group Head, General Counsel/ Company Secretary for the signing of new deals/executing agreements.
Review all contracts to identify clauses that may unduly expose the company to risks.
Work with the Group Head, General Counsel/Company Secretary to advise management in all contractual negotiations and arrangements.
Liaise with external regulators and advisers, such as lawyers, auditors, etc. on behalf of company.
Conduct legal analysis and research on various legal matters for the company.
Provide advice on different legal issues and assist in drafting legal opinions, memoranda and other briefing documents.
Assist in reviewing the legal material and any other relevant documents and to identify the most important issues that need to be sorted out on a priority basis.
Draw up formalities regarding the settlement of disputes and monitor the implementation of the legal clauses.
Support the Group Head, General Counsel/Company Secretary to provide legal advice on all business transactions with third parties including all legal documents and newspaper publication to avoid or minimise exposure to potential litigation.
Prepare legal guidelines for expansion to mitigate against possible litigation, arbitration, staff and/or community unrest and other situations capable of disrupting the Company’s operations.

Person Specifications

Academic Qualification: First Degree in Law (LLB, BL)
Professional Qualification: Membership of relevant professional bodies such as Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Nigeria (ICSA)
Experience: Minimum of 7 years or relevant experience with at least 2 years in a supervisory role.

Key Skills & Competencies:

Proven hands-on technical capacity in dealing with and advising on matters of corporate, business and commercial law, encompassing contracts/agreements, litigation, arbitration and legal risk management.
Strong ability to communicate effectively – oral and written.
Deep knowledge of and very current with developing legal issues and trends, institutional policies and procedures, regulations and by-laws as well as the legal environment within which they operate.
Excellent planning and record management skills.
Strong negotiation and persuasion skills.
Strong leadership skills, intuitiveness and ability to pay attention to details.
Strong analytical and crisis management skills.
High level of integrity, objectivity and professional scepticism.
Proficiency in the use of MS Office Suite i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

Key Performance Metrics
Performance Area:

Regulatory and Statutory Knowledge
Contract / Document Preparation and Review
Legal Advisory
Customer Service
Communication
QHSE.

Performance Indicators:

Liabilities incurred due to legal and/or regulatory breaches and non-compliance.
Reduction in cases and disputes arising due to adequate knowledge and application of the laws and regulations
Adequacy of prepared documents and agreements/contracts
Preparation and review of documents and agreements/contracts
Legal liabilities due to lapses in agreements and contracts
Risks mitigated due to properly drafted documents
Resolution of contractual disputes
Quality of advice / recommendations given
Availability of legal advice when required
Cost-savings from recommendations
Effectiveness of service delivery and support to the business
Turnaround Time (TAT) on delivery of assigned tasks
Effectiveness and timeliness of upward and downward communication and feedback
Strict adherence and compliance to QHSE policies and safe work rules.