Associate - Group Legal Affairs - #2184927

Associate – Group Legal Affairs

Location: Cape Town, South Africa or Edinburgh, UK

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a commercially minded lawyer to join the Group Legal team of a leading international investment organisation.

This role offers the opportunity to work across a broad range of commercial legal matters, partnering with key business functions and providing pragmatic, commercially focused legal advice in a dynamic international environment.

The Role

As an Associate within the Group Legal team, you will be responsible for reviewing, drafting and negotiating a broad range of commercial agreements across the organisation. You will work closely with internal stakeholders across Procurement, Technology, Finance, Tax and People, supporting the business in managing legal risk while delivering its commercial objectives.

The role will also provide exposure to a variety of evolving legal areas, including data protection, operational resilience, technology, intellectual property and artificial intelligence.

Key Responsibilities

• Review, draft and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements, including supplier, services, technology, licensing and outsourcing agreements.
• Draft and negotiate NDAs and data processing agreements.
• Provide commercially focused legal advice to internal stakeholders across multiple business functions.
• Support and enhance contract review processes, templates and playbooks.
• Assist with legal research, regulatory developments and legislative horizon-scanning.
• Advise on relevant data protection, operational resilience, technology and AI-related matters.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the wider Legal function to deliver consistent and effective legal support.
• Manage relationships with external legal counsel where required.

About You

We are looking for an ambitious, proactive and commercially minded lawyer who enjoys working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

You will ideally have:

• An English or US legal qualification, with approximately 3–5 years' post-qualification experience.
• Experience gained within an international law firm in London or South Africa.
• Strong experience reviewing, drafting and negotiating a broad range of commercial contracts.
• Confidence leading contract negotiations directly with counterparties.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to balance legal rigour with commercial pragmatism.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage a varied and high-volume workload.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and communicate complex legal concepts clearly.

Desirable Experience

Experience or exposure to any of the following would be advantageous, although not essential:

• Data privacy and UK GDPR/EU GDPR.
• The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
• Artificial intelligence-related contracting and regulation.
• Private equity or asset management.

Why Join?

This is an excellent opportunity to join an established international legal function in a broad and varied commercial role. You will gain exposure to a wide range of legal and business matters, work alongside experienced legal professionals and develop your expertise across commercial contracting, technology and emerging regulatory areas.

If you are a commercially focused lawyer looking for your next opportunity within an international organisation, we would be delighted to hear from you.