Commercial Attorney (4-8+ PQE)

Cognia Law; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600 000 - 900 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading legal services provider in South Africa seeks top-calibre Mid-level and Senior Commercial Attorneys to join their dynamic team. Ideal candidates will have 4-8 years of post-qualification experience and must thrive in a fast-evolving legal environment. Responsibilities include drafting contracts, monitoring regulatory changes, and collaborating with various teams to deliver high-quality legal support.

Qualifications

• 4-8+ years post qualification experience as an admitted attorney.
• Flexibility to support across sectors and agreement types.
• Tech-enabled mindset with hands-on experience in legal tech.

Responsibilities

• Draft and negotiate commercial contracts.
• Monitor regulatory changes and assist clients with implementation.
• Support contract lifecycle management processes.

Skills

Excellent drafting skills

Strong communication skills

Time management

Education

BA Law, LLB, LLM, or BCom Law

Tools

CLM tools

Contract automation

Workflow management

Job description

Cognia law is looking to hire top-calibre Mid-level and Senior Commercial Attorneys. Embrace your future and join our dynamic team.

Role Description

We’re looking for commercially minded, tech-enabled attorneys with 4-8 years’ post-qualification experience to join our legal delivery team. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on variety, enjoys working in a dynamic and evolving legal environment, and is comfortable supporting clients across a broad range of commercial matters. You’ll work with global in-house teams and legal operations functions to deliver high-quality, scalable legal support in a non-traditional legal services model.

Company Profile

Cognia seamlessly extends corporates, banks and law firms’ legal capability to deliver sustainable outcomes. Our goal is to connect the legal sector, moving it from a siloed approach to integrated partnerships. We help in-house legal teams by bringing simplicity to complex matters and replacing broken procedures with efficient processes.

Cognia is a Chambers-ranked law company which integrates how legal services are provided so our team, partners, clients and communities thrive together with people at the heart of what we do. We encourage our people to bring their whole self to work and focus on enabling them to realise their full potential.

For more information, please visit www.cognialaw.com

Key Responsibilities

• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of commercial contracts, including NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, SaaS agreements, and service contracts.
• Monitoring relevant regulatory and legislative developments and assisting clients with the operational implementation or summarisation of key changes.
• Delivering high-quality legal outputs aligned with client instructions, risk frameworks, and internal guidelines.
• Supporting contract lifecycle management (CLM) processes and contributing to the optimisation of templates, workflows, and contracting tools.
• Working within a technology-enabled delivery model, using legal tech platforms to streamline workflows and manage data.
• Contributing to large-scale projects such as remediation, repapering, and regulatory implementation.
• Adapting quickly to different client environments, priorities, and contract portfolios.
• Collaborating with legal, procurement, compliance, and business teams to ensure consistent and efficient delivery.
• Depending on experience, mentoring junior team members and contributing to quality control.

Requirements

• BA Law, LLB, LLM,orBCom Law or an equivalent degree from a reputable institution is required.
• Admitted attorney with 4-8+ years post qualification experience.
• Strong generalist experience in commercial contracts, with flexibility to support across sectors and agreement types.
• Tech-enabled mindset with hands-on experience using legal tech platforms (e.g., CLM tools, contract automation, workflow management).
• Excellent drafting skills and the ability to deliver high-quality, consistent work in line with defined standards.
• Strong communication, time management, and client-handling skills.
• Excellent time management and attention to detail, especially when working on high-volume or deadline-driven projects.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills to work with internal and external stakeholders.