Commercial Contracts Associate

We're looking for a commercially minded legal professional with 1–3 years of experience (post-admission experience) who has hands-on experience in commercial law, legal operations, technology-enabled legal delivery and/or financial documentation.
You'll support global corporates and financial institutions on a range of contract review, negotiation, remediation, abstraction, and document management matters while leveraging legal technology and AI-enabled tools to deliver work efficiently and at scale.
Whether you're coming from a law firm, in-house legal team, or ALSP environment, this role is ideal for someone who enjoys contract review, identifying risk, working with stakeholders, and finding better ways of delivering legal services.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have already been screened by Cognia and informed that you are on the bench of Contractors, there is no need to reapply. Just pop us an email to let us know you’re available again!
Job requirements

• BA Law, LLB, LLM, or BCom Law degree from a South African tertiary institution.
• 1–3 years' post-admission experience reviewing, drafting, and negotiating commercial agreements.
• Practical experience supporting commercial contracting, contract management, or legal operations activities.
• Exposure to financial services, financial documentation, or regulated commercial environments is advantageous. 
• Strong understanding of legal and commercial risk and how contractual provisions operate in practice.
• Familiarity with contract lifecycle management (CLM) processes and legal workflows.
• Genuine interest in legal technology, AI-enabled legal tools, and process improvement.
• Strong analytical skills, commercial awareness, and attention to detail.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work with multiple stakeholders and multidisciplinary teams.
• Someone who is proactive, adaptable, solutions-focused, and excited by the future of legal services.

Advantageous Experience

• Exposure to financial documentation such as loan agreements, security documentation, derivatives documentation, or other banking and finance documentation.
• Experience working with financial institutions, banks, or highly regulated industries.
• Experience on contract remediation, repapering, due diligence, abstraction, or large-scale contract review projects.
• Experience using legal technology platforms, CLM systems, or AI-enabled contract review tools.

Job responsibilities

• Reviewing, drafting, and negotiating a variety of commercial agreements, including NDAs, services agreements, supplier agreements, statements of work, licensing agreements, and other commercial contracts. 
• Identifying legal and commercial risks and working with stakeholders to develop practical solutions. 
• Supporting contract lifecycle management activities, including abstraction, remediation, data capture and contract administration. 
• Supporting financial documentation-adjacent work or broader financial services-focused contracting, where applicable. 
• Using legal technology and AI-enabled tools to improve the speed, quality, and consistency of legal work. 
• Collaborating with legal delivery teams, project managers, legal technologists, and client stakeholders to ensure successful project outcomes. 
• Working across high-volume projects while maintaining excellent accuracy and attention to detail.

Cognia Law is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where all individuals feel valued, respected, and able to contribute meaningfully. We believe that diversity of thought, background, and experience strengthens our teams and enhances the quality of service we provide to our clients. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates and are dedicated to ensuring fair and equitable consideration, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We strive to create an environment where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, grow, and be their authentic selves at work. In accordance with our Employment Equity goals, preference may be given to candidates from designated group.