Senior Legal Counsel

Green Recruitment Company; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Green Recruitment Company is supporting a leading international energy company in South Africa in its search for a Senior Legal Counsel / Legal Affairs & Compliance Manager to join its Cape Town team. This is a broad, strategic role advising leadership on legal, regulatory, compliance, governance, and commercial matters within a complex project development environment.

You will work with senior stakeholders across South Africa and internationally on high-value contracts, governance programmes,

Qualifications

• 10+ years' post-qualification experience, ideally within the energy, infrastructure, natural resources, industrial, or large-scale project development sectors.
• Strong commercial contracting, negotiation, and legal advisory experience.
• Proven track record in compliance, governance, and risk management.
• Ability to operate confidently in a dynamic regulatory environment and manage multiple stakeholder groups.
• Excellent communication, organisational, and relationship management skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice across a broad range of commercial, regulatory, governance, and operational matters.
• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a variety of commercial agreements and transaction documents.
• Support senior leadership on strategic legal and business decisions.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments and advise on potential impacts to the business.
• Lead ethics, compliance, anti-corruption, and corporate governance initiatives.
• Manage due diligence processes, compliance frameworks, and risk assessments.
• Support procurement and contracting activities, ensuring robust governance and commercial outcomes.

Skills

Contract Negotiation

Regulatory Compliance

Governance

Risk Management

Stakeholder Management

Legal Advisory

Communication Skills

Job description

We are supporting a leading international energy company in its search for an experienced Senior Legal Counsel / Legal Affairs & Compliance Manager to join its South African team.

This is a rare opportunity for a senior legal professional to take on a broad, strategic role, advising leadership across legal, regulatory, compliance, governance, commercial, and procurement matters within a complex project development environment. The successful candidate will play a key role in protecting business interests, managing risk, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting the successful delivery of major energy projects.

Working closely with senior stakeholders in South Africa and internationally, the role offers significant exposure to high-value commercial agreements, corporate governance matters, regulatory frameworks, stakeholder engagement, ethics and compliance programmes, and strategic business initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice across a broad range of commercial, regulatory, governance, and operational matters.

• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a variety of commercial agreements and transaction documents.

• Support senior leadership on strategic legal and business decisions.

• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments and advise on potential impacts to the business.

• Lead ethics, compliance, anti-corruption, and corporate governance initiatives.

• Manage due diligence processes, compliance frameworks, and risk assessments.

• Support procurement and contracting activities, ensuring robust governance and commercial outcomes.

• Build and maintain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Candidate Profile

We are keen to speak with experienced legal professionals who can demonstrate:

• 10+ years' post-qualification experience, ideally within the energy, infrastructure, natural resources, industrial, or large-scale project development sectors.

• Strong commercial contracting, negotiation, and legal advisory experience.

• A proven track record in compliance, governance, and risk management.

• The ability to operate confidently in a dynamic regulatory environment and manage multiple stakeholder groups.

• Excellent communication, organisational, and relationship management skills.