Background

Created in 2012, FSD Africa is a £30 million financial sector development programme or 'FSD’ based in Nairobi. It is funded by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). FSD Africa aims to reduce poverty across sub-Saharan Africa by building financial markets that are efficient, robust and inclusive.

Key Responsibilities and Role Requirements

Legal Advisory Support

Provide legal analysis and advice to ensure FSDAi’s activities and investment decisions are aligned with applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies.

Strategy & Governance Support

Deliver legal research and advisory inputs across FSDAi and FSD Africa, including ad-hoc legal matters

Investment Portfolio Legal Support

Draft and review agreements and legal instruments that support partnerships and organisational arrangements

Contracts & Transaction Documentation

Coordinate legal inputs across the transaction process, ensuring effective coordination across due diligence, documentation, approvals, and execution stages

Legal Risk and Compliance Oversight

Maintain legal documentation systems, frameworks, templates, standard clauses, and precedent documents to improve consistency and efficiency

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

Contribute to the development and implementation of legal compliance tools, templates, and internal guidance materials to support consistent application of legal and regulatory requirements.

Work collaboratively with internal teams and external stakeholders to ensure legal inputs are effectively integrated into FSDAi’s activities and decision-making processes.

Carry out any other duties or special assignments as assigned by the Management.

Competencies

Competencies describe the key behaviours that drive success in all of FSD Africa’s roles, regardless of technical specialism. They have been derived from systematic research correlating performance with personal attributes.

Competency Levels

Level 1: Basic

Level 2: Foundation

Level 3: Specialist

Level 4: Senior Specialist

Level 5: Leading Expert

Level 6: Executive

Requirements

Person Specifications

Qualifications and Education

• Master’s degree (LLM) with 3 years’ of experience or bachelor’s degree (LLB) and 4 years’ of experience.
• Relevant post-graduate qualification in Law with a practising certificate.
• Excellent skills in written and spoken English.

• Provide legal analysis and advice to ensure FSDAi’s activities and investment decisions are aligned with applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies.
• Analyse legal and regulatory frameworks relevant to FSDAi’s activities and interpret their implications for investment decisions and operations
• Apply legal analysis to transaction-related and operational matters to ensure alignment with applicable laws and internal policies
• Identify legal issues arising from investment activities and develop practical, risk-informed solutions
• Monitor legal and regulatory developments across relevant jurisdictions and assess their impact on FSDAi’s activities and investment approach
• Deliver legal research and advisory inputs across FSDAi and FSD Africa, including ad-hoc legal matters
• Provide legal input into governance structures and strategic initiatives to ensure compliance, sound legal structuring, and effective institutional arrangements.
• Prepare and review governance-related legal documentation, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and alignment with regulatory requirements
• Provide legal input into partnership structures, strategic initiatives, and institutional arrangements
• Analyse legal aspects of shareholder structures and governance frameworks, identifying risks and implications
• Draft and review agreements and legal instruments that support partnerships and organisational arrangements
• Deliver legal input across the investment lifecycle to ensure transactions are appropriately structured, risks are identified, and processes are effectively coordinated.
• Conduct legal due diligence on prospective investees, identifying legal and regulatory risks and assessing compliance
• Analyse investment proposals and contribute legal input to transaction structuring, including appropriate instruments and key terms
• Draft and review legal inputs into investment agreements and funding arrangements to ensure accuracy and alignment with agreed terms
• Coordinate legal inputs across the transaction process, ensuring effective coordination across due diligence, documentation, approvals, and execution stages
• Ensure all contracts and transaction documentation are accurate, complete, and consistently applied through structured systems, templates, and legal frameworks.
• Draft and review investment agreements, commercial contracts, and grant-related documentation to ensure legal accuracy and alignment with agreed terms
• Review and incorporate counterparty comments into transaction documentation, proposing revisions that reflect FSDAi’s legal and commercial positions
• Ensure transaction documentation is complete, internally consistent, and reflects agreed terms with a high standard of accuracy and attention to detail
• Coordinate document review, approval, and execution processes to ensure timely and accurate completion of transactions
• Maintain legal documentation systems, frameworks, templates, standard clauses, and precedent documents to improve consistency and efficiency
• Identify, monitor, and manage legal and regulatory risks to ensure compliance and appropriate escalation of material issues.
• Identify and assess legal and regulatory risks arising from FSDAi’s investment activities and operational processes
• Track legal risks across transactions and portfolio activities, ensuring issues are documented and escalated appropriately
• Monitor legal and regulatory requirements and changes across jurisdictions assessing their implications for FSDAi’s activities and compliance obligations
• Contribute to the development and implementation of legal compliance tools, templates, and internal guidance materials to support consistent application of legal and regulatory requirements.
• Work closely with investment, risk, finance, and portfolio teams to integrate legal considerations into transaction and portfolio processes
• Coordinate engagement with external legal counsel, including preparing instructions, reviewing outputs, and ensuring alignment with FSDAi requirements
• Facilitate communication between legal, deal teams, and external stakeholders by clearly articulating legal issues, risks, and requirements to support informed decision-making.
• Capture and share legal insights and lessons learned to support consistency and continuous improvement across the organisation
• Carry out any other duties or special assignments as assigned by the Management.

• Master’s degree (LLM) with 3 years’ of experience or bachelor’s degree (LLB) and 4 years’ of experience.
• Relevant post-graduate qualification in Law with a practising certificate.
• Excellent skills in written and spoken English.