Senior Managing Counsel - Southern and East Africa

Job Description

Team Summary

The Visa CEMEA Legal team manages Visa's legal affairs within Visa Central and Eastern
Europe Middle East and Africa region (CEMEA) region. Our team provides advice and services to ensure business objectives are successfully met and that Visa's brand and reputation are protected while minimizing legal liability and regulatory risks. Our vision entails each legal professional living the guiding principles to be a proactive partner who never loses sight of his/her responsibility to protect the company.

What a Sr. Managing Counsel, Head of Legal does at Visa
This is a role to manage the Legal function in fast growing, complicated and important markets of Southern and Eastern Africa (SEA) sub-region within Visa CEMEA. The position will report directly to Visa’s SVP and Chief Counsel of CEMEA Region, as well have a soft line reporting to the Group Country Manager for SEA. This job requires an experienced commercial and payments technology lawyer to deal with varied and complicated issues SEA sub-region has.
The role includes helping to support the GCM for SEA in all aspects of day-to-day Visa business, including full compliance with local laws and regulations, antitrust advice, new payment flows, the core business, and all commercial and legal aspects of Visa investments in the sub-region. It also includes taking accountability and management for the sub-region for the SVP and Chief Counsel of Visa CEMEA and being the go-to, commercial and credible adviser for the GCM and the Heads of Functions in the sub-region. Further, there will be an expanded development and integration of the local legal teams, integrating and further upskilling them to meet the new challenges as Visa pivots its business to the changes in the sub-region.

The applicant must therefore be able to manage multiple market priorities in a fast-paced and challenging, but rewarding environment. Be a strong negotiator with strong influencing skills, experienced at managing and helping clients and more junior lawyers, including with regards to best practices, terms and approaches in transactions.

In this role, you are expected to:

• Work and provide leadership in all Legal matters for SEA Leadership Team, to understand, achieve and meet their key business objectives
• Draft, negotiate and drive to completion, complex commercial, and strategic partnership agreements that achieve GCM’s business objectives
• Maintain a zero-tolerance legal environment for compliance process, and work closely with Compliance and 2nd line defense colleagues to ensure the business environment remains a legally compliance one. To be prepared to escalate to Chief
• Counsel of CEMEA Region and General Counsel, as required, where there are concerns and problems
• Provide Legal leadership including counselling and advice to business teams regarding all aspects of legal and contractual structures and best practice approaches to addressing all legal issues
• Provide leadership and strategic counselling and guidance of SEA markets to Visa’s sub-regional, regional and global colleagues, and take a leadership role in resolving regional and local issues, including to achieve consistency on approaches and issues by Visa
• Manage an expanded Legal team in SEA
• Lead, initiate and help drive process and efficiency improvements across the Legal team generally
• To be the SME to Chief Counsel and General Counsel for all SEA markets matters
• Role to be located in Visa’s office in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Some travel may be required

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your hiring manager.

Qualifications

Key Competencies & Requirements

We are looking for a strong leader who can bring a breadth of experience and knowledge to our business. As a candidate, you should have:

• Law degree and qualification which allows for in house practice in South Africa
• Minimum 15+ years PQE with an international law firm and/or a multinational organization
• Experience in banking, FinTech, information technology and payment industry
• Experience working in a US/multinational/ highly matrix organisation is preferred
• Transactional background with significant experience drafting and negotiating a wide range of complex commercial agreements
• Credible team leadership skills
• Professional manner and executive presence for dealing with all levels of the business from EVP to Analyst
• Have significant experience guiding and working directly with executive management, and the leadership teams
• Strong communication skills
• Strong team building skills
• Self-motivated and very importantly, be collaborative and a strong team player
• Ability to work cross-functionally within the organization to implement projects
• Fluency in English (both written and verbal) as English is the business language of Visa, plus literacy in other languages of the sub-regions would be advantageous (but not essential).
• Excellent organisation skills
• Have a global mindset and the ability to work well in a dynamic and deadline-oriented environment

Additional Information

Visa is an EEO Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.