Senior Legal Counsel

Lendable; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 400 000 - 500 000; Full time

Job summary

A financial services company based in Johannesburg is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel with 7-10 years of post-qualification experience in structured finance. This role will lead the legal structuring of asset-backed financing transactions across jurisdictions and advise stakeholders. The ideal candidate should possess strong drafting, analytical, and negotiation skills, and have a solid background in banking law. The company offers a dynamic and inclusive environment, competitive salary, health insurance, and flexible working arrangements.

Benefits

Market competitive salary

Health insurance

Flexible working set up

Paid new parent leave policy

Qualifications

• 7-10 years post-qualification experience essential.
• Strong background in banking and finance law required.
• Experience advising on English law-governed transactions preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead legal structuring of asset-backed lending transactions.
• Draft and negotiate complex transaction documentation.
• Provide legal support on portfolio matters and restructurings.

Skills

Structured finance experience

Strong drafting skills

Analytical skills

Negotiation skills

Ability to manage complex matters

Education

LLB (Bachelor of Laws)

Job description

About the company

Lendable connects emerging and frontier market companies with international and local investors so that they can in turn provide financial and sustainability services to those who need it the most: underbanked consumers and SMEs and MMEs in high-impact sectors. We have built the technical and financial infrastructure to increase access to credit in emerging and frontier markets, including a proprietary database of over 208m loans across 28 countries. To date, we have helped more than 6.2m people get access to fair finance and deployed over $682m of capital to companies across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. As we continue to grow, we are excited to announce the launch of a new fund that will provide sustainability-linked debt to fast-growing SMEs and MMEs across key sectors in emerging markets—focusing on the most impactful categories and highest-emitting industries.

We are based across Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, with major hubs in London and Nairobi. Our diverse team consists of investment professionals, data scientists, technologists, and people who care about supporting each other and our clients. We are passionate about creating a more equitable and sustainable world through data and finance. Come help us continue to grow!

About the Role

We are seeking a highly capable Senior Legal Counsel with strong structuring and asset backed finance experience (7-10 years PQE), based in Johannesburg/Nairobi, to join the legal team at Lendable. This is a senior transactional role with significant responsibility for leading, structuring, and executing asset-backed and secured financing transactions across multiple jurisdictions, with a key focus on robust collateral packages, segregation of assets, and bankruptcy-remote structures.

The role requires deep experience advising on structured lending transactions involving receivables, cash flows, reserve accounts, and related security, often in emerging and frontier market jurisdictions.

The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting Lendable’s investment and operational activities, acting as a trusted legal advisor to senior stakeholders while structuring and driving transactions from origination through to financial close and ongoing portfolio management.

Key Responsibilities

Transaction and Deal Structuring

• Working closely with transaction teams, lead legal structuring of asset-backed and secured lending transactions, including analysis of collateral security arrangements, cashflow waterfalls, and security enforcement.
• Design and implement tight collateral packages intended to segregate assets and cash flows from originators and operating entities, and enhance creditor protection and bankruptcy remoteness where feasible, including through SPVs, trusts, pledges, and account control structures.
• Advise on jurisdiction-specific insolvency, security, and perfection risks, particularly in emerging and frontier markets, and propose practical mitigants.
• Review and provide legal guidance on the structuring of cross-border loan transactions, including ongoing arrangements, to ensure proper segregation and protection of secured assets.
• Working with external counsel, implement the legal structuring, negotiation, and execution of secured loan transactions across multiple jurisdictions, from term sheet stage through conditions precedent and financial close.
• Draft, review, and negotiate complex transaction documentation, including facility agreements, security documents, intercreditor agreements, guarantees, amendments, waivers, and ancillary documents.
• Advise on transaction structuring, risk allocation, enforceability, and cross-border legal considerations, working closely with investment, risk, and operations teams.
• Partner with investment and risk teams to advise on structuring trade-offs, enforceability, and recovery analysis at origination.
• Manage external counsel across jurisdictions, ensuring cost-effective, timely, and high-quality legal advice and execution.

Portfolio and Ongoing Transaction Support

• Provide senior-level legal support on portfolio matters, including restructurings, amendments, extensions, waivers, and enforcement-related considerations.
• Act as a point of escalation for complex legal queries arising from existing investments.
• Support business teams with legal analysis, interpretation of transaction documentation, and practical solutions aligned with commercial objectives.

General Commercial Legal Support

• Provide pragmatic, solutions-oriented legal advice to senior internal stakeholders across the business.
• Contribute to legal risk management, policy development, and continuous improvement of internal processes and templates.
• Support the development of scalable legal frameworks to enable Lendable’s continued growth across multiple markets.
• Contribute to overall capability and knowledge-sharing within the business.

About You

• 7–10 years essential post-qualification experience, with a strong background in banking and finance law, with a strong emphasis on structured finance and/or asset-backed secured lending, ideally gained at a reputable international or top-tier law firm and/or as internal legal counsel at a financial institution or similar.
• Law qualified LLB (Bachelor of Laws) (admitted Attorney) required; experience advising on English law-governed transactions is strongly preferred.
• Prior in-house experience within financial services, development finance, or fintech is advantageous but not essential.
• Strong drafting, analytical, and negotiation skills, with the ability to manage multiple complex matters simultaneously.
• Strong background in asset-backed secured financings, including advising on and implementing security structures in complex or emerging-market environments is essential.
• Commercially minded, proactive, and comfortable operating as a senior advisor within a fast-paced, international environment, with the ability to clearly explain complex legal concepts to non-lawyers.
• Interest in impact investing, development finance, sustainability, or mission-led businesses.

What We Offer

• A dynamic, purpose-driven environment with exposure to meaningful work across international markets.
• The opportunity to develop broad in-house experience within a growing and influential impact fund and take on responsibility.
• A supportive team culture that encourages curiosity, ownership and professional growth.
• Stimulating, smart and fun colleagues - a group of people who care about social justice, diversity, and inclusion above all.
• Flexible working set up.
• Market competitive salary.
• Health insurance.
• Paid new parent leave policy.
• The chance to engage in truly impactful and meaningful work.

Persons of all gender, race, sex, orientation, age, and identity are encouraged to apply. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.