Head of Legal

Summary

Kuda is a money app for Africans on a mission to make financial services accessible, affordable and rewarding for every African on the planet.
We’re a tribe of passionate and diverse people who dreamed of building an inclusive money app that Africans would love so it’s only right that we ended up with the name ‘Kuda’ which means ‘love’ in Shona, a language spoken in the southern part of Africa.
We’re giving Africans around the world a better alternative to traditional finance by delivering money transfers, smart budgeting and instant access to credit through digital devices.
We’ve raised over $90 million from some of the world's most respected institutional investors, and we’re rolling out our game-changing services globally from our offices in Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK.

The Role

We are looking for a Head of Legal to own, oversee our legal operations and support our compliance operations across the UK.

The ideal candidate will be well versed in UK regulations and know their way around manoeuvring and establishing functional and strategic relationships with regulators and stakeholders. You will be qualified both in the UK, as well as in at least one African country, and have solid understanding of international laws, so you can expertly advise and guide Kuda on identified or potential risks. Your experience and knowledge will touch on Commercial, Corporate, Data Protection, Employment and Financial Regulatory laws.

In this exciting opportunity, you will work on potentially complex legal issues and disruptive technological ideas that require creative, innovative and proactive legal guidance. You will be collaborative, ready to learn and ready to partner in initiatives that influence all aspects of the business. You have the chance to work with employees from both the Group company and companies within the Group company from various locations. You will be expected to travel to our various offices to familiarise yourself with our operations and processes to further equip you for the effective delivery of your responsibilities. As an integrated part of the team, you will proactively assess legal risks and advise on products and processes.

You will create and advise on a wide variety of commercial agreements supporting Kuda’s expanding range of products and entry to new markets, working with clients and colleagues across the globe; and engage effectively with BU heads and other function heads on strategic commercial, regulatory compliance (e.g., licensing support activities), and other BAU matters in the region.

Responsibilities

• Ownership of the legal function in the UK and all responsibilities associated
• Developing the strategy of the legal team in the UK and building the team further, including additional resources and up-skilling the existing team
• Ensuring the legal function is ready to respond to regulatory changes that can affect the business, and always ready for the implementation of these changes
• Managing and leading the business change from a legal perspective
• Overseeing key relationships with external parties including regulators, external counsel and clients
• Thinking commercially and being able to deal with multiple matters simultaneously across multiple practice areas including Commercial, Corporate, Data Protection, Employment and Financial Regulatory
• Support on group initiatives and projects, such as licensing initiatives, company secretarial and governance activities, etc
• Support other strategic legal/regulatory initiatives and projects that have an impact on business expansion and growth

Requirements

• Experience as a a fully qualified lawyer (7-12 years PQE)
• In-house experience for a Fintech or financial service business (ideally)
• Have proven experience with FinTech/Finance related regulatory issues in the UK and EMEA (essential)
• LLB and LPC qualified (or equivalent)
• Capable of leading and up-skilling an in-house legal team, developing the strategy and making business-critical decisions
• Proven ability to anticipate legal risks and decisions and react decisively to regulatory changes
• Experience in bringing through new product offerings
• Demonstrable experience in developing, drafting, and advising clients on commercial and technology contracts, including multi-jurisdictional transactions
• Experienced in advising and discussing legal issues in the financial technology, e-commerce, telecoms, IT, payments, or financial services sector
• Mentor and provide guidance to team members in Legal, UK
• Exceptional technical skills including exemplary contract drafting, review and negotiation skills gained in multiple complex transactionsS
• Solid exposure understanding challenger propositions and the FinTech industries, and the laws/regulations impacting those industries
• Capable of working under pressure and juggling multiple competing priorities
• Comfortable operating in ‘grey’ zones
• Ability to think strategically and be able to communicate with and collaborate with Executive management on high-value or strategic initiatives.
• Have exceptional written and verbal English communication and presentation skills, with excellent stakeholder engagement and management skills
• Excellent planning and organisational skills and the ability to prioritise, manage time effectively and work to deadlines that may be tight at times
• Highly proficient in MS packages, including Word and Outlook
• Be a creative and agile thinker, who takes ownership and is adaptable to changes
• Have a willingness to learn, improve and be open to doing things differently

Benefits

Why join Kuda?

At Kuda, our people are the heart of our business, so we prioritize your welfare. We offer a wide range of competitive benefits in areas including but not limited to:

• A great and upbeat work environment populated by a multinational team
• Career Development & Growth
• Access to world-class L&D
• We are advocates of work-life balance and offer a 3 day per week remote working option
• Competitive annual leave
• Competitive Pension
• Perkbox
• Life Assurance
• and more…

Kuda is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Kuda is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent.

We don’t regard colour, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.