Job Opportunities at The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL)

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

FORMAL EDUCATION

• NQF 6 qualification or above - Paralegal Studies, Public Administration, Legal Secretariat, Law, Administration Support and Management or related qualification.  (LLB will be an added advantage)

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 3 years recent related experience in administrative coordination/ legal secretarial, paralegal role providing administrative and reporting support to legal teams in a fast-paced environment (law firm/ in-house corporate legal /SOE Legal environment)
• Providing senior management administrative support in a legal environment.
• Consolidating activity reports of the legal team and preparing the legal services department reports, document management and managing the filing systems.

ADVANTAGEOUS

• Knowledge of government structures and operations in SOEs and the public sector.
• Knowledge of Legal procedures and compiling legal documents.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Document management and administration
 

• Ensure that all legal documents are stored in a structured manner on a central database / repository with secure access and accurate version control.  
• Design, implement and maintain an effective and efficient document management and filing system to facilitate easy document (electronic and paper) retrieval and reference.
• Ensure that the confidentiality of legal documentation is maintained.

Knowledge and information management

• Assist with the development of a knowledge management training policy, plan and materials for the Legal and Compliance function.
• Manage information and statistics of the function, including the preparation of reports (standard and ad-hoc) required to help ensure legal and regulatory compliance.
• Assist with the co-ordination and planning of ethics, legal and regulatory compliance training, assist with monitoring implementation and compliance with policies, report on compliance failures, advising relevant internal stakeholders on how to improve future compliance.

Legal support services

• Prepare various legal agreements and forms required for signature and/or further action by legal advisors.
• Prepare standard letters and correspondence in response to internal and external legal enquiries.
• Liaise with internal legal team and end-users or with external legal counsel on documentation and administrative or confidential legal issues.
• Facilitate the procurement of external legal counsel through assisting with drafting technical legal specifications (i.e. Scope of Engagements).
• Identify opportunities for, and facilitate training on, initiatives that aim to enhance operational workflow, systems and procedures.

Workflow management and support

• Act as a contact point for all SANRAL enquiries on legal issues and/or service requests.
• Administer SANRAL legal service requests and proactively consolidate required information before allocation to Legal and Compliance counsel (internal or external).
• Ensure the efficient allocation of legal service requests, tracking the status of requests until completion.
• Implement and maintain an effective and efficient legal services workflow monitoring system, ensuring that the status of all legal services, litigation and dispute resolution workflow are continuously updated.
• Monitor the status of legal tasks and facilitate the timely completion of tasks by liaising with legal colleagues and/or outside legal counsel.

Administrative support and budget monitoring

• Organise and maintain calendars and co-ordinate appointments/ meetings, drafting meeting agendas when required.
• Manage travel and accommodation arrangements on behalf of Legal and Compliance team.
• Perform general clerical work at the request of the Legal and Compliance team.
• Monitor and report on legal expenditure against budget.
• Facilitate the processing of invoices for payment and keep a register of payments made.

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MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor of Laws/ LLB at an NQF level 8.
• Admitted Attorney or Advocate (with Pupillage from the Bar) of the High Court of SA, Member of the Law Society/ LPC.
• A minimum of 10 years relevant experience.
• A minimum of 5 years managerial experience.
• Proven experience in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a wide range of commercial contracts and various legal agreements.

ADVANTAGEOUS

• LLM and/or specialisation by experience would be advantageous
• Commercial and Contract Law

WORKPLACE COMPETENCIES

• Governmental landscape and regulations: Knowledge and understanding of the government and public sector landscape and the regulatory and legislative operating environment.
• Corporate legal knowledge: Knowledge and understanding of a wide scope of legislation which includes, but is not limited to the:
• Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act,
• Public Finance Management Act,
• South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited Act,
• National Treasury’s Regulations,
• Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and all other related legislations.
• Companies Act
• Environmental Legislation
• Engineering legal knowledge: Knowledge and understanding of engineering-specific legislation with which SANRAL must comply, especially the FIDIC suite of contracts.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Contracts and Legal Assurance Planning and Management

• Develop a contracts management and legal assurance workflow and operational plan to execute, manage and deliver the timely drafting, vetting, review and amendment of all contracts, agreements and addenda and for the provision of expert legal assurance for the commercial decisions of the business supporting the overarching business strategy and objectives in its commercial activities.
• Define turnaround times for delivery on business requests for contracts support and commercial legal assurance.
• Develop a performance management criterion to monitor and assess the contracts and assurance functionality and the implementation of operational plans and workflows.
• Monitor and report on the output of the unit and legal services provided to the business.
• Oversee and assist with developing a contract and legal document management system.

Contract Drafting, Vetting, Review and Amendment

• Drive the provision of contracts services in various areas of expertise, including labour and employment, construction and engineering, real estate, procurement documents, land acquisition, and disposal.
• Advise the business on all contractual matters, provide contract negotiation support, and comply with all laws, regulations, industry frameworks, guidelines and standards applicable to various contracts.
• Amend and update agreements in keeping with legal and regulatory developments within the relevant discipline.
• Interpret clauses and provide advice to project teams during the implementation phases of the contract.
• Ensure standard contracts are amended and drafted to be fit for purpose and comply with the legal landscape of the jurisdiction they will be executed and accord with legislative requirements.
• Where necessary, guide and provide input on the co-drafting, reviewing, updating and negotiation of all types of contracts with SCM and oversee the facilitation of contract finalisation and storage.
• Provide guidance and support on engineering and construction-specific claims including delays, price acceleration claims, and change of work claims.
• Provide, and oversee the provision of advice on construction and engineering law, including infrastructure procurement and the drafting and administering of engineering contracts.
• Drive and ensure the contribution of legal counsel in developing SANRAL’s policies, procedures, and controls.
• Provide support to all SANRAL Commercial and Contracts Committees.

