Head of Legal and Company Secretary (legal, compliance, corporate & banking environment) – Harare, Zimbabwe

Head of Legal and Company Secretary (legal, compliance, corporate & banking environment) – Harare, Zimbabwe
Introduction
My client is a leading international bank, listed on the London, Hong Kong and Mumbai stock exchanges. It has operated for over 150 years in some of the world's most dynamic markets. It’s geographic focus and commitment to developing deep relationships with clients and customers has driven the Bank’s growth in recent years.
• Provide Legal support to the business, senior management and functions and Company Secretarial, Governance and Advisory support to the Board
• To lead in the proactive and strategic identification of legal and governance risks and effectively manage all legal issues in country.
• To drive the business through legal advice and transaction and product support to the relevant businesses.
• To provide up-to-date and relevant guidance on the application and interpretation of laws, regulations and policies applicable to the business and functions.
• To serve as Company Secretary to the Subsidiary Board and Board Committees as appropriate and deliver a high quality, efficient and effective company secretarial service to the Board, its’ Committees, Directors, Shareholders and the business as a whole.
• Acts as a central point of reference for the Group and Regional Heads of Legal, members of the Legal Leadership Team, and the Regional Company Secretary (West).
Responsibilities
• Drive the development and maintenance of good relationships with internal and external business stakeholders at appropriate levels ensuring an open and co-operative environment.
• Provides timely legal and co sec advice, briefings and recommendations on key legal and corporate governance issues to stakeholders, including applicable legislation, banking codes, governance regulations and policies relating to corporate governance.
• Raises awareness of legal and corporate governance risks and issues within the business and to the board through targeted training and knowledge sharing.
• Contributes to the risk governance of both Team Legal and Group Corporate Secretariat (GCS) by being the policy expert in country and by providing a country perspective on Group risk policies and procedures. Ensures there is a consistent approach in the country to legal risk management.
• Ensures that all Group policies are adopted and all relevant business policies are adopted.
• Responsible for rolling out and Legal and GCS risk policies and procedures, ensuring that senior management fully understand the scope and requirements of Legal and GCS related policies and that all necessary dispensations are in place and current.
• Shares best practice throughout the region through the Centres of Excellence (for Co Sec) and Regional Head (Legal)
• Liaise with other functions in the company in a manner which properly recognises the legitimate involvement of Group in the business and affairs of the Company.



Legal
• Manages all legal issues in country and ensures that transactions and cases are executed in a timely and effective manner.
• Supports and facilitates internal product development through the new products approval process.
• Uses technical knowledge of all business products to provide sound, technical product, legal and transactional advice to the business and to anticipate and communicate in a timely fashion the impact of legal developments on the business. Develops appropriate forms of documentation for products and transactions in country.
• Manages the process of engaging external counsel, including effective instructions to external counsel and negotiating appropriate fee structures for the transaction / case in question.
• Leads in the proactive and strategic identification of legal risks at a country level
• Prepares regular and accurate country legal risk reports that provide clear analysis.
• Communicates identified risks to country, business and regional stakeholders and influences stakeholders to improve legal risk controls and governance at a country level.
• Develops and maintains a legal training plan for legal team and stakeholders.
Corporate Secretariat
• Ensures compliance with the Subsidiary Governance Policy and the minimum standards for Company Secretaries set out therein.
• Liaise with GCS to ensure that any decisions in relation to the Company which needs to be brought to the attention of the Bank in accordance with the Group Delegated Authority Manual (GDAM) are escalated in good time and in an appropriate format. Also ensures that there is a delegated authority structure in place aligned to the GDAM and there is clear evidence of the delegation of authorities from the Board.
• Ensures that the Board and any committees operate effectively, within their level of authority and that there is a robust planning process that takes into account the requirements of corporate governance and the business.
• Input to the Annual Report and Accounts and responsible for the organisation and running of the Annual General Meeting and other shareholder meetings as required.
• Ensures that newly appointed directors undertake a suitable induction, delivered to Group Standards, within 3 months of appointment and guides and advises on the on-going development of all directors.
• In accordance with Group guidelines, establish a process for reporting and recording all directors’ conflicts of interest and ensure that all directors are aware of their reporting obligations in this regard.
• Ensures that an effective system of communication between the directors (including Independent Non-Executive Directors where appointed) is established.
• Ensures that all constitutional documents, along with any updates, and regulatory filings are filed with the relevant authorities in a timely manner.
• To ensure that Blueprint OneWorld is maintained and accurate at all times




Requirements
• Qualified Senior Lawyer
• Zimbabwean citizen
• ICSA or equivalent qualified
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience
• High level communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Excellent written skills
• Ability to work under pressure
• Able to work on own initiative
• Able to operate in a senior environment
• Ethical
• Ability to manage change

Send your CV to Danelle at CA Global (danelle@caglobalint.com), or visit our website (www.banking-recruitment-jobs.com) for further information.
Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted