Legal Advisor : Contract

SUMMARY:
Leading pharmaceutical organisation requires an experienced Legal Advisor to join their team in Sandton.  This position is a contract role.

POSITION INFO:
To responsibly, pro-actively and efficiently service the legal requirements of business units within the commercial business. To manage and minimise legal and compliance risk.

Commercial Agreements
Provide well- considered, practical, high quality & timeous legal advice to enable commercial goals whilst mitigating risk where possible, design and implement solutions to achieve legal cost saving and efficiency to the company
Ensure accuracy in vetting, drafting and negotiating commercial agreements by:
Identifying company rights and obligations in terms of these agreements to ensure best outcome
Liaising with business partners and third parties to negotiate and resolve agreements
Timeously collating and addressing comments from all business partners
Manage execution process of agreements through to confirmation of filing in the contracts repository, subject to SOPs and ways of working agreed within the team
Continually assess and improve templates

Social Media Marketing & Digital (including CPA, MCA, ECTA & POPIA)
Provide well- considered, practical, high quality & timeous legal advice to enable sales & marketing whilst mitigating risk where possible, design and implement solutions to achieve legal cost saving and efficiency to the company
Mitigate risk to the business whilst optimizing efficiencies and ensuring business objectives are achieved

Legal Opinions/Legal Solutions
Research legal implications of relevant legislation and case law as required
Provide opinions and recommendations on legislation/agreements/projects to business on request
Comment on new and amended legislation and regulations
Update relevant business areas with legislative amendments and recommend and oversee implementation of any necessary changes to policies / templates / training to empower and enable business partners on legal topics where possible

Projects/Improving Efficiencies
Assist in implementing projects eg POPIA that will assist in ensuring business compliance with legislation, enhance business efficiencies, better enable business
Improving, updating of policies / templates / processes
Keep business informed of projects by updating at meetings, having training sessions, providing templates to gather info, processing info received, providing feedback to stakeholders
Identifying gaps in policies, templates and/or processes
Updating, drafting and implementing templates, processes to improve business efficiencies and ways of working to optimise output in terms of quality & cost saving

Anti-trust / IP / Litigation Support
Be aware of and understand the implications of these areas of the law
Raise potential litigation/IP/anti-trust matters to the Legal Counsel, with analysis of the merits of the matter and suggested solutions
Liaise and keep stakeholders informed were required
Take initiative to stay informed of developments in these areas of the law

Legal Reporting & Meetings
Take accountability to manage and track legal matters from end to end, including submission of reports to the Legal Counsel
Submit weekly status reports to the Legal Counsel on current matters
Log matters on iManage and keep iManage Tracker updated with matters

Learning & Development
Develop knowledge of the pharma industry
Continually develop knowledge of the pharma industry through on the job learning and attending of workshops or other formal learning opportunities

QUALIFICATION & EXPERIENCE
Matric / Grade 12
Undergraduate Degree & Law Degree (LLB)
Admitted Attorney
10 Years working as an Attorney in a Law Firm and/or a Corporate environment
Additional Legal qualifications / courses are a bonus
General commercial knowledge and experience
Experience in independently drafting and vetting legal agreements is essential
General business experience, and specialised Pharmaceutical industry experience is a plus
Exposure in drafting and negotiating local and international legal agreements

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
Taking full personal responsibility for management from end to end and closure of allocated matters in the shortest possible time
Organisational, time management and planning skills in light of fluid workload and portfolios
Problem solving, logical, analytical thinker who is solutions and service oriented
An ability to translate business problems into legal solutions
Robust interpersonal skills including negotiation skills, listening skills and influence
Excellent communication skills, written, verbal and non-verbal
Conflict resolution
Decision making skills and demonstrated ability to work at a level of independence and exercise of discretion in managing legal matters
Ability to deal with uncertainty, seek detail, take initiative and be regularly adaptable
Attention to detail
Ability to manage support staff effectively
Demonstrated ability to work in-consultation with relevant team and streams
Positive 360 degree feedback from peers, external and internal business areas
Team player

TECHNICAL 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 management skills