Senior Legal Manager

Title: Senior Legal Manager – Real Estate & Commercial Infrastructure

Client Summary:

Our client is a premier global leader in shared communications and digital infrastructure. Operating at the cutting edge of modern connectivity, they power the networks that keep millions of people, businesses, and communities connected every day. With an expansive portfolio and an ambitious growth mandate across South Africa and the broader continent, our client offers a dynamic, high-performance environment underpinned by collaboration, operational excellence, and long-term career advancement.

Job Description:

This is a compelling opportunity to step into a high-visibility, senior advisory role where your decisions directly shape multi-million-rand infrastructure investments and operational sustainability.

Reporting to the Regional Legal Property Head, you will act as a trusted legal advisor across diverse business units, guiding complex land-use initiatives, critical lease negotiations, and regulatory strategies. You will operate within a matrixed multinational structure that empowers you to lead high-stakes negotiations, mentor internal teams, and partner with senior stakeholders to balance risk with commercial growth. If you are looking for an influential seat at the table where legal precision meets real-world commercial impact, this role is built for you.

Responsibilities:

• Strategic Legal Advisory: Provide comprehensive legal counsel to cross-functional business stakeholders, ensuring that critical property decisions, infrastructure rollouts, and commercial agreements align with corporate objectives and statutory governance.
• Complex Lease & Property Management: Draft, negotiate, and finalize high-value ground leases, rooftop leases, servitudes, wayleaves, and access agreements across public and private land portfolios.
• Title & Land Rights Regularization: Oversee land rights verification, ownership audits, and title investigations to ensure full legal tenure and operational security across all operational sites.
• Dispute Resolution & Litigation Oversight: Formulate pre-litigation strategies and oversee alternative dispute resolution, landlord mediations, and property litigation, ensuring optimal commercial outcomes while managing brand reputation.
• External Counsel Leadership: Instruct, manage, and evaluate external attorneys, advocates, conveyancers, and specialist consultants to guarantee high-quality, cost-effective service delivery.
• Regulatory & Municipal Compliance: Navigate complex municipal engagements, rates disputes, zoning requirements, and land-use approvals, while monitoring regulatory changes across telecommunications, environmental, and occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation.
• Risk Mitigation & Commercial Enablement: Proactively identify contractual and operational liabilities, translating complex statutory frameworks into practical, commercially sound operational solutions.
• Stakeholder Capability Building: Deliver targeted legal training workshops to internal operational and commercial teams to enhance contractual awareness and risk management capabilities across the organization.

Requirements:

Must-Haves (Essential for Consideration)

• Education & Admission: Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree or recognized equivalent; Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
• Experience Level: 5 to 7+ years of post-qualification legal experience rooted in general commercial, corporate, and commercial property law.
• Firm / Corporate Pedigree: Proven track record within a medium-to-large corporate law firm, reputable commercial property enterprise, or a large multinational corporate legal department.
• Lease Drafting & Negotiation Expertise: Substantial hands-on experience structuring, drafting, and negotiating complex property leases, servitudes, and contractual dispute settlements.
• External Counsel Management: Demonstrated experience directing, instructing, and managing external attorneys, counsel, and property specialists.
• Working Model Flexibility: Ability to thrive in a structured hybrid model (3 days office-based, 2 days remote) with occasional domestic travel.

Nice-to-Haves (Beneficial Advantages)

• Specialist Qualifications: Admitted Conveyancer and/or Notary Public qualifications.
• Advanced Degrees: Postgraduate qualification (LLM or diploma) in Property Law, Commercial Law, or Real Estate.
• Industry Sector Exposure: Direct exposure to the telecommunications, tower infrastructure, or utilities sectors, including working knowledge of the Electronic Communications Act, ICASA regulations, and the Competition Act.
• Public & Traditional Authority Engagement: Prior experience interfacing with municipalities, traditional leaders, government departments, and institutional property asset managers.