Legal and Governance Manager

Legal Advisory Services and Legal Risk Management

•      Provide strategic legal advice and guidance to the CEO, Board, Executive Management and business units.

•      Interpret legislative and regulatory requirements affecting organisational operations, including developments relevant to the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector.

•      Draft legal opinions, memoranda, briefing notes and recommendations on organisational matters for the CEO, Chief of Staff, Executive Management and relevant governance structures.

•      Monitor legislative and regulatory changes and advise on organisational implications.

•      Identify, assess, document and track legal and regulatory risks, and support the development and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures.

•      Establish and maintain legal risk registers and mitigation plans.

•      Conduct legal and regulatory research to inform organisational decision-making.

2: Contract and Legal Documentation Management

•      Draft, review, negotiate, proofread and manage contracts, service level agreements, memoranda of understanding (MOUs), donor agreements and partnership agreements.

•      Ensure contractual provisions adequately protect the interests of Higher Health.

•      Prepare legal correspondence and supporting documentation relating to legal agreements and other legal matters.

•      Monitor contractual obligations, key deliverables, renewal dates, expiry dates and other contractual milestones, ensuring relevant stakeholders are alerted to required actions within appropriate timeframes.

•      Maintain a comprehensive register of all legal agreements and associated documentation, ensuring current and signed documentation is accurately recorded and easily retrievable.

•      Review legal documentation submitted for CEO, Board or authorised executive signature, ensuring documents are complete, appropriately reviewed, properly authorised and aligned with governance requirements before signature.

•      Provide legal guidance on contractual disputes and risk exposure.

3: Corporate Governance

•      Promote compliance with King IV Corporate Governance Principles and organisational governance frameworks.

•      Develop and maintain governance policies, procedures and reporting frameworks.

•      Ensure governance structures operate effectively and efficiently.

•      Advise management and the Board on governance-related matters.

•      Monitor governance compliance and recommend corrective actions.

4: Board and Committee Secretariat Support

•      Serve as Company Secretary or provide Company Secretariat support to the Higher Health Board, the Higher Health UK Board, Board Committees, the Scientific Advisory Committee, and the Gender-Based Violence Technical Task Team (GBV TTT).

•      Coordinate Board and Committee meetings, and prepare annual governance calendars, agendas and meeting packs.

•      Attend Board, Committee and other designated governance meetings and take accurate, comprehensive minutes, ensuring decisions, resolutions, recommendations and action items are properly recorded.

•      Prepare and maintain governance reports, action registers, resolutions and follow-up reports for submission to the CEO, Chief of Staff, Boards, Committees and relevant stakeholders.

•      Facilitate implementation and monitoring of Board and Committee resolutions.

•      Maintain statutory records and governance documentation, including agendas, packs, minutes, resolutions and attendance registers, in an accurate, confidential and audit-ready state.

•      Ensure compliance with statutory and governance reporting requirements.

5: Litigation, Due Diligence and External Legal Counsel Management

•      Manage litigation, disputes, claims and other legal matters in conjunction with external legal service providers, ensuring relevant records and supporting information are properly maintained.

•      Liaise with Higher Health's external legal counsel and attorneys, coordinating the exchange of legal correspondence, documentation and information.

•      Maintain litigation registers, case status reports and tracking systems, providing updates on significant developments, outstanding actions and relevant deadlines.

•      Lead legal due diligence exercises, governance reviews, audits and investigations, including compiling supporting documentation and undertaking relevant fact-gathering activities.

•      Oversee the procurement, appointment, administration and management of external legal service providers, including maintaining records of legal instructions, deliverables and relevant documentation.

6: Compliance and Regulatory Management

•      Develop, implement and monitor compliance management frameworks.

•      Ensure compliance with applicable legislation and regulatory requirements, including the Companies Act, the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), labour legislation, Non-Profit Organisation requirements, tax legislation and governance reporting obligations, and donor and funding compliance requirements.

•      Conduct compliance assessments, reviews and audits, and assist with regulatory filings and statutory submissions, ensuring required documentation is accurate, complete and submitted within prescribed timelines.

•      Prepare compliance reports for Executive Management, Committees and the Board.

•      Promote compliance awareness throughout the organisation.

7: Policy Development and Review

•      Lead the development, review and implementation of organisational policies and governance frameworks.

•      Ensure alignment of policies with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

•      Provide policy interpretation and implementation guidance.

•      Monitor policy compliance across the organisation.

•      Facilitate policy awareness and training initiatives.

8: Stakeholder Management and Regulatory Liaison

•      Establish and maintain productive relationships with regulators, government departments, legal practitioners and strategic partners.

•      Represent the organisation in legal, governance and regulatory engagements.

•      Coordinate submissions and responses to regulatory authorities.

•      Provide support during external audits and governance reviews.

•      Coordinate official communications and documentation between the CEO's Office, Board members, Committee members, technical experts, internal departments and other governance stakeholders.

•      Facilitate effective stakeholder communication on legal and governance matters.

9: Ethics and Integrity Management

•      Promote ethical leadership and organisational integrity.

•      Support ethics awareness and governance programmes.

•      Facilitate conflict of interest declarations and related processes.

•      Advise management on ethical governance practices.

•      Assist with governance investigations where required.

•      Foster a culture of responsible corporate citizenship and accountability.

Qualification

Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Degree.

Experience

•      Minimum of seven (7) years' relevant experience in legal, governance, compliance, risk management or company secretariat functions.

•      Demonstrated experience providing legal advisory services to executive leadership and governance structures.

•      Experience in contract and MOU drafting, negotiation and management, including managing the full lifecycle of legal agreements from drafting through approval and signature.

•      Proven experience in Board or Committee secretariat functions, including preparation of agendas, Board packs, and accurate minute-taking at high-level meetings.

•      Experience coordinating litigation matters, due diligence exercises, or working with external legal counsel.

•      Sound experience in policy development and governance administration.

•      Proven experience in compliance monitoring and regulatory reporting.

•      Sound understanding of the South African legal and governance environment.

•      Experience working within the higher education, health, public sector, development or non-profit environment will be advantageous.

•      Strong report-writing and stakeholder management capabilities, including experience engaging senior executives, Boards, government departments, NGOs and development partners

Interested applicants are invited to apply for the position using this link Jobs at Careers

Closing date: 04 September 2026

Should you not receive a response within 6 weeks of the closing date, please consider your application to be unsuccessful.

Employment Equity

Higher Health is committed to the principles of Employment Equity. In line with our Employment Equity Plan, preference may be given to candidates from designated groups. All appointments will be made in accordance with the organisation’s Employment Equity objectives.

Persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.