Consultant: Corporate Legal Services at The South African Revenue Service (SARS)

Job Purpose

• To provide legal advisory and specialist drafting services, on non-tax related matters, to various business units within SARS.

Education and Experience

Minimum Qualification & Experience Required

• Bachelor’s Degree / Advanced Diploma (NQF 7) in Law or related field AND  5 - 7 years’ experience in a Legal environment, of which 2 – 3 years at a technically skilled level.

ALTERNATIVE #

• Senior Certificate (NQF 4) AND 10 years related experience, of which 2 - 3 years at a technically skilled level.   

Minimum Functional Requirements

• Extensive knowledge of public sector governance, including an understanding of the roles and responsibilities assigned to government departments and agencies.
• Thorough grasp of applicable legal frameworks, such as legislation, regulations, and directives that impact IT operations and public procurement.
• Proficiency in organisational policies and procedures, ensuring full compliance with both internal and external standards.
• Capability to interpret and advise on administrative law, data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity laws relevant to the public sector.
• Strong communication skills for effective and productive engagement with stakeholders, including a range of service providers, IT professionals, management, and external legal advisers.
• Analytical ability to evaluate legal risks and propose mitigation or practical solutions within the scope of IT projects and initiatives.
• Provision of reliable guidance to Bid Specifications; Bid Evaluation as well as Bid Adjudication Committees.
• Competence in drafting legal opinions.
• Experience in drafting, reviewing, interpreting and negotiating IT-related contracts, including service level agreements and procurement documents.
• Experience in litigation and dispute resolution support. 

Job Outputs:

Process

• Accumulate information to review work progress that provides input to reporting, decision making and the identification of improvement opportunities. (I)
• Apply practical and applied knowledge and act authoritatively on methods, systems and procedures to identify trends and potential risks. (I)
• Communication of situational interpretation and judgement of work outputs and queries in area of specialisation. (I)
• Coordinate, administer and manage all SARS freedom of information requests.
• Correctly apply policies, practices, standards, procedures and legislation in the delivery of work outputs. (I)
• Draft contracts (SLAs / leases / memo of understanding).
• Draft, vet, update and develop enterprise governance instruments for legal compliance with legislation SARS is required to comply with.
• Draw on own knowledge and experience to diagnose symptoms, causes and possible effects in order to solve emerging problems. (I)
• Drive processes that ensures that disputes i.e. objections and appeals (including high court litigations) are handled timeously and fairly, in line with organisational targets.
• Execute specialist input through investigation and opportunities within the product process including risk concern.
• Initiate process and procedural change, implement the change and provide guidelines and support related to new requirements as a result of the change. (I)
• Participate in all key tenders and makes recommendations in conjunction with other role-players in order to facilitate decision making.
• Participate in tender and related processes, draft and vet contracts.
• Plan for value-added process improvements, initiatives and services to deliver on operational strategy and objectives. (I)
• Provide advise and support in the drafting or vetting of contracts and identify legal risks.
• Provide and oversee legal support for non-tax related legal issues related to the organisation.
• Provide direction and legal advice on draft contracts, agreements and internal policies and ensure that they are in compliance with all statutory or legal requirements.
• Provide direction by establishing a function with legal expertise to advise management on all non-tax legal matters, internal policies and procedures.
• Provide legal advice and support to the organisation on a broad spectrum of corporate commercial matters affecting the business of SARS both internally and externally.
• Provide legal advice relating to Human Resources, Finance and Procurement legal risk assessment, policy consideration and legal compliance so as to ensure sound corporate governance practices.
• Provide specialist input through the investigation of opportunities for operational and process, product and risk optimisation. (I)
• Support the implementation of protection of personal information and advice on compliance.
• Undertake information gathering, research and analyse data within broad guidelines to produce accurate plans and / or recommendations for business issues.
• Provide input into the strategic direction, management and performance of the legal research and development division.

Governance

• Implement and provide input into the development of governance, compliance, integrity and ethics processes within area of specialisation. (I)

People

• Develop and maintain productive working relationships with peers and team members to achieve predefined objectives. (I)
• Search for, integrate and share new knowledge attained through formal and informal learning opportunities in the execution of your job. (I)

Finance

• Adhere to organisational policies and procedures to ensure cost effectiveness and reduction of financial costs. (I)

Client

• Contribute to a culture of service excellence, which builds positive relationships and provides opportunity for feedback and exceptional service. (I)
• Liaise and coordinate with relevant key stakeholders in terms of the memorandums of understanding (MOU).
• Provide authoritative, specialist services, expertise and advice to internal and external stakeholders. (I)

Behavioural competencies

• Fairness and Transparency
• Analytical Thinking
• Accountability
• Conceptual Ability
• Organisational Awareness
• Trust
• Respect
• Problem Solving and Analysis
• Honesty and Integrity
• Attention to Detail
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Expertise in Context

Technical competencies

• Business Knowledge
• Corporate Legal Services Management
• Data Collection and Analysis
• Efficiency improvement
• Functional Policies and Procedures
• Legal Advisory & Interpretation
• Legal Knowledge & Knowledge of Ethics
• Legal Writing Skills
• Reporting
• Research
• Service Delivery
• Vendor Evaluation and Management

Deadline:31st August,2026