Legal Manager - Contracts and Compliance

KCB Group•Washington, DC

About The Position

This role is responsible for advising the business on compliance requirements by reviewing laws, regulations, and guidelines. It involves implementing a Legal Risk Management Framework, conducting internal legal audits, and supporting departments in developing mitigating measures for identified legal risks. The position also entails drafting, reviewing, and negotiating various contracts to ensure alignment with organizational legal and business requirements. Additionally, the role involves preparing Legal Risk Reports for senior management and the Board, conducting legal risk analysis, and providing legal support to projects. The Legal Manager will identify legal and contractual risks, recommend mitigation strategies, and support the development and implementation of legal policies, procedures, templates, and standard contractual documentation. The role also assists in managing legal disputes, maintaining awareness of emerging legal risks in banking operations, and providing legal support for bank policies and product terms. Continuous updating of knowledge on legislation, proposed bills, best practices, and market trends impacting the bank is crucial. Contract management includes reviewing, revising, and preparing draft contract documents, managing data and information related to contracts, advising on expiry, renewal, and risks, and conducting legal awareness training. The role also involves filing statutory returns, managing intellectual property (IP) including registration and dispute handling, and preparing periodic reports on contract status, key metrics, and risk assessments using analytics for process improvements.

Requirements

Bachelors Degree LLB with specialization on Contract Law, Company Law, Intellectual Property Law, Land Law, Capital Markets and Corporate Law
Diploma in law
4 years of total minimum experience required
Experience in Banking Ops (Desirable but not Essential)
Strong knowledge of contract law and commercial terms.
Excellent drafting, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
Proficiency in contract lifecycle management tools and legal research platforms.
Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders.
Ability to handle high-pressure situations and manage multiple priorities.

Nice To Haves

Masters Degree LLM

Responsibilities

Review laws, regulations, guidelines, pending bills to advise business on compliance requirements and ensuring compliance with applicable Laws, Regulations and Policies.
Implement Legal Risk Management Framework and conduct internal legal audits on departments.
Support departments where legal risks have been identified, to develop mitigating measures and implement remedial action, including to track and close all open audit issues.
Draft, review, and negotiate a variety of contracts, including vendor agreements, customer agreements, service contracts, NDAs, partnership agreements, and procurement contracts.
Ensure that contracts align with the organization's legal and business requirements.
Prepare appropriate Legal Risk Reports for Senior Management and Board.
Conduct legal risk analysis and provide legal support to projects.
Identify legal and contractual risks and recommend appropriate mitigation measures.
Support the development and implementation of legal policies, procedures, templates, and standard contractual documentation.
Assist in managing legal disputes arising from contractual matters and support dispute resolution processes.
Maintain awareness of emerging legal risks affecting banking operations.
Provide legal support in drafting and review of Bank policies, product terms and conditions.
Update knowledge and skills on an ongoing basis and keep abreast of changes in legislation, proposed Bills, best practices and trends in the market which impact the Bank and advise thereon promptly and/or recommend changes to Bank Policies etc.
Review, revise and/or prepare draft contract documents, including Start-up Agreements, Service Agreements, Master Service Agreements and Amendments, from business units or client templates per guidance provided by the Line Manager, and in conjunction with relevant departments.
Maintain records and statistics relating to contracts and advise on expiry, renewal and risks.
Conducting training and visits to branches and thereafter formulate frequently asked questions after branch training.
Filing all statutory returns with the relevant government authority.
Register and maintain data/information on Service marks, trademarks, logos for KCB Group.
Handle disputes arising thereof (e.g. infringements of IP and/or Copyrights).
Prepare periodic reports on contract status, key metrics, and risk assessments for senior management.
Use analytics to identify trends and opportunities for process improvements in contract management.
Responding to legal correspondences.
Responding to internal customer queries.
Attending meetings with stakeholders.
Carrying out research on legal issues/opinions.
Vet/Draw up contracts and leases.
Support Head of Legal and Company Secretary as requested.
Participating in CSR activities.
Training branch staff and at the Leadership Centre.
Preparing and facilitating staff training on various legal matters affecting the bank, including dissemination of appropriate legal requirements to various departments.