Head of Legal - SSHOL

The head of legal will serve as the lead legal and compliance advisor for the company overseeing all legal, regulatory, licensing and governance matters. Oversee company secretarial matters. Act as the data privacy officer. This role will work closely with Senior Leadership, business units and country management, and external stakeholders to proactively manage legal risk, ensure ethical practices and enable sustainable and strategic growth for the country. This is an individual contributor role, but part of the global legal and compliance team.

• Qualified to practice law and in good standing with hands on experience in a Company Secretarial role. Law degree from a recognized university, admission to practice in South Africa with a preferred Company Secretarial Qualification.
• More than 5 years of relevant experience (ideally in Corporate Governance, Intellectual Property, Real Estate, Retail, Commercial, Contract Management, Employment and Labor Relations), with experience working in a multicultural / International Environment and handling a Company Secretarial role.

• Team oriented.
• Leadership capability to influence and drive a culture of team and compliance.
• Integrity, sound judgment, and resilience under pressure.
• Strong commercial acumen and solution oriented mindset.
• Excellent stakeholder management and cross cultural communication skills.
• Able to balance strategic thinking with hands on execution.

• Provide legal advice on commercial, corporate, employment, regulatory and litigation matters, being the single point of contact for legal and compliance issues.
• Structure, draft and negotiate contracts across the business functions for real estate, distribution, and with suppliers, logistics and warehouse providers etc.
• Partner with the sustainability team on legal and compliance risks associated with ESG, H&S, human rights, sanctions, customs and trade compliance.
• Oversee ethics and integrity programs in the country.
• Manage litigation and support dispute resolutions.
• Protection and defense of the company portfolio.
• Develop model contracts, playbooks and guidelines to enable risk management.
• Manage external counsel and legal spending for which the role is responsible.
• Identify and map legal issues/exposures, litigations and legal costs for the country.
• Keep abreast of local laws and regulations and oversee implementation (e.g. data privacy).
• Manage and review tracking and closure of litigations.
• Support and partner on ad hoc projects impacting the country or at group legal (e.g. investigations, restructurings, M&A etc.).
• Develop in line with group legal requirements, model contracts, playbooks and guidelines to enable risk management.
• Manage the Secretarial functions, reporting's and governance related issues of the Country.
• Trusted advisor to senior executives, cross functional teams and other members of the legal team.
• Lead, mentor, and develop members of the legal and compliance teams. Be a sounding board for the legal community.
• Collaborate with team to build center of excellence/best practices for legal function.
• Where needed, lead and implement streamlining and efficiency initiatives at group level including getting common templates / risk management and escalation matrix implementation of projects and deliverables.
• Design and implement policies, guidelines, training schedules/calendar.
• Support and implement initiatives and processes relating to Code of Ethics, Whistle Blower, and all compliance issues.
• Support digitization of legal function (leveraging existing expertise): Identify and recommend contract workflow systems and database (build business case, and implement, if approved).
• Represent the company in regulatory engagements, industry forums and dispute matters when required.