Associate Counsel, Legal

The Team:

The Legal team consists of lawyers across the globe who bring to the team various kinds of expertise. We have commercial, regulatory, M&A, SEC compliance, corporate governance, privacy and employment expertise in-house as well as broad-based international legal experience to support the company’s 11,000+ employees working in wholly owned subsidiaries in 32 countries.

The Role:

The Associate Counsel, Legal position will report directly to the Head of Procurement, Legal. This role will be primarily responsible for providing commercial contracting coverage to various business units in support of their procurement needs, including SaaS, hardware, professional services, IT consulting, facilities, marketing agreements, and event agreements. This role will work closely with all business units across Morningstar to support the contracting process and requires some experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts, analytical and negotiation skills, and the ability to provide practical legal advice to mitigate risk and help the business teams achieve their goals.

The role will be based in our Cape Town, South Africa office. In-office attendance of 4 days per week is required.

Responsibilities

· Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including SaaS, software and hardware agreements, licensing agreements, professional services, IT consultant agreements, partnership agreements and marketing and event agreements.

· Negotiate terms directly with suppliers and work collaboratively with internal procurement, business, finance, privacy, information security, and compliance stakeholders to draft and negotiate commercial agreements.

· Identify legal risks, coordinate with internal compliance, privacy and information security teams as needed, and provide practical recommendations to mitigate potential issues.

· Serve as a proactive, solutions-oriented business partner to internal clients, building strong, productive two-way partnerships with colleagues and key stakeholders.

· Support improvements to contracting processes, templates, playbooks, and process workflows to help the legal and procurement teams operate more effectively at scale.

Qualifications

· Law degree and admission, qualification, or authorization to practice law in South Africa or another relevant jurisdiction.

· 2-4 years of experience practicing as a commercial lawyer, preferably in a reputable law firm or in-house legal department.

· Knowledge of contracting and licensing market conventions in data and software licensing.

· Experience with SaaS, software, technology, or professional services agreements preferred.

· Negotiation and drafting skills with the ability to review and negotiate complex commercial agreements.

· Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities, with attention to detail.

· Effective communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to present complex legal concepts in a clear and concise manner.

· Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.

· Proven track record of managing multiple priorities and meeting deadlines.

· Experience with financial industry clients preferred.

Bonus Target:

We expect the compensation and target bonus for this role to fall within the stated range. The specific compensation offered will depend on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, and other job-related factors.

Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to collaborate in-person each week as we've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis. In most of our locations, our hybrid work model is four days in-office each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.