Legal Counsel

Grade 12 and Law Degree or postgraduate Degree – LLB and preferably a second degree such a master’s or relevant business qualification
Admitted Attorney
Membership of the Law Society of South Africa
Member of the Corporate Counsel Association of South Africa
10+ years post admission legal experience in a corporate / commercial / operational legal environment
4-7 years of People management experience
General business, commercial knowledge and experience is essential
General IP knowledge is essential
Experience in independently drafting and vetting complex legal agreements is essential
Pharmaceutical industry including regulatory experience is advantageous
Experience in managing and leading a team is essential
Experience in Legal Practice management is essential
Basic to intermediate understanding of financial concepts
High degree of commercial acumen

Technical Competencies / Skills:
Advanced PC literacy on all MS Word applications (including Windows, PowerPoint, Outlook and Excel)
Verbal and written proficiency in the English language
High legal drafting skills
Administrative and organizational skills
Electronic database and maintenance skills

Provide quality legal services (incl. managing any litigation) to enable the company's commercial goals while mitigating risk:
Practical legal advice to enable commercial goals
Appoint best-suited external counsel from the company panel to litigious matters, and manage these diligently in accordance with the Group Litigation Policy
Advice provided i.t.o legal department’s SLA (and enhance these where practicable)
Continue developing knowledge of legislative environment governing the industry, incl. Marketing Code, by reading, reference & attending presentations (external) where possible
  
Effective management & mentoring of the Legal and Code Compliance Teams, incl. management of Budget:
Channel work to Legal Adviser (particularly in digital marketing)
Work on developing Legal Adviser’s knowledge of Pharma by sharing pertinent legal opinions, examples of Pharma-specific issues and discussing scenarios
Support Legal Adviser in training / learning initiatives
Provide enabling framework for Paralegal to complete her areas of work, including contract management
Fully support operations of Code Compliance to enable Senior Manager Code Compliance (SMCC)
Enhance approachability of Legal Dept with transparent engagement & prompt, commercially relevant reactions to requests
Manage Budget within limitations and effect all possible savings
 
Ensure legislative compliance, ethical compliance, including participating in and counsel for the Pharmaceutical Task Group (PTG):
Complete quarterly/annual RCO Compliance Reports, with a general knowledge of Industry legislation, incl. Competition Law compliance and reporting
Operate as proactive REO, incl. productive Ethics training, ensuring Ethics compliance, completing declarations and investigating tip-offs
Operate efficiently within the Aspen compliance requirements and ensure adherence to reduce/avoid risk
Provide support to PTG, including legal advice, compliance with the PTG Rules and drafting assistance
 
Develop enhanced templates for use by Legal Department, incl. Commercial Review Template:
Ongoing improvement of key clauses in templates, and key templates
Draft Commercial Review document with key trigger points and populate with commercial information from our key Licence Agreements for use by Finance and Regulatory Affairs, in particular
 
Undertake various special projects to better enable Legal Department:
POPIA Implementation Project across the SA Business
Capture Rules of Engagement / SLA of Legal Department’s support to Business, and assist with SOPs

Knowledge:
Knowledge of applicable laws, policy guidelines and legal practice management
General and specialist Pharmaceutical industry knowledge or exposure
Knowledge of business and good corporate governance
Knowledge of transaction life cycle steps and related project management

Skills and Attributes:
Strong analytical skills and ability to exercise sound business judgment and work independently but as a member of an integrated legal team
Display emotional maturity
Demonstrated ability and willingness to work in a team, including a multidisciplinary team
Established conflict resolution as a default demeanor
Display a high level of interpersonal non-political skill
A natural default to accuracy and attention to detail
Be fluent in English and demonstrate excellent drafting and negotiation skills in English
Manage multiple priorities, work efficiently under pressure and consistently meet tight deadlines
Able to work independently but as a member of an integrated legal team
Taking full personal responsibility for attending to and closing allocated matters
Flexible, outcomes-based, self-motivated and proactive
Project management, co-ordination and monitoring
Positive, solutions-orientated and logical facilitating approach
Ability to communicate efficiently and work with business representatives at all levels of seniority
Ability to plan & organise independently and to lead and guide others
Ability to identify and focus on material provisions using a risk-based approach
Corporate governance ethos with the utmost confidentiality
Willingness and ability to effortlessly take instructions and follow pre-determined processes when called-upon to do so
Stress tolerance
Ability to work under pressure whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy and meeting deadlines
Team player