Junior Legal & Risk Counsel

• An established logistics and freight management group operating across freight forwarding, warehousing, port services and terminal operations requires a junior legal professional to support the Head of Legal and Risk. The role covers commercial contracts, insurance, claims, governance, regulatory compliance and operational risk management.

Minimum Requirements

• LLB Degree.
• Completed articles or equivalent experience within a corporate, commercial legal, risk or compliance environment.
• Good legal drafting and contract interpretation skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Commercial awareness and sound judgement.
• Excellent attention to detail and organisational ability.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a high-volume environment.
• Ability to work independently while recognising when matters should be escalated.
• Professional integrity, discretion and strong stakeholder-management skills.
• Exposure to commercial law or contract drafting would be advantageous.
• Knowledge of international legal frameworks applicable to the logistics industry would be advantageous.
• Experience within the logistics, supply chain or maritime industry would be advantageous.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Review, negotiate, amend and draft commercial, operational and corporate agreements.
• Assist with service-level agreements, master service agreements, memoranda of understanding, joint ventures, acquisitions and sale agreements.
• Review lease, finance and security agreements, including loans, guarantees, suretyships, pledges and cessions.
• Prepare and review confidentiality, intellectual property and data-protection documentation, including NDAs and trademark-related agreements.
• Review third-party and customer contracts, identify legal, commercial and insurance risks, and recommend appropriate amendments.
• Assist with contractual negotiations when required.
• Collate information and documentation for disputes and litigation and liaise with external attorneys and relevant stakeholders.
• Manage the daily contract-approval process under the Marine Liability Insurance Programme and escalate material risks where appropriate.
• Research legislation and prepare draft legal memoranda for review by the Head of Legal and Risk.
• Provide support relating to transport and ports legislation, maritime conventions, environmental laws, labour legislation, POPIA, sanctions, anti-corruption requirements, the Companies Act, competition law and tax legislation.
• Monitor legislative changes and assess their potential impact on business operations.
• Assist with developing, implementing and updating internal compliance and risk-management policies and procedures.
• Support marine liability and group insurance programmes, including contractual risk assessments and policy interpretation.
• Coordinate insurance renewals, claims, cell-captive administration and engagements with external stakeholders.
• Support major projects, acquisitions and business-development initiatives through legal due diligence.
• Participate in risk committee meetings and assist with risk registers, mitigation actions and operational risk monitoring.
• Maintain registers relating to contracts, ethics, training declarations and trademark renewals.
• Analyse claims, survey and risk trends and prepare management and committee reports.
• Attend relevant meetings and accurately record minutes.
• Assist with corporate governance matters, including board resolutions and statutory records.