Head: Payments & Financial Crime Risk Advisory at Nedbank

Job Purpose

To formulate the Legal Risk Management strategy and set the legal parameters to control; manage and direct the legal function across Nedbank Group to ensure that all Payments & Financial Crime Risks are mitigated.

Job Responsibilities

Engage with stakeholders strategically to become a trusted operational and tactical advisor within Group Legal on Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime (AML) and Payments Systems (Payments) legislation. Create a climate of teamwork and enable up skilling of Group Legal staff, improving results for the organisation by encouraging cross functional co-operation and by supporting career progression across Cluster legal teams. Highlight and escalate legal risks across Nedbank. Build and maintain long term relationships with Cluster Heads and Chief Risk Officers. Ensure a relationship of trust is built and maintained and achieve functional objectives. Act and respond with authority on litigation and dispute risks that impact the industry. Ensure adequate budget for delivery of strategy of Group Legal within timelines. Meet changing environment/business needs and targets. Ensure appropriate risks are reported and escalated and that legal risks across Nedbank are accurately measured and accounted for. Track legal fees across Nedbank through accurate reporting to manage legal costs and by ensuring that informed decisions about capacity and outsourcing of Legal work are made. Build internal AML and Payments legal capacity across Clusters. Provide legal advice on AML and Payments through application of professional and industry knowledge and expertise, and by ensuring that the best practice advice and opinions are implemented. Ensure national legal standards and benchmarks are set by serving on professional bodies. Enhance the credibility of Group Legal by providing commercially sound legal counsel to stakeholders and by adequately managing legal risks, while adding value to the business. Ensure outcome of decisions gives Nedbank a competitive advantage. Ensure service excellence by Group Legal.  Implement in-house counsel barometer benchmarks and metrics by adopting and applying international best practice benchmarks in support of business goals. Set and review policy/framework for attorney panel selection by determining relevant expertise

Accountability

The Group Legal Head: Litigation, is accountable to the Group Chief Legal Counsel

Essential Qualification

• Relevant legal degree (e.g. B Proc, LLB)

• Masters and post graduate qualification in law or business (i.e. MBA) is highly advantageous.

Essential Certifications

• Admitted Attorney

Type of Exposure

• Managing a team of managers

• Identifying/select talent

• Managing business risks

• Communicating complex information in writing and verbally

• Negotiating settlements

• Litigating

• Managing legal risks

• Making financial decisions/

• Representing the company in Industry related forums

• Establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with peers / managers

Minimum Experience Level

• Admitted Attorney with a minimum 10-15 years’ experience working as a legal advisor in financial services of which at least 8 years must have been managing a legal function, minimum 5 years’ experience as a practicing attorney/Advocate

• Experience in or exposure to dealing at senior level.

• Proven experience building and managing large teams with a demonstrable track record of effective performance

Additional Experience

• Advising a financial institution on anti-money laundering and financial crimes legislation

• Advising a financial institution on the South African Payments System and legislation related thereto

• Worked in a law firm or practiced as an advocate.

• Implementing a strategic plan

• Developing a stakeholder management grid for the business

• Developing resource plans to execute functional strategies

• Developing succession plans

• Formulating and implementing communication strategies to cascade functional strategies

• Conducting benchmarking exercises to identify improvement opportunities

• Managing conflict situations

• Networking and Building key relationships

• Managing a team of people

• Managing legal risks

• Litigating

• Negotiating settlements

• Identifying/select talent

• Developing a divisional strategy plan

• Modelling and encourage a corporate culture

Technical / Professional Knowledge

• Capacity planning

• Change management

• Communication Strategies

• Diversity management

• Governance, Risk and Controls

• Legal Risk and practice management

• Legal Risk Methodology

• Litigation and dispute practice

• Relevant regulatory knowledge

• Reputational risk management

• Management information and reporting principles, tools and mechanisms

Behavioural Competencies

• Building Partnerships

• Earning Trust

• Communication

• Continuous Learning

• Customer Focus

• Building talent