Job Description

How will you CONTRIBUTE and GROW?

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In this position, the incumbent is accountable to provide assistance to the Head of Legal - Southern Africa, on legal matters relating to the company and its affiliated companies within Southern Africa, including but not limited to:


pre-litigation and litigious claims


commercial, contractual or civil disputes


labour and employment law


interpretation and/or negotiation of a wide range of commercial, operational and supply chain contracts


provision of legal support to the various functions of the organisation in the areas of business development, sales and marketing, finance, procurement, human resources, engineering, operations and maintenance


assist in the management of corporate governance, legal and regulatory compliance, and statutory secretarial duties
Main Accountabilities:

1. Corporate Governance & Company Secretariat

Assist in preparing and reviewing board and shareholder documentation, including agendas, resolutions, board packs, and minutes. Support compliance with the Companies Act, King IV Principles of Corporate Governance, and Group frameworks. Maintain statutory registers and ensure timely submissions to the CIPC. Prepare and file amendments to company records (e.g., changes in directors, officers, share registers, resolutions). Facilitate board, statutory committee, and shareholder meetings, including drafting agendas, minutes, and resolutions. Provide governance training to directors, prescribed officers, information officers, and statutory committee members. Liaise with regulators such as the B-BBEE Commission, Competition Commission, Information Regulator, and others.

2. Commercial & Contractual Work

Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of contracts including supply, procurement, distribution, partnership, and services agreements. Support the contract lifecycle (renewals, amendments, terminations). Advise business stakeholders on risk allocation, obligations, and rights. Provide legal input in tenders, bids, and procurement processes. Maintain proper filing and management of executed contracts.

3. Labour & Employment Law

Provide day-to-day advice to HR on labour relations and employment law. Draft and review employment contracts, HR policies, and procedures. Advise on misconduct, disciplinary, grievance, and incapacity matters. Support restructuring, retrenchment, and collective bargaining processes. Represent the company in CCMA proceedings and liaise with external labour attorneys. Ensure compliance with South African labour laws, including the Labour Relations Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Employment Equity Act, and Occupational Health and Safety Act.

4. Debt Recovery & Litigation Support

Draft and issue letters of demand, acknowledgements of debt, breach notices, and other legal correspondence. Manage external debt collection attorneys and business rescue practitioners. Lodge claims in business rescue, liquidation, or sequestration proceedings. Attend creditors' meetings and liaise with liquidators and curators. Support litigation, arbitration, and mediation, including briefing and managing external counsel.

5. Compliance & Regulatory Matters

Monitor developments in laws and regulations across Southern Africa, with focus on corporate, commercial, labour, safety, consumer, data privacy, and competition law. Assist with compliance programs including ethics, anti-corruption, data protection, and Code of Conduct initiatives. Support internal and external compliance audits and regulatory inspections. Contribute to updating the compliance risk management plan. Provide compliance and ethics training across the organisation.

6. Advisory & Business Partnering

Provide legal advice to Sales, Commercial, Operations, Finance, HR, and other functions. Conduct legal research and prepare memoranda on emerging risks. Ensure legal advice is pragmatic, business-oriented, and aligned with Group strategy. Act as a legal partner in strategic projects and business development. Handle Ethical Alerts in coordination with the Head of Legal.

7. Departmental Administration & Knowledge Management

Maintain departmental records, templates, and precedents. Prepare regular legal reports and updates for management. Support the monitoring of legal spend and external counsel performance. Develop internal training materials, guidance notes, and tools.

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Are you a MATCH?

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Educational requirements

Education: LLB, or Bachelor of Laws / Bcom of Laws with LLB degree or equivalent

Experience

Admitted Attorney (or < 3 years post serving Articles of Clerkship at a reputable law firm) 2 to 3 years experience in the field of corporate/company law, commercial, corporate governance, legal and regulatory compliance.

Knowledge and Know-how specific to the job

Solid understanding and knowledge of South African laws, regulations, codes and soft laws, including but not limited to Contract law, Damages/Delict law, the Companies Act, Protection of Personal Information Act, Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act, King Reports on Corporate Governance, and the like. Solid understanding of legal procedures, notably relating to commercial disputes, alternative dispute resolution or litigious civil matters. Solid drafting, reviewing, negotiating and/or settling of legal documents such as contracts, letters, opinions. Solid legal research skills including appropriate citation or referencing. Knowledge of regulators mandated to monitor the organization's corporate affairs i.e.B-BBEE Commission, Competition Commission, Information Regulator, CIPC etc. Computer literacy.

OTHER COMPETENCIES

Initiating Action - Taking prompt action to accomplish work goals; taking action to achieve results beyond what is required; being proactive

Managing personal efficiency - manage competing priorities in a challenging environment, minimizing non-value-added complexity or paradox.

Promoting and Achieving Safety - responsibility to ensure that Safety and Security are seen as imperatives for the Group

Performance and Responsibility - action to manage all changes or to mitigate the uncertainties occurring as a result of change to achieve the Group's objectives.

Decision Making - analyze and summarize information including value-added suggestions from others to develop optimal solutions.

Customer Orientation - recognize and analyze the customers' needs, expectations and priorities and propose valuable, reliable, and competitive solutions

Adaptable - Maintaining effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work responsibilities or environment (e.g. people, processes, structure, or culture); adjusting effectively to change by exploring the benefits, trying new approaches, and collaborating with others to make the change successful.

Our Differences make our Performance

At Air Liquide, we are committed to build a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the diversity of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders and cultures across the world.




We welcome and consider applications from all qualified applicants, regardless of their background. We strongly believe a diverse organization opens up opportunities for people to express their talent, both individually and collectively and it helps foster our ability to innovate by living our fundamentals, acting for our success and creating an engaging environment in a changing world.