Job Description
Job Description
- The Lawyer will provide comprehensive legal support to Open Health Foundation, ensuring that its activities, partnerships, contracts, policies, and programmes are conducted within applicable legal and regulatory frameworks.
- The role requires a lawyer who can combine strong legal expertise with practical business judgement, communicate complex legal issues clearly, and proactively identify and mitigate legal and regulatory risks.
- The successful candidate will work closely with management, programme teams, finance, HR, external counsel, partners, vendors, and other stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
Legal Advisory & Counsel:
- Provide timely and practical legal advice to the Executive Director, management, and relevant departments.
- Review and advise on legal implications of the Foundation’s programmes, operations, partnerships, and strategic initiatives.
- Conduct legal research and provide clear recommendations on applicable laws, regulations, policies, and emerging legal developments.
- Identify potential legal risks and recommend appropriate mitigation strategies.
- Support management in making legally sound and commercially practical decisions.
Contract & Agreement Management:
- Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a wide range of legal documents, including:
- Partnership agreements
- Grant agreements
- Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs)
- Service agreements
- Consultancy agreements
- Employment-related agreements
- Vendor and procurement contracts
- Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
- Letters of engagement and other legal instruments
- Ensure contractual terms adequately protect the Foundation’s interests.
- Monitor contractual obligations, deliverables, renewal dates, and compliance requirements.
- Maintain an organized contract and legal documentation database.
Regulatory Compliance:
- Monitor the Foundation’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, regulatory requirements, and contractual obligations.
- Provide guidance on regulatory and statutory requirements relevant to nonprofit and health-sector operations.
- Support the development and implementation of legal and compliance policies.
- Conduct periodic compliance reviews and identify areas requiring corrective action.
- Liaise with relevant regulatory bodies and government agencies where necessary.
Governance & Corporate Matters:
- Provide legal support on corporate governance and institutional matters.
- Assist with preparation and review of Board resolutions, policies, governance documents, and official correspondence.
- Support the organization in maintaining appropriate statutory and corporate records.
- Advise management and the Board on governance-related legal matters when required.
- Ensure organizational decisions and processes are appropriately documented.
Dispute Resolution & Litigation Support:
- Manage and monitor legal disputes involving the Foundation.
- Liaise with external solicitors, counsel, and other legal professionals where necessary.
- Support dispute prevention through proactive legal advice and effective contract management.
- Review claims, notices, demands, and other legal correspondence received by the Foundation.
- Provide management with appropriate recommendations on dispute resolution strategies.
Grants, Partnerships & Donor Agreements:
- Provide legal review and support for grant agreements, donor arrangements, partnership agreements, and other funding instruments.
- Identify legal obligations, liabilities, restrictions, and compliance requirements associated with funding arrangements.
- Support programme and partnerships teams during negotiations with donors and strategic partners.
- Ensure agreements are aligned with the Foundation’s objectives, policies, and risk appetite.
- Advise on intellectual property, confidentiality, data protection, and other relevant legal considerations.
Data Protection, Ethics & Risk Management:
- Provide legal guidance on data protection, privacy, confidentiality, and information management.
- Support compliance with applicable data protection and privacy requirements.
- Advise on ethical and legal considerations relating to health programmes, beneficiaries, partners, and organizational activities.
- Contribute to the Foundation’s broader legal and enterprise risk-management framework.
- Escalate significant legal and compliance risks to management promptly.
Policy Development & Documentation:
- Draft, review, and update organizational policies, procedures, legal templates, and guidelines.
- Ensure policies remain aligned with applicable laws and regulatory requirements.
- Provide legal input into HR, procurement, finance, safeguarding, programme, and operational policies.
- Maintain proper legal documentation and ensure records are appropriately managed.
Stakeholder & External Counsel Management:
- Liaise professionally with government agencies, regulators, external counsel, partners, vendors, and other stakeholders.
- Coordinate with external legal advisers on specialized or complex matters.
- Review legal opinions and recommendations provided by external counsel.
- Ensure external legal engagements are properly documented and aligned with organizational requirements.
Legal Reporting & Risk Monitoring:
- Maintain accurate records of legal matters, contracts, disputes, compliance activities, and regulatory obligations.
- Prepare periodic legal and compliance reports for management.
- Track outstanding legal matters and ensure timely follow-up.
- Develop and maintain a legal risk register where required.
- Provide management with updates on significant legal developments that may affect the Foundation.
Qualifications & Experience
Essential:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Law (LL.B) from a recognized institution.
- Call to the Nigerian Bar (BL) and membership in good standing with the Nigerian Bar Association.
- 4–6 years of post-qualification legal experience.
- Demonstrable experience in corporate/commercial law, contracts, regulatory compliance, governance, or a related legal practice area.
- Strong experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial and institutional agreements.
- Excellent understanding of Nigerian legal and regulatory frameworks.
- Strong legal research, analytical, drafting, and negotiation skills.
- Demonstrated ability to provide practical legal advice to senior management.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple legal matters simultaneously.
Desirable:
- Experience working with an NGO, foundation, nonprofit organization, healthcare organization, development organization, or donor-funded institution.
- Experience with grant agreements and donor-funded projects.
- Knowledge of health-sector regulation and compliance.
- Familiarity with data protection and privacy regulations.
- Experience working with government agencies and development partners.
- Additional professional certifications or postgraduate qualifications in relevant areas of law.
Core Competencies:
The ideal candidate should demonstrate:
- Strong legal and commercial judgement
- Contract drafting and negotiation
- Legal research and analysis
- Regulatory and compliance expertise
- Excellent communication skills
- Strategic problem-solving
- Strong attention to detail
- Risk identification and mitigation
- Confidentiality and discretion
- Stakeholder management
- Strong organizational and time-management skills
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively
- High ethical standards and professional integrity
- Sound judgement and decision-making.