Legal and Administrative Assistant

COMPANY OVERVIEW: Sovereign opened its first office in Gibraltar in 1987 and has since grown into one of the world’s largest independent corporate and trust service providers. Sovereign’s core business is setting up and managing offshore companies, trusts and other structures to meet the specific personal or business needs of our clients. Typically, these needs would include tax planning, wealth protection, foreign property ownership, pension planning and facilitating cross-border business. We currently manage over 20,000 clients that include companies, entrepreneurs, private investors or high net worth individuals and their families – and have assets under administration in excess of US$10 billion.

JOB SPECIFICATION: The role of legal and administrative assistant involves facilitating the smooth onboarding process of our new clients, answering existing and new client enquiries, corresponding with the introducing Intermediary (lawyers, accountants, auditors and financial advisors), meetings with intermediaries/clients and assisting a senior director of the company. To be able to attend to the above, an understanding of companies, trusts and the various parties involved are important. The role requires significant people skills, administration experience, experience in document collection and document review, clear communication skills, excellent time management abilities and a proactive mind set. The role will also include assisting the director in business development. In this way, the position goes further than pure administration and becomes similar to a legal assistant.

The applicant must be fluent and articulate in English, and understanding of Afrikaans will be beneficial. The applicant must hold an undergraduate law qualification and be an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa. Applicants with prior legal, compliance and administration work experience will receive preference. If you are not an admitted attorney, your CV will not be considered. The successful applicant will be based in our Stellenbosch office; however, he or she will also be expected to work occasionally from our office in Cape Town in the Waterfront. The person will work closely with our overseas offices to deliver the best service to our clients and Intermediaries. The successful applicant requires a driver’s licence and own transport.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Responsibilities will include day-to-day assistance to the Director which involves handling compliance and legal paperwork, client enquiries and meetings with specific focus on the onboarding of new clients to the wider Sovereign Group which has 26 offices around the world.

REPORTING TO: Senior Director (focus is business development) based in Stellenbosch.

DUTIES:

1. Dealing with administrative tasks relating to our offshore products (overseas company, trust, pension, retirement, etc);
2. Assisting with administering South African companies;
3. Checking accuracy of compliance and legal documents which include consultancy agreements, shareholder agreements, sale agreements;
4. Liaising with, and responding to queries from intermediaries (primarily Financial Advisors and Lawyers) and other introducers;
5. Responding to and actioning client queries and administrative requests per email/telephone calls;
6. Managing client, intermediary and overseas colleagues' expectations with a goal of client satisfaction;
7. Dealing with product paperwork requests including the preparation, collation and dispatching of all relevant documentation/application forms;
8. Liaising with clients, accounts and compliance departments regarding new and existing clients;
9. Following a range of checklists to ensure accurate administration of a range of tasks;
10. Actively participate in the organisation's continuous improvement by identifying and proposing solutions to system, process and service related issues;
11. Booking meetings on behalf of the director, contacting clients via e-mail or these could be face-to-face, telephonic or Teams meetings;
12. Other duties as may be required from time to time in accordance with the demands of the role and development of the services;
13. Checking trust deeds for accuracy and drafting letters of wishes and other legal documents.

PERSON SPECIFICATION: To apply, please send your CV, together with a handwritten motivation letter to: Erica Strydom at estrydom@sovereigngroup.com. The handwritten letter needs to include why you would like to work for Sovereign Trust, what you currently earn, and what your expected salary is. If you do not comply with this request, your CV will not be considered.

CLOSING DATE: 25 April 2025