Legal Assurance

• Provide business support to SCM during the tender processes, i.e. specification drafting, bid evaluation, adjudication, and pre-award stages.
• Review the tender processes from bid specification, advertising, closing, validity periods, evaluation, and adjudication for legal compliance of all aspects of the tender
• Provide assurance reports of the tender review to bid committees on the legality of the process, legal risks and procedural and legal deficiencies identified and advise/make recommendations to the business.

Managing and Reporting of the Contracts and Assurance Unit

• Accountable to manage and report on operational functions and outputs.
• Keep records and manage contracts and assurance service requests.
• Manage the equitable allocation of work and assign responsibilities to Legal Advisors and Officers as required.
• Monitor the execution and review assigned work and responsibilities and any delays in delivery and performance.
• Ensure timely procurement and appointment of external service providers.
• Provide weekly, monthly and quarterly reports to management on contractual and assurance matters.
• Compile memoranda and submission for contract management and assurance to the relevant committees of SANRAL.
• Manage and supervise the overall performance of the unit.

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MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• A Bachelor of Laws / LLB qualification at an NQF level 8.
• Admitted attorney or Advocate (with Pupillage from the Bar) of the High Court of SA, Member of the Law Society/ LPC
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience.
• A minimum of five years of managerial experience.
• Demonstrable record of litigation and litigation oversight and directing

ADVANTAGEOUS

• LLM and/or specialization by experience would be advantageous

WORKPLACE COMPETENCIES

• Leadership skills: Ability to lead by example, employ strong business acumen, solid judgment, and integrity.
• Critical thinking: Ability to objectively analyse and evaluate issues and factual evidence in order to form judgements.
• Contract vetting and management: Advanced skills and experience in drafting and vetting contracts, including service level agreements.
• Legal research: Ability to identify and retrieve relevant legal information/precedent to aid in the legal decision-making and/or execution process.
• Communication skills: Good interpersonal skills, people skills, organising and communication skills.
• Litigation skills: Ability to manage and thoroughly execute all phases within the legal litigation process from investigation all the way through to settlement and appeal.
• Attention to detail: Ability to pay close attention to details and complete tasks with a high level of thoroughness, accuracy and completeness.
• Organisation: Ability of to make efficient and effective use of time, energy and resources available by organising workloads and scheduling and prioritising tasks.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Litigation Strategy Development and Execution

• Develop and implement the litigation strategy to provide an effective and efficient litigation service in managing SANRAL’s litigation demands.
• Develop and maintain the litigation management and monitoring processes/ procedures to execute and measure the litigation unit’s performance of its responsibilities and functions.
• Establish the measurement criteria to monitor the operational objectives and manage the performance of the litigation unit and the quality of the support it provides to the business in litigated and non-litigated disputes and matters.
• Monitor and report on litigation matters and performance deliverables in line with predefined measurement criteria and agreed performance objectives and implement the necessary mechanism to improve delivery and performance.
• Identify litigation risks and implement the appropriate measures to mitigate and prevent the risk.
• Manage the litigation budget and expenditure on legal fees.

Litigation Management

• Guide the resolution of SANRAL issues and/or disputes through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and litigation methods, as required.
• Oversee the resolution of litigation instances including pre-suit negotiations, arbitrations, facilitations, and appeals as they may arise.
• Advise on and guide the resolution of engineering and construction-specific claims/disputes including delays, price acceleration claims and change of work claims.
• Oversee the resolution of FIDIC-Contract-related issues and/or disputes through adjudication, litigation, arbitration, mediation or negotiation, as required.
• Provide advice and defend SANRAL on infrastructure procurement matters emanating from tenders issued by SANRAL and provide advice and defend all other procurement matters and litigation.
• Manage, assess and advise on the merits of litigated matters to determine if a settlement can be reached or the matter should proceed to court.
• Appoint, instruct and consult with external legal service providers within the correct internal procedure and PFMA requirements.
• Manage service providers' performance and delivery of instruction.
• Manage the litigation cycle from end-to-end and provide the appropriate instructions to avoid litigated matters becoming dormant.
• Comply with court timelines and limit reliance on condonation, extensions, tendering of costs.
• Consult internal clients/business to obtain instructions, facts on the matter and report to the business on developments in their matters monthly and as and when required.

Recovery of Costs

• Manage and monitor the execution of judgments, orders, and awards in favour of SANRAL at the conclusion of a dispute/litigated matter.
• Manage the recovery of costs awarded to SANRAL.
• Ensure legal bills are subjected to taxation/and or agreed fees and executed, engaging the services of a taxation consultant where necessary.
• Record costs recovered and to be recovered and provide monthly and quarterly reports on the status.

Management & Reporting

• Manage and report on operational litigation.
• Keep records and manage incoming litigation and pre-litigation disputes
• Manage the equitable allocation of work and assign responsibilities to Legal Advisors and Legal Officers as required
• Monitor the execution and review assigned work and responsibilities and any delays in delivery and performance.
• Ensure timely procurement and appointment of external service providers to defend or institute legal action for SANRAL.
• Provide weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports to Management on litigation and active matters.
• Compile memoranda and submission for Litigation to the relevant committees of SANRAL.