Legal Counsel

About Thunes

Thunes is the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world. Thunes’ proprietary Direct Global Network allows Members to make payments in real-time in over 140 countries and more than 90 currencies. Thunes’ Network connects directly to over 12 billion mobile wallets, stablecoin wallets and bank accounts worldwide, as well as 15 billion cards via more than 220 different payment methods, such as GCash, M-Pesa, Airtel, MTN, Orange, JazzCash, Easypaisa, AliPay, WeChat Pay HK and many more. Thunes’ Direct Global Network differentiates itself through its worldwide reach, in-house SmartX Treasury System and Fortress Compliance Platform, ensuring Members of the Network receive unrivaled speed, control, visibility, protection, and cost efficiencies when making real-time payments, globally. Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network include gig economy giants like Uber and Deliveroo, super-apps like Grab and WeChat, MTOs, fintechs, PSPs and banks. Headquartered in Singapore, Thunes has offices in 15 locations, including Atlanta, Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Nairobi, New York, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco and Shanghai. For more information, visit: https://www.thunes.com.

Context of the role

As Legal Counsel - Africa, your focus will be supporting the Legal & Compliance function in building a world-class legal and regulatory infrastructure for sustainable business performance into the future. You will assist the Vice Presidents Legal, General Counsel and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and the wider function in providing legal advice (primarily in English and French languages) to the business and central functions, advising on legal risks, providing legal advice and support with regard to all aspects of the group’s activities but, principally, contracting with the group’s network partners and customers in Africa for the group’s regulated payment services. You will be part of a team that ensures full compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; including all obligations relating to payment data and payment processing services as well as acquiring and maintaining all relevant licences to perform our business activities globally (incl. payment institution licences, money remittance licences, among others).

The successful candidate must be a highly motivated self-starter with a proven ability to work in a fast-paced environment, both independently and as a member of a team.

Key Responsibilities

The primary tasks, duties, and responsibilities are:

• Serve as integral member of Thunes’ Legal team and liaise between other departments, anticipating their requirements.
• Provide pragmatic but always legally sound guidance and maintain a culture of excellence to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Provide appropriate legal and contractual support for all business areas including commercial contracting, product development, payments, sales and marketing activities.
• Take responsibility for substantive legal issues as requested, including commercial, payments, privacy, product, intellectual property, regulatory, contentious and corporate.
• Work closely with the Legal & Compliance leadership in monitoring and responding to relevant statutory, regulatory and policy changes.
• Reinforce culture of compliance with all relevant rules and regulations, including formulation of and compliance with internal policies, rules and procedures and horizon scanning.
• Ensure the proper balance of internal and external legal resources and their effective allocation.

Candidate Requirements

• Law qualification from a reputable institution; admitted as a solicitor/lawyer, ideally in Kenya, France or UK.
• Fluent spoken and written English and French.
• Demonstrable legal negotiation and drafting experience either from within a reputable law firm or similar in-house role.
• Minimum of 4 years of post-qualification legal experience.
• Broad legal experience including commercial, payments, product and intellectual property.
• Ability to “roll up your sleeves” and ensure effective operations; identify best practices in legal and apply to Thunes.
• Strong alignment with Thunes’ culture and values and be comfortable in changing corporate environments.
• Committed to building a world-class legal organisation that supports Thunes’ efforts to achieve its goals.
• Role location: Kenyan office based.
• Willingness to work from Thunes’ office in location 4 days per week (including Monday and Friday).
• Willingness to travel (not frequently) and work across different time zones.