Legal Counsel

The Legal Counsel will provide practical, commercially focused legal advice across the business, supporting commercial operations, telecommunications regulatory matters, network and technology contracts, corporate governance, disputes and general legal risk management.

The ideal candidate will be a qualified lawyer with strong commercial experience and, ideally, previous experience within an MNO, telecommunications operator or wider TMT environment.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Contracts

• Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements.
• Advise on telecommunications and network-related contracts, including:
• Network infrastructure agreements
• Network sharing agreements
• Interconnection agreements
• Roaming agreements
• Tower and site agreements
• Fibre, transmission and capacity agreements
• Technology and IT agreements
• Managed service agreements
• Vendor and equipment supply agreements
• Software, cloud and licensing agreements
• Distribution and dealer agreements
• Enterprise and wholesale customer agreements
• Support procurement and commercial teams during major vendor negotiations.
• Identify contractual risks and provide commercially practical solutions.

Telecommunications Regulatory

• Advise the business on applicable telecommunications and ICT laws and regulations.
• Support compliance with MNO operating licences and regulatory obligations.
• Provide legal support relating to spectrum, licensing, interconnection, infrastructure sharing and network deployment.
• Assist with licence applications, renewals and amendments where required.
• Work closely with Regulatory Affairs teams and support engagement with national telecom regulators and other government authorities.
• Monitor regulatory developments affecting the telecommunications industry.

Corporate & Commercial Advisory

• Provide day-to-day legal advice to Commercial, Network, Technology, Finance, Procurement, HR and Operations teams.
• Support new products, services and commercial initiatives from a legal and regulatory perspective.
• Advise management on legal risks associated with strategic business decisions.
• Support corporate transactions, partnerships, joint ventures and other strategic projects.
• Assist with legal due diligence relating to investments, acquisitions and major commercial projects.

Data Protection & Compliance

• Advise on applicable data protection, privacy and cybersecurity requirements.
• Support compliance with consumer protection legislation and telecom-specific customer regulations.
• Assist with internal compliance programmes, policies and procedures.
• Support investigations into potential regulatory or compliance breaches.
• Work with Compliance and Risk teams to strengthen legal and regulatory governance.

Litigation & Dispute Management

• Manage commercial disputes, contractual claims and regulatory matters.
• Coordinate litigation and arbitration matters with external legal counsel.
• Advise management on dispute strategy, exposure and potential settlement options.
• Support responses to regulatory investigations and enforcement matters.

Corporate Governance

• Support corporate governance requirements and company secretarial activities where required.
• Assist with Board and shareholder matters, resolutions and statutory requirements.
• Ensure appropriate legal documentation and corporate records are maintained.

Candidate Profile

Essential

• LLB / Bachelor of Laws or equivalent recognised legal qualification.
• Qualified/admitted lawyer in a recognised jurisdiction.
• Ideally 5–10+ years' post-qualification legal experience.
• Strong commercial contracting and negotiation experience.
• Experience advising senior business stakeholders in a complex commercial environment.
• Strong understanding of corporate and commercial law.
• Excellent English communication, drafting and negotiation skills.
• Experience working across multiple functions and managing competing priorities.

Highly Preferred – Telecom Experience

Candidates with previous experience within an MNO or major telecommunications organisation will be strongly preferred.

Particularly attractive experience would include:

• Mobile Network Operator (MNO) experience
• Telecom licensing and regulatory matters
• Spectrum-related matters
• Network deployment and infrastructure
• Network sharing
• Interconnection
• Roaming
• Tower/infrastructure agreements
• Fibre and transmission agreements
• Technology/vendor contracts
• Telecom regulatory authority engagement
• Data privacy and consumer regulation within telecoms

Africa Experience

Previous experience working within African telecommunications markets would be highly advantageous.

Candidates with experience managing legal or regulatory matters across multiple African jurisdictions will be particularly attractive.

Key Competencies

• Strong commercial judgement
• Excellent contract drafting and negotiation skills
• Ability to understand the commercial realities of an MNO
• Strong legal and regulatory risk management
• Confident stakeholder management
• Ability to work directly with senior executives
• Pragmatic and solutions-oriented approach
• Ability to operate effectively in fast-moving and developing markets
• Strong understanding of technology and telecommunications businesses

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