Legal Contracts Specialist

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Closing Date	2024/01/10
Reference Number	DBS230830-1
Job Title	Legal Contracts Specialist
Job Grade	15
Job Type Classification	Contract
Location – Town / City	Midrand
Location – Province	Gauteng
Location – Country	South Africa
Job Profile (Downloadable)	Legal Contract Specialist final 30 November 2023 mark up.docx.pdf (0.61 Mb) – 12/7/2023 11:39:17 AM

Job Description

The purpose of this position is to ensure legal compliance and provide legal advice and guidance to the Infrastructure Delivery Division.

The Bank has sought to promote economic and social development by mobilising financial and other resources from the national and international private and public sectors for sustainable development projects in South Africa, the SADC region and the whole of the African continent.

Key Responsibilities	1. Strategic Functions (a) Oversee and ensure compliance to all legislation, particularly in relation to the Construction and Infrastructure industry (b) Oversee general regulatory compliance as well as corporate governance. (c) Consult with other Legal Advisor’s in DBSA Group Legal for support in other specialist law fields 2. Operational Function (a) Develop a system for preparation of contractual documents, ensuring identification of standard and critical legal clauses to protect the interest of the DBSA, maintain and review templates as required. (b) Provide advice on draft tender documentation and motivation to source documentation in support of Bid Specification Committee to select a commercially sound contracting strategy and applicable standard form contract. (c) Provide legal advice and quality control in the drafting of project specific contracts and agreements between the Infrastructure Delivery Division and individuals, t h i r d parties, professional service providers; suppliers and contractors. (d) Advise and provide legal input on contractual matters to management and project team. (e) Communicate with service providers and the client (in conjunction with relevant Head) on contractual matters including delays, extension of time, variations, etc., including co-ordination with other business units. (f) Provide advice to Bid Evaluation Committee when requested, check and verify appointment or acceptance letters, performance guarantees and all relevant contract information. (g) Coordinates the negotiation of contracts. (h) Oversee compliance to contract award requirements ensuring all conditions are satisfied. This includes performance guarantees, insurances and other relevant documentation. (i) Provide advice to the business in respect of contractual matters with specific references to standard forms of construction contracts- JBCC, GCC, NEC and FIDIC. (j) Provide guidance and assist in mediating contractual disputes. This includes attending special meetings with contractors as requested by the Construction Project Manager. (k) Provide legal input in commenting on contractor claims with regards to construction or professional services contracts. (l) Contribute, if required, to the preparation of IDD contractual claims including extensions, prolongation of cost, acceleration cost and others. (m) Lead litigation/ adjudication/ arbitration matters and manage external counsel and attorneys, provide input into selecting counsel and attorneys per matter, manage external legal costs (n) Ensure that all legal documentation is filed and archived securely. Key Internal Liaison Relationships 1. Group Executive: IDD 2. Group General Counsel 3. Head: Legal and Contracting 4. All IDD Business Units 5. All DBSA Divisions 6. Overall DBSA management Key External Liaison Relationships 1. External Service Providers 2. External stakeholders 3. External Client (s)
Expertise & Technical Competencies	1. Bachelor of Laws (LLB) 2. A postgraduate degree or further education in construction management and negotiation are an added advantage 3. A minimum of 8 years’ experience in legal and contracts management of construction projects in the built environment. Skills & Knowledge 1. MS Office proficient, with focus on Word, Excel and Power Point 2. Experience in construction law, procurement law and PFMA 3. Knowledge of the JBCC, NEC, GCC, CIDB, FIDIC and other industry contracts. 4. A keen interest in the delivery of infrastructure 5. Strong intellectual and analytical capability 6. Ability to function under pressurised conditions while identifying and implementing sound legal solutions that will protect the IDD’s interests. 7. Skills to scrutinise vast amounts of information and identify key points promptly and accurately 8. A commercial, pragmatic and approachable outlook 9. Expertise in adjudications and arbitrations are considered an advantage 10. Understanding of government priorities, systems and processes 11. Understanding of stakeholder and brand management 12. Strong verbal and written communication skills as well as effective negotiation skills 13. Skills to express complex legal concepts in business terms TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES 1. Written Communication (a) Is relied on by others to help them write complex technical and non-technical documents and briefs. (b) Is able to determine which aspects of this knowledge area need to be transferred to others in order to achieve organisational goals. (c) Coaches others and transfers communication skills and knowledge to others. 