Senior Legal Counsel

Senior Legal Counsel - Mergers & Acquisitions

Location: Sandton

Type: Hybrid

Time Type: Full time

Posted On: Posted Yesterday

End Date: April 4 (5 days left to apply)

Job Requisition ID: R-

Empowering Africa's tomorrow, together…one story at a time. With over years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.

Job Summary

Responsible for the legal aspects pertaining to our clients in so far as they relate to M&A transactions, Company Secretariat, Treasury, Tax and Investor Relations for the Group.

Key point of contact on a day-to-day basis for the business teams, and responsible for providing pro-active legal advice, support and risk management.

Key Accountabilities

1. Legal Responsibility: Provide best-in-class end-to-end M&A legal advice in a leadership context in respect of transactions across multiple jurisdictions, adopting a collaborative business-partnering approach.
2. Work collaboratively with other teams within the Legal function to ensure effective and fully aligned end-to-end legal support to wider business colleagues in an M&A transaction context in relation to structuring, due diligence, disclosure, conclusion of agreements and other key issues.
3. Co-ordinate and manage internal and external legal support and support from other functional colleagues (e.g. Corporate Development, Finance, Tax, and Treasury and Corporate Governance) in a cross-discipline / multi-jurisdiction context.
4. Manage external legal counsel in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
5. Support corporate team on other strategic corporate projects, such as capital raisings, rights issues, special dividends.
6. Identify and pursue opportunities to improve Absa Group's approach to M&A transactions, including via the development of toolkits, internal templates for core transaction documents.
7. Identify opportunities to develop and improve operational efficiencies, processes and systems and capture and reapply knowledge.
8. Advise, influence and support key stakeholders at all levels across our regional operations to ensure close alignment between the Legal function and business areas and identify and progress value creation opportunities.

Negotiation, Drafting and Review of Agreements

1. Ensure agreements are drafted and concluded as quickly and efficiently as possible while protecting the Group and mitigating risks.
2. Assist in structuring, negotiating and drafting transactional agreements.
3. Ensure technical correctness of agreements drafted by ensuring that the latest legal requirements have been included in the agreement.
4. Address all probable risks by seeing to it that they are sufficiently mitigated in the agreements drafted.

Advisory and Opinions

1. Deliver excellent and effective legal advice and service to stakeholders, applying strategic thinking with advice given.
2. Stay up to date with all relevant laws, case law and regulatory directives and guidance by doing regular research on legal developments and attending training interventions.
3. Ensure that sufficient legal knowledge has been obtained and updated with latest legal developments.

Management of Legal Risks

1. Ensure effective and appropriate verbal and written communication of the legal policies to internal clients.
2. Proactive monitoring of compliance of the legal risk control framework.
3. Adhere to Absa frameworks, policies and procedures applicable to the role, demonstrating sound judgement and responsible risk management.
4. Report all risk events / incidents / issues immediately upon discovery and escalate significant events / incidents / issues using the defined process for the business area.
5. Understand why risk events / incidents / issues happened and identify how to prevent them in future - focusing on fixing root causes and taking ownership of identified actions.

Stakeholder Management

1. Build relationships with key senior stakeholders within the legal and business functions across the Group and become a trusted advisor.
2. Engage and collaborate with Legal colleagues from other teams in a timely and appropriate manner.
3. Provide training that is beneficial / informative to internal clients by way of presentations, such as training on new legislation or recent legal precedents.
4. Manage external counsel where applicable.

General Responsibilities

1. Proactive stakeholder management and raising the profile of the team.
2. Deal leadership – ability and experience in leading large and complex deals.
3. Develop and maintain a network with senior stakeholders by encouraging informal interactions and catch-up sessions to achieve good visibility and raise the profile of the team.
4. Perform duties in line with the Absa values and uphold Absa's values in transacting with stakeholders, customers and colleagues.
5. Provide more than is required from stakeholders to ensure efficiency and excellence.
6. Be an active and accountable member of the team by participating in initiatives and workstreams across the Legal function.
7. Complete all mandatory training in a timely manner.
8. Coach and mentor junior team members.

Role / Person Specification

1. At a minimum a LL.B degree but preferable to also have a B or LL.M degree and an admitted attorney or advocate.
2. 5+ years of experience as a corporate transactions' attorney focused on M&A and investments or at a top tier international law firm.
3. Experience with M&A and investments involving a bank, technology companies, insurance companies and banking subsidiaries.
4. Experience in cross-border M&A transactions.
5. Familiarity with a wide variety of transaction types (e.g., public company, private company, joint venture, stock purchase, asset purchase, divestments, cross-border, etc.).
6. In-depth understanding and ability to apply the Banks Act, Companies Act, JSE listing requirements, FRS Act.
7. Ability to work independently while being able to contribute successfully to cross-functional teams.
8. Ability to take a business-oriented approach while identifying and balancing legal risks and providing succinct, accurate and pragmatic advice.
9. Exceptional analytical skills, independent judgment, a desire to learn, and an ability to take on and prioritise a wide variety of complex matters.
10. Outstanding relationship-building skills.
11. Can-do attitude, able to work under pressure, tight deadlines and to manage the expectations of clients.

Knowledge and Skills

1. Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team.
2. Very strong interpersonal skills.
3. Well organised and efficient.
4. Analysing information and dealing with complexity.
5. Excellent drafting skills.
6. Ability to navigate a set of financial statements.
7. Effective communication (both oral and written) and excellent negotiating skills.
8. Excellent project management capabilities.
9. Integrity and reliability.
10. Excellent attention to detail.
11. Sound risk and reward assessment capabilities with the ability to take risks.
12. Possessing in-depth Business Awareness with a thorough understanding of commercials.
13. Excellent time management and multitasking.
14. Self-assuredness, and a calm mind.
15. Excellent problem-solving skills.
16. Ability to manage a large (and often fluid) workload with effective prioritisation as well as deliver under pressure and at speed.

Education

Bachelor Honours Degree: Law (Required)

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.

In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank. Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised.

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