Legal Officer: Land Programme at WWF South Africa

Minimum Requirements

• LLB and admission as an attorney.
• At least 2 years post-admission experience.
• Valid Driver’s License
• Experience in commercial contract drafting
• Knowledge of the relevant environmental law
• Advanced level proficiency in MS Office
• Systematic and analytical thinker
• Able to solve problems and build relationships
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong writing and presentation skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Self-motivated
• Resilience
• Team-player
• Excellent planning and organizational skills
• Able to perform under pressure and use initiative

Duties and Responsibilities

General Legal Support

• Expert legal support to the WWF-Land Programme and Biodiversity Stewardship Portfolio:
• Drafting and vetting property related agreements and documentation including Offers to Purchase, Donation Agreements, etc.
• Managing declaration processes of properties as protected areas in terms of the NEM: Protected Areas Act no. 57 of 2003.
• Drafting and vetting property Management Agreements and liaising with Management Agencies (e.g. CapeNature, SANParks, etc.)
• Relationship management, instructions to and coordination with external property legal service providers, including conveyancers.
• Assess possible risks associated with property transactions and recommendations on risk mitigation.
• Assist Land Programme with rates disputes and negotiations with municipalities.
• Assist in negotiations, mediations and correspondence related to property matters as required.
• Participate in the processes around land acquisition and provide guidance from a legal perspective.
• Expert legal support to the WWF Conservation Programme/ Land Programme/ Sustainable Food Systems:
• Drafting and review of Landowner Conservation Agreements.
• Legal support to the Associated Trusts as related to property matters.
• Conservation Project Legal Support
• Drafting and vetting management agreements for technical assistance with landowners.
• Providing additional assistance to Provincial conservation agencies for project related stewardship declaration processes.
• Assistance drafting and finalizing project agreements and amendments.
• Assistance with the drafting, finalising and management of non-disclosure agreements.
• Assistance with drafting offset agreements.

General

• Keep abreast of changes in property, land use and conservation laws, regulations and industry standards, conducting legal research as required and providing updates and training to internal teams.
• Contribute to continuous improvement within the organisation of contracting strategies and contract administration processes in conjunction with the Legal and Risk Manager.
• Revision and updating of standard templates.
• Record keeping of relevant legal and other property-related documents.
• Legal governance and compliance.
• Attendance at the following meetings:
• Finance and Business Support Unit.
• Meetings to update the Legal and Risk Manager / legal team.
• Project Approval Team (PAT).
• Land Reference Group (LRG).
• Land Valuation Negotiation (LVN).
• Working Group meetings & Project Steering committee meetings, Stewardship working group and Legal Working group.
• National Biodiversity Stewardship Technical Working Group and Legal Reference Group.