Principal: Legal

Cellulant is Africa’s leading payments company, providing seamless, secure and innovative solutions that empower businesses, banks, and global brands to thrive in a fast-changing global economy. 

With a presence in over 24 countries and 200+ payment methods across cards, bank transfer and mobile money, our single API payment platform, Tingg, simplifies collections, disbursements, and reconciliations. It processes over 1 million transactions daily for market leaders in various sectors, such as Airlines, Telecoms, E-commerce, Ride-Hailing, Retail, and Remittances. 

By simplifying how people pay and get paid, we drive trust, commerce and scale – and connect companies to their ambitions.  

Across Africa, payments are more than transactions. They are gateways to prosperity, connecting people, businesses and communities to opportunities and growth. 

From enabling a logistics company in Lusaka to pay suppliers across borders, to enabling a hospitality brand in Lagos to scale effortlessly, to supporting an airline in Nairobi to reconcile payments from multiple platforms, Cellulant is the bridge that makes it all possible. 

Through trusted technology and customer-centric innovation, we build connections that inspire progress, strengthen economies and transform payments into a tool for progress.

Since our founding in 2003, we've continuously adapted and grown, leveraging our experiences to simplify payments for businesses. We are driven by an unshakable belief that seamless people-centred payments are the key to unlocking prosperity. 

Today, Cellulant powers online and offline payment processing, allowing businesses to collect payments, send payouts, and accelerate business growth.

To deliver seamless, secure and innovative payment solutions for businesses. 

To create a connected world where businesses move money as easily as they share ideas.

Cellulant is hiring a Senior Legal Counsel, Commercial to support our commercial work across multiple African markets. You will be part of the Legal team and work directly with colleagues in Revenue, Product, and Finance to make sure our contracts and commercial arrangements are sound, practical, and support the business to grow.

This role is hands-on. You will draft, review, and negotiate contracts with customers, banks, network partners, and vendors. You will also work closely with our Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance teams to help Cellulant move quickly while managing risk.

You will report to the Head of Legal.

You can be based anywhere in Africa. If you are located outside the continent, your time zone must be within ±2 hours of Central Africa Time (CAT).

• Draft, review, and negotiate customer, partner, bank, and vendor agreements across African markets.
• Support sales, product, and finance teams so they can close deals and deliver services on time.
• Resolve commercial issues in complex contracts and find practical solutions that balance risk and business goals.
• Work with the Head of Legal to build and maintain templates and playbooks so the team can move faster, stay consistent, and scale effectively
• Give clear, practical legal advice that the business can use, and build strong relationships with leaders and teams across the company.
• Work with colleagues across Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance on shared priorities.
• Build strong working relationships with leaders and teams across the business.

• 8–10+ years of experience working on commercial contracts in the UK, EU, Africa, or US.
• Background in FinTech, payments, banking, financial services, or software technology. Experience with payment services, merchant acquiring, e-commerce, remittances, or mobile payments is a plus.
• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills.
• Able to manage complex projects independently and deliver under tight timelines.
• Commercially minded: you understand risk but know how to get deals done.
• Comfortable working across multiple markets and in an international business environment.
• Excellent communicator, able to work well with senior leaders and challenge constructively when needed.
• A problem-solver who is proactive and solution-driven.
• A legal qualification in the UK or the US is highly advantageous. Candidates who have practiced outside Africa, even for a short period, will have a strong edge.

Added advantage: Knowledge of the payments regulatory landscape in Kenya, Ghana, or Nigeria.

This role is a chance to shape the contracts and commercial backbone of one of Africa’s leading FinTech companies, working directly with senior teams to support growth across the continent.

At Cellulant, we are more than a payments company: we are bridge-builders. We believe that by simplifying the way people pay and get paid, we are connecting companies to their ambitions, people to opportunities, and Africa to the global economy. Our work goes beyond payments—it’s about what people, businesses, and communities can do when the movement of money becomes more dependable, seamless, and secure. 

Some exciting things about us...

• We have an extensive footprint: We have an office presence in  10 countries, and our products serve 24 countries across Africa, with a global workforce of about 300 employees. 
• We believe innovation is at the heart of Fintech: Thousands of market leaders and top enterprises trust our technology to power their payments. Our customers are in various sectors, including financial services, travel and hospitality, telecom, e-commerce, remittance companies, SaaS, and the gig economy. 
• We support a diverse and inclusive workforce: We focus on the growth and development of our employees through well-developed, individualised career paths, ensuring you reach your full potential in a supportive and delivery-oriented environment. 
• We put our employees first: We offer market-related compensation, generous personal time off, and medical and life insurance benefits (markets permitting). 
• We seek collaborative builders: At Cellulant, we believe that great ideas happen when we come together. Therefore, we nurture a collaborative work environment that challenges, engages, and empowers each person to contribute to the growth and success of the business. 
• We solve Africa's digital economy: We’re solving payment challenges on the continent to create opportunities and accelerate economic growth for all of Africa.