Job Description

Mitrelli delivers impactful projects across Africa in energy, water, healthcare, education, and infrastructure, working closely with governments and public institutions to create sustainable, long-term solutions.

To support our mission and growing operations, we are looking for a Legal Officer who will provide legal support across projects, ensure compliance, and contribute to the successful delivery of our initiatives.

About the role:

We're seeking a Legal Officer to be part of the West African Legal Team, with international experience in a business-focused mindset, integrity, and strong ethics to join our team. This hands-on role requires extensive in-house advisory experience, especially in contract negotiation and business support.

Mitrelli Legal Team supports a broad range of Commercial Law, Company Law, Public and Procurement Law. Effective support and full legal assistance to large turnkey projects is highly desirable. Good knowledge of international construction contract models such as Fidic, JCT or NEC is nice to have. Experience in Labor and Tax Law is an advantage.

The overall objective of this role is to provide legal support, advice and guidance across a broad range of practice areas ensuring compliance with all relevant laws and regulations and managing legal risks.

Key Responsibilities

• Review, draft, and negotiate various types of contracts, including construction contracts, sales, procurement agreements, and supplier agreements.
• Draft, review and draw up legal documents, opinions, contracts and deeds. Assist other Company functions in the understanding of the law and in the negotiation and interpretation of contractual or legal documents.
• Ensure the Company complies with all applicable laws and regulations.
• Ensure general corporate governance housekeeping and confirm the implementation of internal policies and procedures.
• Manage pre-litigation risks, and if litigation arises, develop litigation strategies and coordinate with external counsel to resolve disputes, when necessary.
• Collaborate with various departments, including operations, sales, procurement and finance to provide legal advice.
• Communicate with and understand the legal requirements of Company functions and sectors of activity.
• Perform in-depth research on laws and regulations, elaborate strategies, investigate facts and prepare documents to support the legal activities.
• Ensure constant monitoring and reporting of any relevant new legislation or significant modifications of the existing one.
• Draft, review and draw up legal documents, opinions, contracts and deeds. Assist other Company functions in the understanding of the law and in the negotiation and interpretation of contractual documents.
• Create and conduct legal training for relevant employees (in person, webinars and/or e-learning).
• Advise stakeholders on legal trends, developing areas of the law, industry trends and related risks that may impact Mitrelli’s operations and/or services.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required; Master’s degree in Law or an equivalent legal qualification related discipline is preferred.
• Solid experience – at least 5 years – in a legal role focusing on complex commercial transactions, including cross-border contracting, preferably with a mix of in-house and law firm experience.
• Highly effective communications style, translating complex legal issues into readily understandable assessments and actionable recommendations that deliver business value in the context of global business strategies.
• In-depth knowledge of civil law, particularly OHADA. Common-law awareness is a plus.
• Experience with drafting, reviewing and negotiating various contracts related to construction, logistics, procurement and complex commercial transactions, and substantive experience with industry-related regulatory matters.
• Experience in building contracts, updating and refining contract templates customized to meet specific needs and requirements of business, while incorporating experience-informed negotiating positions.
• Strong analytical, communication, negotiation, presentation, and strategic decision-making and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, an inquisitive mind, and the ability to connect and work effectively with multiple, diverse, cross-functional stakeholders, legal organization, third parties and customers.
• Ability to work independently while working collaboratively within a local and global team environment.
• Ability to work across cultures.
• Excellent written and verbal skills in French and English.