Associate Counsel, Legal

Morningstar; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 506,000 - 709,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Benefits package

Job summary

Morningstar is seeking an Associate Counsel, Legal in our Cape Town office to provide commercial contracting coverage for procurement needs across SaaS, software, hardware, and professional services. You will draft, review, and negotiate agreements and coordinate with internal stakeholders to mitigate risk.

The role requires 2–4 years as a commercial lawyer, strong drafting and negotiation skills, and the ability to work in a fast‑paced, global legal team.

Qualifications

• Law degree and admission to practice in South Africa or a relevant jurisdiction.
• 2–4 years of experience as a commercial lawyer.
• Knowledge of contracting and licensing market conventions in data/software licensing.
• Experience with SaaS, software, technology, or professional services agreements.
• Strong negotiation and drafting skills for complex agreements.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities with attention to detail.
• Effective written and verbal communication to present complex concepts clearly.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements including SaaS, software, hardware, licensing, professional services, IT consultant, partnerships, marketing and event agreements.
• Negotiate terms directly with suppliers and coordinate with internal stakeholders to draft and negotiate contracts.
• Identify legal risks and provide practical recommendations to mitigate issues.
• Act as a proactive business partner to internal clients and build strong stakeholder relationships.
• Help improve contracting processes, templates, playbooks, and workflows to scale the function.

Skills

Negotiation

Drafting

Contract review

Analytical thinking

Communication

Attention to detail

Independent work

Education

Law degree and admission

Job description

The Team:

The Legal team consists of lawyers across the globe who bring to the team various kinds of expertise. We have commercial, regulatory, M&A, SEC compliance, corporate governance, privacy and employment expertise in-house as well as broad-based international legal experience to support the company’s 11,000+ employees working in wholly owned subsidiaries in 32 countries.

The Role:

The Associate Counsel, Legal position will report directly to the Head of Procurement, Legal. This role will be primarily responsible for providing commercial contracting coverage to various business units in support of their procurement needs, including SaaS, hardware, professional services, IT consulting, facilities, marketing agreements, and event agreements. This role will work closely with all business units across Morningstar to support the contracting process and requires some experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts, analytical and negotiation skills, and the ability to provide practical legal advice to mitigate risk and help the business teams achieve their goals.

The role will be based in our Cape Town, South Africa office. In-office attendance of 4 days per week is required.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including SaaS, software and hardware agreements, licensing agreements, professional services, IT consultant agreements, partnership agreements and marketing and event agreements.
• Negotiate terms directly with suppliers and work collaboratively with internal procurement, business, finance, privacy, information security, and compliance stakeholders to draft and negotiate commercial agreements.
• Identify legal risks, coordinate with internal compliance, privacy and information security teams as needed, and provide practical recommendations to mitigate potential issues.
• Serve as a proactive, solutions-oriented business partner to internal clients, building strong, productive two-way partnerships with colleagues and key stakeholders.
• Support improvements to contracting processes, templates, playbooks, and process workflows to help the legal and procurement teams operate more effectively at scale.

Qualifications

• Law degree and admission, qualification, or authorization to practice law in South Africa or another relevant jurisdiction.
• 2-4 years of experience practicing as a commercial lawyer, preferably in a reputable law firm or in-house legal department.
• Knowledge of contracting and licensing market conventions in data and software licensing.
• Experience with SaaS, software, technology, or professional services agreements preferred.
• Negotiation and drafting skills with the ability to review and negotiate complex commercial agreements.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities, with attention to detail.
• Effective communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to present complex legal concepts in a clear and concise manner.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
• Proven track record of managing multiple priorities and meeting deadlines.
• Experience with financial industry clients preferred.

Base Salary Compensation Range

ZAR 506,047.00-708,837.66

Bonus Target:

7.5% Annual

We expect the compensation and target bonus for this role to fall within the stated range. The specific compensation offered will depend on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, and other job-related factors.

Morningstar’s hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in-person each week as we’ve found that we’re at our best when we’re purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in-office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you’ll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.

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