Purpose of Role
To formulate the Legal Risk Management strategy and set the legal parameters to control; manage and direct the legal function across organisation Group to ensure that all Payments & Financial Crime Risks are mitigated.
Responsibilities
• Engage with stakeholders strategically to become a trusted operational and tactical advisor within Group Legal on Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime (AML) and Payments Systems (Payments) legislation.
• Create a climate of teamwork and enable up skilling of Group Legal staff, improving results for the organisation by encouraging cross functional co-operation and by supporting career progression across Cluster legal teams. Highlight and escalate legal risks across the company.
• Build and maintain long term relationships with Cluster Heads and Chief Risk Officers. Ensure a relationship of trust is built and maintained and achieve functional objectives.
• Act and respond with authority on litigation and dispute risks that impact the industry. Ensure adequate budget for delivery of strategy of Group Legal within timelines.
• Meet changing environment/business needs and targets. Ensure appropriate risks are reported and escalated and that legal risks across company are accurately measured and accounted for.
• Track legal fees across the company through accurate reporting to manage legal costs and by ensuring that informed decisions about capacity and outsourcing of Legal work are made.
• Build internal AML and Payments legal capacity across Clusters.
• Provide legal advice on AML and Payments through application of professional and industry knowledge and expertise, and by ensuring that the best practice advice and opinions are implemented.
• Ensure national legal standards and benchmarks are set by serving on professional bodies.
• Enhance the credibility of Group Legal by providing commercially sound legal counsel to stakeholders and by adequately managing legal risks, while adding value to the business.
• Ensure outcome of decisions gives company a competitive advantage.
• Ensure service excellence by Group Legal.
• Implement in-house counsel barometer benchmarks and metrics by adopting and applying international best practice benchmarks in support of business goals.
• Set and review policy/framework for attorney panel selection by determining relevant expertise
Additional requirements
• Essential Qualification – Relevant legal degree (e.g., B Proc, LLB)
• Masters and post graduate qualification in law or business (i.e., MBA) is highly advantageous.
• Essential Certifications
• Admitted Attorney

Type of Exposure
• Advising a financial institution on anti-money laundering and financial crimes legislation
• Advising a financial institution on the South African Payments System and legislation related thereto
• Managing a team of managers
• Identifying/select talent
• Managing business risks
• Communicating complex information in writing and verbally
• Negotiating settlements
• Managing legal risks
• Making financial decisions/
• Representing the company in Industry related forums
• Establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with peers / managers
Minimum Experience Level
• Admitted Attorney with a minimum 10-15 years’ experience working as a legal advisor in financial services of which at least 8 years must have been managing a legal function, minimum 5 years’ experience as a practicing attorney/Advocate
• Experience in or exposure to dealing with AML and Payments legislation at senior level.
• Proven experience building and managing large teams with a demonstrable track record of effective performance

Additional Experience
• Worked in a law firm or practiced as an advocate.
• Implementing a strategic plan
• Developing a stakeholder management grid for the business
• Developing resource plans to execute functional strategies
• Developing succession plans
• Formulating and implementing communication strategies to cascade functional strategies
• Conducting benchmarking exercises to identify improvement opportunities
• Managing conflict situations
• Networking and building key relationships
• Managing a team of people
• Managing legal risks
• Litigating
• Negotiating settlements
• Identifying/select talent
• Developing a divisional strategy plan
• Modelling and encourage a corporate culture

Technical / Professional Knowledge
• Capacity planning
• Change management
• Communication Strategies
• Diversity management
• Governance, Risk and Controls
• Legal Risk and practice management
• Legal Risk Methodology
• Litigation and dispute practice
• Relevant regulatory knowledge
• Reputational risk management
• Management information and reporting principles, tools and mechanisms

Behavioural Competencies
• Building Partnerships
• Earning Trust
• Communication
• Continuous Learning
• Customer Focus
• Building talent
Qualifications and Experience
• Law degree with relevant practical Employment law advisory experience, preferably within a law firm or banking institution.
• Being an admitted attorney or admitted advocate with would be advantageous
Personal Attributes Required
• Emotional intelligence (EQ)
• Strategic and visionary leadership
• Relationships and stakeholder management
• Innovation and renewal
• Business acumen
• Advanced reporting and communication skills
• Cost-effectiveness, productivity and value-add
• Risk-based focus
• Service excellence
• People management skills, including the ability to manage teams
• Living the values (integrity, respect, accountability, being client-driven and being people-centred) and having strong ethics.