Safaricom, the leading provider of converged communication solutions in Kenya, is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel for Technology and Corporate Functions. This role involves providing strategic legal counsel, managing complex contracts, ensuring regulatory compliance, and mitigating risks across technology operations and corporate initiatives.
Responsibilities
Legal Advisory, Risk Management & Dispute Resolution
- Provide strategic legal counsel on technology procurement, cybersecurity, data privacy, and corporate governance matters.
- Embed compliance-by-design principles into technology projects and corporate initiatives.
- Identify and mitigate legal risks across technology operations and governance frameworks.
- Manage disputes related to technology & corporate functions’ contracts ensuring minimal impact.
Contractual Management & Negotiation
- Draft, review, and negotiate high-value technology procurement agreements, cloud service contracts, and corporate functions-related agreements.
- Ensure agreements safeguard organizational interests while enabling innovation and compliance.
- Maintain and update templates for technology and corporate agreements to reflect evolving regulatory and business needs.
Policy and Legislative Monitoring & Compliance
- Monitor ICT and corporate functions’ legislation to anticipate emerging trends.
- Prepare briefs and recommendations for leadership on regulatory developments.
- Maintain compliance registers for technology licenses, audits, and governance certifications.
- Ensure timely reporting to internal stakeholders and regulators.
Stakeholder & Team Management
- Partner with Technology, Corporate Functions, Risk, and global counterparts to align legal strategies with business priorities.
- Foster collaboration within Legal Services CoE and across business units.
- Provide clear strategic direction to legal and regulatory support teams aligned with organizational priorities for Technology and Corporate Functions.
- Set performance expectations and ensure accountability for delivery of high-quality legal and compliance outcomes.
- Mentor and coach junior legal professionals to build expertise in technology, corporate governance and policy advocacy.
- Foster a culture of collaboration within the Legal Services CoE and across business units.
General Duties include upholding the company code of conduct, policies and procedures, ensuring integrity and accountability, and adhering to safety, health, and wellbeing policies.
Core Competencies, Knowledge and Experience
- Customer Obsession: Deepen team connection to customers, foster authentic relationships, take customer-centric decisions, simplify processes through digitalization, and demonstrate brilliant execution.
- Purpose: Create an inspiring vision, show ambition and courage, challenge teams to reimagine processes, prompt new thinking, and use knowledge of the external environment to identify growth opportunities.
- Innovation: Create psychological safety, fuel innovative ideas, explore successes and failures with curiosity, and learn fast from digital adoption.
- Collaboration: Articulate the team’s role in strategy, actively collaborate to break silos, develop others, and live Safaricom's purpose with the highest standard of integrity.
Qualifications
- At least ten (10) years’ knowledge and progressive experience in commercial and technology legislation within Telecommunications, Technology, or corporate sectors, of which three (3) should have been in a senior leadership role.
- Proven track record in negotiating complex technology and corporate functions’ agreements and managing related disputes.
- Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from a reputable Commonwealth University.
- Completion of the Kenya School of Law Diploma and admission as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
- Member in good standing of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and compliant with all professional requirements.
- Relevant professional certification (e.g., Arbitration/Mediation & Negotiation Skills; ICT Law, Data Privacy, Cybersecurity, Corporate Governance, or Intellectual Property).
- Master’s Degree in Law (LL.M) from a recognized institution is an added advantage.
- Possess high professional and ethical standards.
- Be a strategic thinker with an analytical mind.
