Legal Counsel

Company Description: Systemiq is a system-change company committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement by transforming markets and business models across five key systems: nature and food, materials and circularity, energy, urban areas, and sustainable finance.

As a certified B Corp, we combine strategic advisory with high-impact, on-the-ground work, partnering with business, finance, policymakers and civil society to deliver system change. With offices across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, we are dedicated exclusively to sustainability-focused work.

Do you want to be part of the change?

Systemiq is a fast-growing and constantly evolving organisation that has business operations in 7 countries. We are hiring a Junior Legal Counsel (1-2 years post-qualification experience (PQE)) to join our global legal team based in London and Jakarta. We are looking for a lawyer who wants to work for a purpose-driven company. We offer the opportunity to be part of a thriving team committed to sustainability and environmental projects that have a lasting impact. You will have a high degree of flexibility to manage your workload and working pattern and a genuine interest in impact projects. Working alongside our high- performing team of 4 in Legal, you will be instrumental in shaping the structure and advising our business across our 3 legal pillars (i) Commercial Transactions (ii) Corporate and Company Secretarial; and (iii) Grants and Philanthropy. You will work closely with our joint Heads of Legal and Legal Counsel team (based in London & Jakarta) on key commercial, strategic and transactional business projects.

This is a hands-on role for a junior lawyer who wants early responsibility, close exposure to senior legal stakeholders and the opportunity to help build legal processes in a growing international organisation.

As part of a small and growing legal team, you will have significant scope to develop your expertise, broaden your responsibilities and progress your legal career as the organisation grows.

Primary Responsibilities

From day one, you will support a broad range of legal, operational and governance workstreams as our Junior Legal Counsel.

• Supporting Legal and Operations leads across corporate, commercial, grants and HR workstreams.
• Independently manage routine and lower-complexity legal matters, with guidance from senior counsel on higher-risk or more complex issues.
• Owning legal operations processes, including FAQs, playbooks, decision trees, checklists and training materials and workflow improvements.
• Carrying out legal research and managing legal knowledge, data and AI-enabled workflows.
• Preparing legal training materials for Systemiq consultants, partners and internal teams.

Commercial

• Support the Head of Legal (Commercial) on client contracts, NDAs and procurement contracts.
• Maintain commercial contract templates and support contract lifecycle management.
• Manage contractor, advisor and project expert onboarding, including template contracts and HR engagement documentation.

Corporate and Company Secretarial

• Support the Head of Legal (Corporate) on corporate templates, share and asset transactions, spin-offs, entity set-up and board materials.
• Manage the relationship with the outsourced company secretarial function and track corporate filings and administration.
• Support international intra-group entity management and corporate governance processes.
• Prepare, track and coordinate powers of attorney, delegations of authority and execution formalities.

Grants, Philanthropy and Partnerships

• Coordinate vendor onboarding with Finance, including KYC, due diligence, sanctions screening and reputational checks.
• Develop and maintain templates for grants and philanthropic projects.
• Support annual compliance and reporting for B Corp, UN Global Compact, EU Transparency Register and other partnership and membership obligations.

About You

• Delight in the details and apply your detail-oriented project management skills to ensure our team has the knowledge and support they need to deliver the global projects, products, and services

• Have thoughts on process. Your workload is meticulously organised and maintained, and you have a reputation for follow-through. You have exceptional time management and work prioritisation, and driving multiple responsibilities simultaneously with limited oversight does not faze you. Willingness to improve processes and develop more efficient, scalable ways of working.

• Are humble. No task is too small for anyone, and you are eager to learn. You’re all about the team, not the individual.

• Get it done. You have a methodical approach to your work with a strong focus on accuracy, attention to detail, consistency, and superb quality. Comfortable managing multiple priorities, deadlines and changing requirements.

• You’re a people person. You have outstanding interpersonal skills and can quickly establish rapport, build trust, and demonstrate credibility and authority. You have proven stakeholder management skills and remain calm under pressure.

• Words matter. You have excellent communication skills, whether in-person, virtually, or by email, and you value listening and solving others’ challenges

• Creative. You look at new ways of working, utilising design thinking. You’re resilient and pragmatic.

• You’re solution-oriented. You can clearly explain issues, contribute to their resolution, and effectively influence and negotiate to achieve consensus and successful outcomes. You can anticipate needs, make reasoned decisions, and communicate them effectively.

• Early Adopter. Embrace new technology systems/ ways of working and demonstrate aptitude and ability for system administration, reporting, and utilisation.

• Keeps professional knowledge, capabilities, and skills up-to-date and an open and continuous learning mindset

Essential Qualifications / Experience

• Strong interest in Systemiq’s mission and the sustainability, environmental or social enterprise sectors.
• Business international level of English – both written and oral. 
• Law degree and qualification to practise (international law degree and/or Kenya School of Law qualifications)
• Indicative experience level: 1–2 years post-qualification experience, gained in a reputable law firm or in-house legal team, preferably with experience in corporate and commercial or the NGO and charity sectors.
• Strong legal research, drafting, analytical and organisational skills.
• Training at a recognised law firm or in-house legal team preferred, ideally with corporate or commercial legal experience or charity sector.
• Confident using legal databases, legal AI tools, Microsoft Office and document management systems.
• Able to work from the Nairobi office 2–3 days per week.

Disclaimer: Please ensure you are legally eligible to work/live in your location when applying for this role. Visa sponsorship or relocation costs will not be provided.

Diversity & Inclusion
At Systemiq, we absolutely believe diverse perspectives are essential to driving system change. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where people feel respected, supported and able to do their best work.

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