We're making Africa the first cashless continent.
In 2017, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.
We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. Now, we have millions of users across 9 countries and are growing fast.
Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent and that's where you come in...
As an Assistant Legal Counsel at Wave, you will support the legal team in Senegal by managing legal risks and providing protection and guidance to help the business achieve its ambitious goals.
With a strong focus on Procurement contracts, including Public Relations and Public Affairs contracts, you will collaborate closely with both operational and functional teams to help them reach their objectives while ensuring full regulatory compliance.
You will provide clear, practical legal advice and implement strategies that protect the company’s interests and contribute to business success.
In this role, you'll;
Contracting
- Draft and negotiate contracts related to the procurement of goods and services, with a focus on marketing, public relations, and press (PR) services.
- Support contract drafting for all Wave core products and services (agents, payments, procurement), ensuring protection of the company’s commercial and legal interests while maximizing value.
- Lead and engage in complex and high-value contract negotiations.
- Improve and manage the contracting process, including implementing the contracts policy, contract management systems, electronic signature tools, and physical archiving procedures.
Legal Operations
- Implement group legal policies and propose updates based on legal developments, operational feedback, and industry best practices (e.g., contract policy, data privacy policy).
Risk Management
- Collaborate with the Risk and Controls teams to identify legal risks and implement appropriate mitigations and internal controls.
General Legal Support and Special Projects
- Contribute to cross-functional legal initiatives and to other areas of the legal function, and participate in projects as they arise;
- Support the rollout and enforcement of the company’s data privacy compliance framework;
- Support on employment matters such as contracts, disciplinary procedures, and terminations;
- Support in managing legal claims and disputes, including pre-litigation strategy, mediation, arbitration, and litigation follow-up.
- Location: You'll work from our office in Senegal.
- Work authorization in Senegal is required.
- This is a permanent position.
- Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula.
- We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents.
- We support working parents - we offer generous parental leave policies (26 weeks for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers) and subsidized child care when you return to work.
- We help you live your fullest life now - we subsidize gym memberships and fitness classes.
- Airtime reimbursement.
- Master's degree in law.
- Minimum of three (3) years of legal experience, preferably with a mobile money company, telecom operator, law firm, bank, or other financial sector.
- Experience in contract drafting, negotiation, and management.
- Expertise in general and specialized contract law.
- Proficiency in both written and spoken French and English.
- Demonstrated strong writing and negotiation skills.
- Efficiently and quickly apply instructions from your lead, and proactively identify and report problems or blockers.
- Enjoy working as part of a team, but can also work efficiently on your own.
- Are proficient in drafting and reviewing contracts in English and French.
- Are able to identify contractual risks and propose amendments.
- Enjoy working on the structuring and drafting of legal contracts.
- Are able to manage a high volume of contracts with precision and organization.
- Are skilled in negotiation, especially in challenging or high-pressure situations.
- Demonstrate tenacity and a commitment to completing tasks.
- Are organized and detail-oriented, with a clear and accurate legal approach.
- Have a strong interest in the use of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools: Concord, DocuSign, etc.
- Have excellent writing, listening, and communication skills, consistently striving for excellence in all endeavors.
- We have a rapidly growing in-country team in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Uganda, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon plus remote team members spread across the world.
- We're deeply passionate about our mission of bringing radically affordable financial services to the people who need them most.
- We foster autonomy for our employees. You'll own your projects at every stage, from understanding the problem to monitoring your solution in production.
- We raised the largest Series A in Africa in 2021. Our world-class investors, include Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, and Partech Africa.
- We are on Y Combinator's top companies by revenue.
Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English and a cover letter describing your interest in Wave and the role.
We review applications frequently and recommend that you apply to the role that most closely aligns with your skills, experience and career goals.
Wave is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
Skills Required
- Master's degree in law
- Minimum of three (3) years of legal experience (preferably in mobile money, telecom, law firm, bank, or financial sector)
- Experience in contract drafting, negotiation, and management
- Expertise in general and specialized contract law
- Proficiency in written and spoken French and English
- Strong writing and negotiation skills
- Work authorization in Senegal
- Interest or experience with Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools (e.g., Concord, DocuSign)
Wave Mobile Money Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Wave Mobile Money and has not been reviewed or approved by Wave Mobile Money.
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Parental & Family Support — Extended fully paid parental leave and subsidized fertility assistance are emphasized, alongside health coverage that includes dependents. These offerings signal a strong commitment to supporting families across locations, even as exact provisions can vary by country.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Flexible vacation is standard, with most people taking substantial time off in addition to public holidays. Some roles cite even higher ranges, indicating a generous approach to rest and recovery.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Salaries are set using a transparent formula tied to skill and experience rather than negotiation. Clear ranges and equity/bonus components indicate market-aligned offers for many roles.
Wave Mobile Money Insights
What We Do
We're making Africa the first cashless continent. In 2017, nearly 60% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash. We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In November 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. In 2019, we expanded to Cote D'Ivoire. Now, we have millions of users and are growing fast. Our goal is to drive financial inclusion and make Africa the first cashless continent
