Legal Counsel (Fintech)

Black Pen Recruitment; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Black Pen Recruitment is seeking a skilled Legal Counsel in Cape Town, South Africa, to provide legal advice and draft business contracts. The Legal Counsel will play a key role in the Legal, Risk, Regulatory and Compliance team focusing on compliance policies and contract negotiations.

The ideal candidate will have 5-7 years of experience, including knowledge of financial legislation and a strong ability to negotiate and manage legal risks in business contexts.

Qualifications

• 5-7 years post articles experience in a top-tier South African law firm or in-house experience (preferably fintech).
• Working knowledge of legislation relevant to financial operations and compliance.
• Proven ability to draft, review, and negotiate complex commercial contracts.

Responsibilities

• Reviewing and drafting commercial contracts such as service and partnership agreements.
• Collaborating with Revenue teams to manage the contracting process.
• Researching regulations affecting business models and advising on compliance.

Skills

Commercial contracting

Regulatory compliance knowledge

Negotiation skills

Stakeholder management

Strong risk judgment

Education

Bachelor of Laws (LLB)

Admission as a legal practitioner / attorney

Job description

Our client is a leading financial infrastructure platform focused on enabling seamless, secure digital payments across Africa. It provides modern API-driven solutions that empower businesses to collect, manage, and move money more efficiently. The company is committed to expanding financial access, improving transaction reliability, and helping businesses scale their digital payment capabilities across multiple markets.

Role Overview

The Legal Counsel provides legal advice and support to the organisation. The Legal Counsel drafts, reviews, and revises business related contracts, provides assistance with regulatory advisory and assists the Legal, Risk, Regulatory and Compliance team with implementing compliant policies and procedures.

Job Type: Full Time/Permanent

Location: Cape Town

Work Place: Hybrid

Reporting Line: Head of Legal

Probation Period: 3 months

Job Level: IC3

Division: Enabling

Department: Legal

Requirements

• 5-7 years post articles experience, in a top-tier South African law firm or proven in-house experience (fintech/finreg/payments preferred)
• Strong commercial contracting across SaaS, partnerships and vendor agreements.
• Working knowledge and experience of key legislation applicable to the businesses within our client’s Group, including the National Payment Systems Act/Bill, COFI Bill, SARB directives & exemptions, PASA frameworks, FICA, NCA, Banks Act, CPA, POPIA exposure advantageous.
• Bachelor of Laws (LLB).
• Admission as a legal practitioner / attorney.
• Team player - across all departments.
• Pragmatic risk judgment - calibrates risk to business context, proposes mitigations and clear trade-offs rather than “no”, has a successful track record of aligning legal priorities with organisational objectives.
• Bias to clarity and action - produces crisp, plain-language summaries and recommended paths and is comfortable making calls with imperfect information.
• Prioritisation and throughput - juggles multiple matters, sets/keeps SLAs, and escalates smartly on pre-defined triggers.
• Negotiation and stakeholder management - credible with customers and partners and balances firmness with deal momentum.
• Ownership and reliability - high agency, low ego, high bar for quality and follow-through under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Reviewing, negotiating, and drafting a range of commercial contracts, such as service agreements, partnership agreements, SaaS agreements and other business agreements.
• Working closely with the Revenue teams at various stages of the contracting process. This includes:
  • Prepare contract summaries, stakeholder briefing documents, and risk reports.
  • Advise on legal issues regarding contracts.
  • Assist with contract renewals and termination.
  • Communicating and negotiating with external parties (partners, external counsel, and external clients).
  • Researching and advising on the relevant regulation & legal frameworks required for our client’s business models and products.
  • Assisting with the development, implementation and maintenance of contracts, policies, guidance documents and risk-based compliance frameworks.