2. Presentation Skills (a) Knows how to deliver arguments persuasively by employing a range of advanced presentation techniques (e.g. the appropriate use of body language, how to close a presentation so that the audience continues to think about the subject matter etc.). (b) Has knowledge of various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding. 3. Business Acumen (a) Takes actions to fit business strategy. (b) Assesses and links short-term tasks in the context of long-term business strategies or perspectives. (c) Reviews own actions against the organisation’s strategic plan; includes the big picture when considering possible opportunities or projects or thinks about long-term applications of current activities. (d) Anticipates possible responses to different initiatives. (e) Understands the projected direction of the industry and how changes might impact the organisation. 4. Negotiations (a) Has an appreciation of cultural sensitivities and differences. (b) Effectively employs a variety of advanced behavioural/interpersonal competencies to control the negotiation situation. (c) Is able to take the lead in a variety of sensitive negotiation situations requiring high levels of tact and diplomacy. (d) Is able to place a discrete negotiation situation within the context of a broader long-term relationship and is not threatened by conceding ground to protect the longer-term interests of DBSA. 5. Presentation skills (a) Can reinforce key presentation points with examples. (b) Is able to translate technical terminology into language understandable to the audience. (c) Has insight into the audience’s behavior and motivation and responds appropriately and professionally, adapting communication style as appropriate. 6. Policies and Procedure (a) Has detailed understanding of relevant policies and procedures and interprets these according to operational circumstances to ensure compliance. (b) Understands the business context sufficiently to recommend improvements and modifications to existing policy. (c) Is able to write new procedures
Required Personal Attributes	BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES 1. Achievement orientation (a) Undertakes challenging assignment and strives to complete them. (b) Sets priorities and chooses goals on the basis of calculated costs, anticipated benefits and improvement of performance. (c) Aims at exceptional performance, setting out to achieve a unique standard. (d) Constantly analysis outcomes to ensure the achievements of business goal. (e) Identifies short-term opportunity or potential problems aiming to achieve better outcomes. 2. Customer Orientation (a) Tries to understand the underlying needs of customers and match these needs to available or customized products and service. (b) Adapts processes and procedures to meet on-going customer needs. (c) Utilises the feedback received from customers, in order to develop new and / or improving existing services / products that relates to their on-going needs. (d) Thinks of new ways to align DBSA’s offering with future customer needs. 3. Integrity (a) Is willing to end a business relationship because it was associated with unethical business practice. (b) Is capable of challenging senior management (in an appropriate and respectable manner) in order to act on espoused values. 4. Leading and empowering others (a) Creates the conditions that enables the team to perform at its best (e.g., setting clear directions, providing appropriate structure, getting the right people, obtain needed resources). (b) Monitors performance against clear standards, and addresses performance issues promptly and takes action to get performance back to desired levels. (c) Proactively asks for feedback on own performance from team members, aiming to become more effective. 5. Teamwork and cooperation (a) Acts to promote a friendly climate and good morale, and resolves conflicts. (b) Creates opportunities for cross-functional work. (c) Encourages others to network outside of their own team / department and learn from their experience. 6. Self-awareness & self-control (a) Withholds effects of strong emotions in difficult situations. (b) Keeps functioning or responds constructively despite stress. (c) May apply special techniques or plan ahead of time to manage emotions or stress 7. Strategic and Innovative thinking (a) Recognises opportunities or potential problems, before they become obvious, by seeing the connections in a range of sources of information, including insights from outside DBSA. (b) Restates complex knowledge in a way that makes it easier for others to understand. (c) Experiments with new approaches, tests scenarios, questions assumptions and challenges conventional thinking. (d) Creates new concepts that are not obvious to others, leveraging internal and external sources of information, to build incremental revenue and growth opportunities. 8. Teamwork and cooperation (a) Acts to promote a friendly climate and good morale, and resolve conflicts. (b) Creates opportunities for cross-functional work. (c) Encourages others to network outside of their own team / department and learn from their experience.