Summary

The Legal Officer is responsible for providing legal support to organization's by reviewing and preparing contracts, providing legal opinions, supporting dispute and litigation management, ensuring legal risks are identified and managed, and providing day-to-day legal advice to departments across the company.

The role will support the company in ensuring that its operations, products, partnerships, agreements and business activities are conducted in accordance with applicable laws, contractual obligations and internal policies. 

Responsibilities

A.  Contract Drafting and Review

• Draft, review and provide legal advice on commercial agreements, service contracts, partnership agreements, NDAs, MoUs and other legal documents.
• Review contracts before execution to identify legal, financial and operational risks.
• Ensure contracts adequately protect organization's interests.
• Coordinate contract reviews with relevant departments including Finance, Business, Technical and Management.
• Maintain proper records of executed contracts and legal documents.
• Monitor contract validity, renewal and expiry dates.
• Support departments during contract negotiation with suppliers, partners and other stakeholders.
• Maintain and regularly update the company contract register.

B. Legal Advisory

• Provide timely legal advice to management and departments on day-to-day business matters.
• Prepare legal opinions on issues referred by management.
• Interpret contractual provisions and applicable legal requirements.
• Advice departments on legal risks related to business decisions, projects and partnerships.
• Support management in making informed decisions where legal implications are involved.
• Advise on employment, commercial, corporate and contractual matters as assigned.

C. Legal Support for Products and Services

• Review new and existing organization's products and services from a legal perspective.
• Participate in product development and product review processes where legal input is required.
• Review product terms and conditions, customer agreements, disclaimers and other customer-facing documents.
• Identify potential legal risks before launch of new products or services.
• Coordinate with Compliance and Regulatory teams to ensure legal requirements are considered before implementation.

D. Claims, Complaints and Disputes

• Manage and follow up legal claims involving the company.
• Review disputes involving customers, employees, partners, suppliers or other parties.
• Prepare legal responses, notices, demand letters and other related correspondence.
• Maintain records of ongoing disputes and their status.
• Recommend appropriate legal action to management.
• Support negotiation and settlement of disputes where appropriate.

E. Litigation Management

• Coordinate litigation matters involving organization's.
• Work with external advocates and law firms where legal representation is required.
• Prepare and provide supporting documents and information required for court matters.
• Monitor court cases and ensure required actions are completed within legal deadlines.
• Maintain an updated litigation and legal case register.
• Prepare periodic updates to management on ongoing cases and legal exposure.

F. Corporate Legal Documentation

• Support preparation and review of Board resolutions, management resolutions, powers of attorney and other corporate legal documents.
• Assist in maintaining corporate legal records.
• Support company registration, statutory corporate filings and changes where assigned.
• Ensure corporate documents are properly maintained and accessible when required.
• Support legal documentation required for business partnerships and company transactions.

G. Legal Risk Management

• Identify legal risks arising from contracts, operations, disputes, products and business activities.
• Recommend measures to reduce legal exposure.
• Support maintenance of the legal risk register.
• Monitor implementation of agreed legal-risk mitigation actions.
• Escalate significant legal risks to management.
• Support internal reviews and investigations involving legal matters.

H. Legal Research

• Conduct legal research on matters affecting organization's operations.
• Monitor relevant legal developments affecting the company.
• Analyze legal requirements and provide practical recommendations to management.
• Support preparation and review of company policies from a legal perspective.
• Maintain reference materials on relevant laws, regulations and legal requirements.

I. Legal Documentation and Records

• Maintain complete and confidential legal files.
• Maintain contract, litigation, dispute and legal-opinion registers.
• Ensure legal documents are properly filed and easily traceable.
• Monitor deadlines associated with contracts, legal notices and court matters.
• Maintain confidentiality of sensitive company legal information. J. Stakeholder Coordination
• Work closely with Compliance and Regulatory teams on matters requiring both legal and regulatory input.
• Coordinate with Finance, Business, Technical, HR, Marketing and other departments on legal matters.
• Liaise with external lawyers, consultants and other legal service providers.
• Support management engagements with external stakeholders where legal representation or advice is required.

 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs) Performance will be measured against:

• Contract review turnaround time.
• Percentage of contracts reviewed before execution.
• Percentage of contracts properly recorded in the contract register.
• Number of contracts renewed or actioned before expiry.
• Timeliness and quality of legal opinions.
• Number of legal issues resolved within agreed timelines.
• Timely management of court cases and legal deadlines.
• Reduction in avoidable legal risks and disputes.
• Timeliness of responses to legal claims and notices.
• Accuracy and completeness of legal documentation.
• Timely escalation of high-risk legal matters.
• Quality of legal support provided to departments.
• Compliance with internal legal procedures.

Education and Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Law (LL.B) from a recognized university. 
• Must possess relevant professional legal qualifications required to practice or perform 
  legal work in Tanzania. 
•  Admission as an Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania will be an added advantage. 

Requirements

• Minimum of 2–4 years of relevant legal experience. 
• Experience in corporate, commercial, banking, telecommunications, fintech or financial services legal work will be an added advantage. 
• Experience in contract drafting and review is required. 
• Experience handling commercial disputes, legal claims or litigation coordination will be advantageous. 

Characteristics

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS The job holder should have:

• Strong knowledge of commercial and corporate law.
• Good contract drafting and negotiation skills.
• Strong legal research and analytical skills.
• Ability to identify and assess legal risks.
• Good legal writing skills.
• Ability to prepare clear legal opinions.
• Strong communication and negotiation skills.
• Good understanding of business operations.
• Good Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Strong document-management skills.
• Ability to handle multiple legal matters within strict deadlines.

 CORE COMPETENCIES

• High integrity and confidentiality.
• Attention to detail.
• Analytical thinking.
• Sound legal judgment.
• Accountability.
• Strong communication.
• Negotiation skills.
• Problem-solving.
• Results orientation.
• Professionalism.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Strong follow-up and organization skills.

Reporting To

 Head of Legal