Assistant Legal Officer

Role Purpose The Assistant Legal Officer will provide practical, commercially oriented legal and operational support to the Legal function at Kijani, with a focus on high-volume and recurring work through structured contract review, legal operations support, and template development. The role is suited to a candidate with at least one year of experience (1–2 years preferred) in a law firm or corporate legal environment, who is comfortable working with contracts, deadlines, and systems, and who is interested in building repeatable legal tools. Key Responsibilities

1. Contract Review & Legal Support ●Review contracts using approved Legal templates ●Support drafting and review of: ○MOUs and LOIs ○Consultant and service agreements ○Other standard commercial contracts ●Identify deviations from approved templates and escalate exceptions to the In-House Counsel ●Ensure contracts are aligned with Kijani’s approved legal positions and risk posture
2. Legal Intake & Matter Management ●Support management of the Legal intake process ●Conduct first-level triage of legal requests based on risk, urgency, and template usage ●Ensure legal requests are complete and properly documented before review ●Track legal matters, deadlines, and follow-ups with internal teams
3. Legal Operations & Technology ●Actively use Legal technology tools (e.g. contract registers, dashboards, intake systems) to improve efficiency ●Maintain accurate and up-to-date contract records ●Support the implementation and improvement of Legal systems and workflows ●Ensure Legal documentation is well-organised, traceable, and accessible
4. Template Development & Standardisation ●Identify recurring legal tasks and contract types suitable for standardisation ●Draft and maintain Legal templates, checklists, and guidance notes for repeated use ●Work with the In-House Counsel to refine and approve templates ●Contribute to reducing repetitive legal work through documentation and process improvement
5. Governance, Records & Precedents ●Maintain contract registers and supporting documentation ●Log legal exceptions, precedents, and recurring issues ●Support contract standardisation and governance initiatives ●Assist with coordination of external counsel under the supervision of In-House Counsel
6. Stakeholder Engagement ●Liaise with internal teams such as Procurement, Business Development, and Operations on routine legal matters ●Provide clear, practical guidance on Legal processes and requirements ●Escalate legal risks and issues appropriately and in a timely manner Qualifications and competences ●       Bachelor of Laws (LLB) or equivalent ●       1–2 years’ professional experience working in: ○      A law firm, or ○      A corporate / in-house legal environment ●       Practical experience reviewing and working withcontracts