Legal Specialist at Motor Industry Fund Administrators

JOB PURPOSE

To provide sound expert legal advice on all legal, regulatory and compliance aspects for the organization to ensure that the interest of the organization are protected against all legal risks. This role contributes to management by identifying and mitigating legal risks across the business. 

To provide accurate, expert, and specialised legal advice on legal and regulatory matters and be involved in the structuring and in line with the relevant and general practices, procedures, and regulations. This role will be a key point of contact on a day-to-day basis for the business team, and responsible for providing on the go pro-active legal advice, support, and risk management

JOB DESCRIPTION
Contract Management and Review of Legal Documents and Policies

•  Draft and reviewing all contracts, and responsible for the Service Level Agreements (SLAs.
•  Professional negotiation or vetting of contracts and SLAs and requirements to safeguard the rights and interests of MIFA.
•  Assess and discuss the risk impacts of specific terms.
•  Give legal advice on transactions or deals to be done, or transactions that have been concluded.
•  Review, comment, and advise on legal due diligence.
•  Negotiate the merits of specific clauses and changes to the agreements/contracts with customers, suppliers, and sub-contractors.
•  Review and sign-off on all company policies to ensure compliance with applicable legislation.
•  Maintain an updated record of all MIFA contract drafted, negotiated, reviewed, interpreted, an vetted.
•  Safeguarding of the MIFA contracts and other legal records.
•  Assist in structuring, negotiating, drafting, and vetting of legal agreements and documentation relating to standard agreements, transactions, and new products.
•  Help to develop working structures and best practice guides for use within business.
•  Address all probable risks by seeing to it that they are sufficiently addressed in legal agreements drafted.
•  Consider, comment, draft, vet, negotiate and give advice on documents / agreements for the business including but not limited to term sheets, mandate letters, expressions of interest and letters of support, security documentation, guarantees and indemnities and primary lending facility documentation in respect of both bilateral and syndicated transactions.
•  Provide advice on legality, the lawfulness and enforceability of agreements and documents.
•  To take principal responsibility for drafting and periodically reviewing Standard Terms or template documentation, in particular to deal with legal risk trends and opportunities to prevent recurrence and to improve business performance and recoveries.

Management and Legal Risks

•  Develop and maintain ways of work with other functional areas to ensure a coordinated approach in delivering business initiatives and requirements.
•  Foster the use of business dashboards and reports that can be viewed by multiple stakeholders.
•  Build understanding of legal issues, risks and obligations through advice, communications, and training.
•  Provide legal inputs on correspondence of a legal technical nature and risk advisory services.
•  Participate in the alignment of legal strategies to the operational framework defining and monitoring the deployment and manage and direct the implementation of legal systems and processes within MIFA
•  Minimum maintenance of policies, processes, procedures, and governance structures in order to ensure compliance to controls and standards.
•  Effective management of legal risk and continuously improve controls and efficiency of processes (consistent and proactive approach)
•  Identify opportunities to develop new processes to strengthen the legal risk control framework.
•  Develop processes and controls to monitor MIFA’s compliance to the PFA, fund rules and best business practices and to report management of potential breaches.
•  Manage, evaluate and prioritise tasks in accordance with business needs.
•  Communicate and distil legal concepts to the business function, ensuring that lessons learned are communicated both within and outside MIFA Legal team environment.
•  Ensure effective and appropriate verbal and written communication of the legal policies to internal clients.
•  Proactive monitoring of compliance to the legal risk control framework.
•  Immediately report/escalate any breach of the legal risk control framework to the Risk,

Compliance and Legal Manager.

•  Identification of risk events and accurate and clear reporting as per reporting/escalation line.
•  Display knowledge of regulatory requirements including updates and changes.
•  Develop system processes relating to PFA and FSCA and review them continuously. Litigation
•  Pro-active management of legal action/litigation in a timely manner in the best interests of MIFA with due regard to costs and the reputation of the organisations
•  In complex matters or where representation in court is required, brief the external legal advisors, and ensure that the scope and Terms of Reference are clearly articulated.
•  Attend Court and any other Tribunal when required to do so.
•  Provide and manage support with the review of pleadings and other court applications or processes and provide on-going instructions to the organisation attorneys

Dispute and Query Resolution

•  Manage the dispute resolutions in accordance with the MIFA policies and the legislative framework.
•  Attend to Court and where necessary, represent the employer at various dispute resolution mechanisms, e.g., the CCMA and participate in the forums when required with the aim of managing the MIFA Interests.
•  Handle all whistle blow queries and give resolution timeously.
•  Advise Section 14 and section 37D on regulation updates and assist in clarifying changes on regulations or act.
•  Handle all escalated section 14 queries timeously.
•  Review and advice on the correct interpretation and application of the relevant fund rules and legislation
•  Check and monitor Pension Fund Act (PFA) or Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) control and reporting they are updated timeously.
•  Ensure that all new cases are updated on the PFA and FSCA register.
•  Review all ombudsman queries and resolve them timeously.
•  Agree and manage the service level agreement with the principal’s office on all PFA, FSCA and member or employer representative.
•  Assist Risk Department on cases of beneficiary fund and application of resolutions Stakeholder Management 
•  Provide adequate advice, quality opinions, proper support to internal stakeholders in a timely manner to minimize any actual or potential risk for MIFA.
•  Keep abreast of changes in legislation to guide and educate internal stakeholders on the implications of the changes in legislations for MIFA.
•  Serve on relevant bodies and structures when required.
•  Establish and maintain constructive and effective internal and external relationships with all key stakeholders and partners to ensure achievement of business objectives.
•  Provide legal advice on matters raised by internal stakeholders.
•  To provide legally sound solutions to business challenges.
•  Explain legal concepts, clauses in agreements and risks to internal clients.
•  Manage external counsel were instructed on specific work.
•  Represent MIFA on relevant industry forums and professional bodies where required.
•  Attend external meetings with internal stakeholders, such as meetings with suppliers of MIFA or attorneys of such MIFA suppliers.
•  Build relationships with key senior stakeholders within the legal and business functions across MIFA and become a trusted advisor

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

•  An LLB
•  Admitted Attorney or Advocate
•  CCMA Commissioners Course will be an advantage
•  At least 8 years of post-admission experience
•  Experience in Case Management and Litigation
•  Experience in conducting legal research and documents and present findings to a diverse audience

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

•  Good professional record and reputation of providing good legal advice at the highest organisational levels, including legal support/advise to the Board and Board Committees
•  Good planning and organisation skills and a proven ability to delicately solve sensitive matters
•  Knowledge of PAIA, POPI and other relevant legislation.
•  Drafting of legal documents
•  Sound knowledge of risk management
•  Litigation, arbitration, and mediation processes
•  Maintaining confidentiality
•  Organisational skills
•  Analytical and report writing skills
•  Ability to prioritize matters and accommodate relevant turnaround times

Closing date: 21/05/2024