Senior Manager: Corporate Legal Advisory - D4 at South African Maritime Safety Authority

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS

• Serve as the deputy principal legal advisor to the CEO on strategic, operational, governance, and regulatory matters.
• Analyse complex legal risks and provide expert recommendations, clear option assessments, and well-reasoned decision implications.
• Provide legal input into the organisation’s Strategic Plan, Annual Performance Plan (APP), organisational policies, and major initiatives.
• Monitor, interpret and assess all applicable legislation, regulations, directives, circulars and binding public-sector frameworks (e.g., Constitution, PFMA/MFMA, Treasury Regulations, Public Procurement Framework, POPIA, Labour legislation, etc).
• Assess regulatory changes and advise the CEO on strategic, operational, governance and compliance implications.
• Ensure organisational compliance with statutory obligations, reporting requirements, and regulatory deadlines. 
• Draft and review governance instruments including delegations of authority (DoA), Board/Committee charters, policy frameworks, and compliance standards.
• Oversee the legal risk management framework, maintain the legal risk register, and escalate high impact risks to the CEO and Audit/Risk Committees.
• Conduct impact assessments, recommend mitigation strategies, and ensure integration of legal controls into business processes.
• Provide oversight on legal governance practices, including the application of King IV, PFMA compliance, and ethical leadership obligations.
• Advise on potential conflicts of interest, irregularities, or governance breakdowns.
• Draft, review, and negotiate high-risk, complex, or strategically significant contracts, MOUs, partnership agreements, funding agreements, SLAs, and procurement contracts.
• Ensure all contractual commitments comply with PFMA, National Treasury Regulations, Supply Chain Management (SCM) frameworks, and organisational delegations.
• Provide expert advice on issues such as liability limits, indemnities, IP rights, confidentiality, warranties, termination, and dispute clauses.
• Manage all litigation matters for and/or against SAMSA and advise the CEO in relation thereto.
• Provide legal advice to the CEO and the organisation on all legal matters confronting SAMSA.
• Oversee strategy for defending or pursuing legal actions, including the appointment and management of external counsel.
• Review pleadings, affidavits, legal opinions, and settlement proposals, recommending legally and financially defensible positions.
• Ensure proper legal compliance in evidence handling, representation, and documentation.
• Ensure policies are legally sound, implementable, and aligned to national legislation, governance frameworks and organisational operating realities.
• Provide legal vetting for public submissions, regulatory comments, and policy positions the organisation adopts.
• Liaise with government departments, regulators, oversight bodies, Parliamentary committees, industry bodies, legal forums, and external counsel on behalf of the CEO, ensuring SAMSA’s legal position is accurately represented.
• Represent the organisation in high-level legal engagements, including negotiations, regulatory consultations, and dispute forums.
• Provide legal briefings for CEO engagements with the Board, Minister, Auditor-General, or Parliament.

Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS

• Matric certificate (NQF 4) is essential
• Bachelor of Law\LLB (NQF 8) is essential
• Postgraduate qualification (NQF Level 9) would be an added advantage
• Admitted as an Attorney of South Africa is essential

EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

• Seven (7) years of Corporate Legal Advisory experience, of which three (3) years’ experience should be in Supervisory\Management level with specific focus on Corporate Legal Advisory.
• Exposure to complex organisational environments, including governance, risk, and compliance functions.
• In depth knowledge of corporate and commercial law. 
• Understanding of regulatory frameworks, including compliance, governance, and statutory obligations.
• Strong knowledge of contract law, drafting standards, and contract lifecycle management.
• Knowledge of litigation processes, dispute resolution, and management of external counsel.
• Understanding of corporate governance principles, including King IV and board processes.
• Familiarity with risk management frameworks and legal risk assessment.
• Knowledge of public sector legislation i.e. PFMA, Treasury Regulations.
• Knowledge of policy development, review, and implementation processes.