Group Legal Advisor

-Introduction

Through our client-facing brands Metropolitan and Momentum, with Multiply (wellness and rewards programme), and our other specialist brands, including Guardrisk and Eris Property Group, the group enables business and people from all walks of life to achieve their financial goals and life aspirations.
Role Purpose

To advise on business direction based on legal risk management interpretation and ensure the provision of a quality legal service that fulfils a statutory, reporting and legal advisory service to all business units within the division.
Requirements
- BA LLB (or equivalent)
- Must be an Admitted Attorney or Advocatex
- 8+ years’ legal experience with exposure to the financial services industry

Key skills needed include:

- Strong background in commercial, financial and insurance law
- Prolific drafting skills of commercial agreements
- Expert contract negotiation, preparation and administration skills
- Expertise in formulating legal opinions
- Highly experienced in litigation management, drafting briefs to external attorneys
- Ability to analyse bills, legal discussion documents, conduct standards and collate comments on behalf of the group
- Proven track-record in providing effective legal counsel and developing contracts that mitigate risks and penalties
- Able to identify and mitigate legal risks
- Strong understanding of relevant local and cross-border regulatory requirements
- Sound understanding of relevant functional practices and policies from a Risk and Compliance perspective
- Sound understanding of relevant legislation and its impact on business strategy
- Able to translate legal knowledge for a non-legal audience
Duties & Responsibilities

**Legal risk management**:

- Maintain awareness of ongoing legal risks, new legislation and court decisions and provide feedback to relevant stakeholders
- Ensure changes and developments in legislation, regulations, guidelines and practices are analysed, evaluated and reported
- Track and address legal risk management related complaints and identify trends and major issues to be addressed
- Support Compliance on legal interpretation issues
- Draft and/or review internal policies and ensure they comply with relevant statutory and/or legal requirements
- Review and advise management on legal implications of internal policies and procedures
- Monitor business awareness of legal risks and ensure these are being identified and managed in all legal projects, agreements, legal opinions, systems, policies, procedures and products (where relevant)
- Advise corporate committees on high risk, governance and related matters
- Manage and support new regulatory processes
- Conduct training and ensure staff are kept abreast of legal and regulatory developments
- Oversee quality of advice and reports submitted to business

**Provision of legal advice and drafting of contracts and legal agreements**:

- Provide legal support, opinions and advice
- Provide legal protection and risk management advice, especially on contract management
- Handle escalated complaints
- Work closely with internal stakeholders to understand the legal aspects of proposed initiatives and structures and provide a view on the feasibility thereof
- Oversee the negotiation, review and drafting of documents for business transactions and advise on checklists used to ensure information is submitted on time
- Ensure all legal documentation is properly signed and recorded
- Manage the legal agreement database to ensure all information is up-to-date, signed and correctly linked to other relevant systems
- Oversee the drafting and reviewing of contracts and agreements and ensure they comply with relevant statutory and/or legal requirements
- Ensure all internal contracting parties understand the content and implications of contracts proposed and/or entered into
- Ensure proper negotiation, drafting and vetting of legal agreements
- Prepare, review and modify contractual instruments to assist and support various business activities
- Ensure contracts and agreements are amended and updated where required

**Litigation management**:

- Appoint and instruct legal counsel where required
- Review ongoing litigation cases and advise management accordingly
- Liaise between external counsel and business to defend or prosecute a case to its logical conclusion
- Drive the management and amelioration of risk arising from litigation
- Provide reports on litigation matters and liaise with internal and external auditors

**Stakeholder engagement**:

- Build trusted advisor relationships with internal and external stakeholders and ensure they are provided with service excellence
- Implement and monitor service practices that meet clients and own organisation's needs
- Train business on new legislation
- Ensure effective relationships and SLA management with internal and external stakeholders
- Engage senior management on a partnership basis to facilitate legal risk assessment, evaluate the effective