Legal Advisor: Intellectual Property at Technology Innovation Agency

Job Purpose

• To provide legal services, including intellectual property (IP) support and advice to all TIA Business Units in respect of TIA projects/programs.

Minimum Requirements    

• Bachelor degree in Engineering (Chemical) or Bachelor degree in Science .
• A Law degree
• Admission as an Attorney or Advocate
• At least four (4) years’ post admission experience.
• Two (2) years’ experience in an intellectual property environment and/or prior exposure to the technology innovation environment.
• Experience in Local and International Intellectual Property trends in relevant industries.
• Litigation experience.
• Laws, legislation and compliance requirements for the various operational aspects of TIA.
• Sound Knowledge of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999).

Skills:

• Assertive
• Critical judgment
• Customer-centricity
• Decisiveness
• Decision-making
• Negotiation skills
• Analytical and interpretation skills

Duties and Responsibilities    
Financial Perspective

• Contribute towards saving for TIA by limiting operational costs, also complying with the National Treasure Cost Containment Measures (NTCM).

Stakeholder Management

• Participate in establishing cooperative customer relationships with stakeholders internally and externally.
• Provide quality services that meets corporate programme and project needs of TIA.
• Represent the Head: Legal Services on various committees, as may be required.

Internal Processes

• Perform Intellectual Property (IP) due diligence on TIA’s projects and programs and issue report on outcomes.
• Draft and/or review contracts for TIA operations, TIA projects and TIA programs, also focusing IP clauses.
• Draft legal opinions.
• Provide input in the formulation of legal policies, guidelines, frameworks and business processes.
• Provide input in the review Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the Legal Services BU.
• Capture all legal information relating to TIA operations on the applicable systems.
• Produce workflow management status reports, as and when required.
• Assist with quality assurance of work produced by the Legal Advisors.
• Identify and report on potential legal risks.
• Identify and implement development opportunities to ensure continuous improvement of work effectiveness and efficiency.
• Identify root causes of delays in the processes and implement measures to address the delays.
• Provide support and assistance to other Legal Advisors to achieve their milestones.

Governance and Compliance

• Participate in the internal and external audit exercise and resolution of all audit matters in the Business Unit.
• Ensure compliance with all TIA’s policies, frameworks, guidelines and systems (performance management, HR, finance, Stakeholder information, fund management, reporting, etc).
• Proactively identify and address internal and external risks to protect the organisation.

Learning and Growth

• Mentor other Legal Advisors to transfer knowledge and skill.
• Attend work-related, self-development courses including training (both external and internal) seminars, conferences, webinars and workshops.