Legal Counsel at Interswitch Group

Interswitch is an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company that facilitates the electronic circulation of money as well as the exchange of value between individuals and organisations on a timely and consistent basis. We started operations in 2002 as a transaction switching and electronic payments processing, and have progressively evolved into an integrated payment services company, building and managing payment infrastructure as well as delivering innovative payment products and transactional services throughout the African continent. At Interswitch, we offer unique career opportunities for individuals capable of playing key roles and adding value in an innovative and fun environment.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Legal Counsel

Location: Lagos
Job Type: Permanent
Department: Group Legal & Compliance

Job Description

• To handle legal tasks concerning the Interswitch group covering contracts review, intellectual property protection, litigation management, engagement with law enforcement authorities and other tasks as advised by the Senior Legal Counsel or the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer.

Responsibilities

• Attending to assigned legal tasks within agreed OLAs
• Processing payments to External Solicitors as agreed in engagement letters to ensure non-interruption of external legal services and prevent reputational risks
• Implementing approved intellectual property protection strategies and litigation strategies
• Engaging law enforcement authorities concerning criminal matters to ensure the Group’s interest is covered
• Preparing monthly and board reports covering legal activities for the defined period
• Engaging Company Secretaries for execution of agreements, board resolutions and CAC filings
• Covering Board Committee Meetings
• Review legal rights and obligations arising from the Company’s relationships with group companies and third parties Legal risk management
• Contract management.

Business Continuity Management:

• Dispute resolution and dispute avoidance
• Collaborate with management to devise efficient defence strategies
• Research and evaluate different risk factors regarding business decisions and operations
• Apply effective risk management techniques and offer proactive advice on possible legal issues
• Communicate and negotiate with external parties (regulators, external counsel, public authority etc), creating relations of trust
• Review drafts and solidify agreements, contracts and other legal documents to ensure the company’s full legal rights
• Deal with complex matters with multiple stakeholders and forces
• Provide clarification on legal language or requirements to internal stakeholders
• Conduct work with integrity and responsibility
• Maintain current knowledge of alterations in legislation and provide legal opinion on such legislations where necessary
• Prepare Board Committee minutes and follow up on reports for Board Committee meetings.

Decisions expected from Role:

• Assign tasks to Team Members in absence of Senior Legal Counsel
• Initiate the process of payments to Solicitors in accordance with agreed fee structure
• Negotiate deviations from standard contract provisions
• Recommend external counsel for engagement.

Major Challenges:

• Negotiating contracting terms with counterparties across various jurisdictions for ever evolving technology/infrastructure solutions and services
• Dealing with novel situations like drafting contracts for novel products, applying existing regulation and providing legal advisory for novel products
• Clarifying cyber and electronic crime to law enforcement to pursue recovery
• Displaying versatility in providing legal services across the Interswitch group business lines and subsidiaries.

Requirements

• First Degree in Law from an accredited university
• Certificate of call to the Nigerian Bar
• Any other relevant qualification is a plus
• A qualified lawyer with up to 5 years legal experience in corporate and commercial transactions
• In-house Lawyers with technology companies, or practice lawyers with experience in the technology space would be highly considered.

Application Closing Date
27th October, 2021.