Counsel: Sub Sahara Africa at Mastercard

Job description

Overview

Responsible for providing legal advice to assigned business units and/or markets providing comprehensive, end-to-end legal support by facilitating thoughtful risk-taking to enable MasterCard to deliver on strategy

Responsibilities

• Oversees all legal and regulatory matters for a business unit or market, including partnering with the business and legal specialists to implement applicable laws and regulations that facilitate commercial operations and activities
• Serves as the primary legal advisor and considers the overall benefit to the business unit or market as the highest priority when structuring legal deals and contracts
• Negotiates, drafts, and approves key business and legal agreements that are complex, high-risk, and strategic in nature
• Leads communications and training to clients on legal issues, including explaining implications on business operations and legal risks
• May engage and manage relationship with outside counsels on specific business-related research and analysis
• Coaches and mentors others while serving as a technical expert, often leading cross-functional strategic initiatives and sharing legal knowledge for a business and/or market
• Drive cross-functional collaboration with Data Privacy/Use, Intellectual Property, Insurance and Regulatory attorneys.
• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills, as well as the ability to help clients structure complex, forward-thinking technology and business solutions, managing a variety of related legal and compliance issues as well as support product launch requirements in region, factoring in legal, market and customer requirements and expectations.
• Responsibilities will include: (i) structuring, drafting, and negotiating customer services agreements, vendor agreements, strategic business transactions, technology licensing agreements, terms of use, and memoranda of understanding; (ii) participating in the product development process, issue-spotting and liaising with subject matter experts (internal and external) to guide the team to workable solutions; (iii) reviewing sales and marketing materials, press releases, and other internal and external communications; and (iv) advising management teams on the identification and analysis of complex legal issues and commercial risks.
• Provides thought leadership on risk and other legal issues as member of the divisional management team.
• Work together with and assist other departments as required, both on a local/regional and a global level such as but not limited to Finance, the Franchise Department, Risk Management as well as their assigned functional in-house counsels.
• Conduct local training/monitoring of global Law Department policies such as compliance and contract policy training.

Experiences

• Successful track record in managing and resolving enterprise wide and/or strategic high-risk business issues
• Often called upon to represent MasterCard at external industry events, contributing to expert panels and sharing white papers and best practices, etc., to enhance the organization's brand
• Minimum of 5 -7 years PQE (Post Qualification Experience) in a Commonwealth jurisdiction
• English language capability essential (French would be an added advantage)