Senior Legal & Corporate Governance Counsel

Prudential’s purpose is to be partners for every life and protectors for every future. Our purpose encourages everything we do by creating a culture in which diversity is celebrated and inclusion assured, for our people, customers, and partners. We provide a platform for our people to do their best work and make an impact to the business, and we support our people’s career ambitions. We pledge to make Prudential a place where you can Connect, Grow, and Succeed.

The key responsibilities will include supporting the Company Secretary/Head of Legal & Compliance. The Senior Legal & Governance Counsel’s duties will include but not be limited to the following:

• Identifying and evaluating the legal risks to which Prudential Zenith is exposed, drawing them to the attention of the various units which they affect and giving counsel to the various members of Management who need to make decisions on the best approach for Prudential Zenith to take in addressing and dealing with the issues raised.
• Delivering timely, technically sound, practical and commercial legal solutions to business needs.
• Identifying, mitigating and managing all legal risks inherent in or arising out of the business of the organization.
• Providing effective strategic legal support and guidance to the Head of Legal & Compliance, the Senior Management and Executive Committee of the Prudential Zenith.
• Managing internal stakeholder relationships and maintaining relationships with external providers of legal services as well as managing the quality, speed and efficiency of the output and attendant costs.
• Assisting the Risk & the Compliance teams to establish, update, classify and assess the legal risk and the regulatory universe.
• Reducing Prudential Zenith’s documentation risks by ensuring all legal requirements have been fully addressed and complied with.
• Giving accurate instructions to Prudential Zenith external law firms and ensuring that the documentation drafted complies with Prudential Zenith Life Insurance  requirements.
• Seeking legal opinions and advice on complex matters and new legal developments which impact or have the potential to impact the environment in which Prudential Zenith Life Insurance operates.

• Providing the Head of Legal with guidance and advice on governance matters and on relevant laws and regulations. Facilitating training and knowledge building sessions for the Legal and Compliance Department to effectively manage risk. Advising on regulatory frameworks governing ESG and other corporate sustainability initiatives Ensuring that the governance regulatory compliance in Prudential Zenith are properly carried out in accordance with extant laws, regulations and the Group Governance guidelines for Prudential plc. Assisting with induction, orientation, on-going training and education of  Directors, including assessing the specific training needs of directors and executive management in their fiduciary and other governance responsibilities. Providing a central source of guidance and advise to the Company, on matters of good governance and of changes in legislation. Ensuring that the Company adheres to the Prudential Group Governance guidelines. Assisting the Company Secretary/ Head of Legal & Compliance with governance reviews, best practice on the annual evaluation, training and development of the Board. Managing shareholder engagement with the Africa Regional Hub (ARH) and associate companies including any monthly or other reporting requirements. Preparing and submitting required reports to ARH and government agencies including the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

Advisory

• Supporting or representing the Company Secretary/Head of Legal & Compliance on providing advice on any HR, business development or compliance matters.
• Raising awareness of any legal developments that may affect Prudential Zenith and evaluating any legal ramifications that may have an effect on Prudential Zenith Life Insurance.
• Explaining complex legal issues to all levels of staff and giving opinions and recommendations   on various legal matters. Analysing new laws and regulations, assessing their impact on Prudential Zenith and advising on the same.
• Ensuring that Prudential Zenith’s reputation/image is adequately safe-guarded and maintained with regard to the business principles and policies and business risk adopted within Prudential Zenith’s operations.
• Management of litigation matters by pro-actively managing and monitoring significant and material litigation by or against Prudential Zenith businesses to minimize Prudential Zenith’s loss arising from the court matters.

Learning and development

• Developing in-house training programs and materials to ensure widespread awareness of legal issues to members of the sales and support departments.
• Enhancing liaisons with the ARH to enhance knowledge of prudential policies pieces and other emerging issues.

• Participating and supporting in the budget process of Legal & Governance Function in Prudential Zenith Life Insurance;
• Supporting the legal teams in Prudential Zenith to ensure that they minimizing loss arising from contingent legal risks and/or litigation.
• Supporting the Legal & Governance functions across Prudential Zenith to ensure the timely delivery of service and proper accountability for budgets.

Prudential is an equal opportunity employer. We provide equality of opportunity of benefits for all who apply and who perform work for our organisation irrespective of sex, race, age, ethnic origin, educational, social and cultural background, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, disability or part-time / fixed-term work, or any other status protected by applicable law. We encourage the same standards from our recruitment and third-party suppliers taking into account the context of grade, job and location. We also allow for reasonable adjustments to support people with individual physical or mental health requirements.