Internal Legal Counsel

ABOUT US

HyperionDev is one of the largest providers of accelerated tech education in EMEA and one of the oldest providers of 'coding bootcamps' in the world. We work with top universities such as Imperial College London, The London School of Economics, The University of Edinburgh, and Stellenbosch University to deliver structured technical courses and bootcamps that accelerate people into fulfilling tech careers. We have been recognised as one of the top education technology scaleups in the world and gained the financial backing of Meta (previously Facebook) which recognised us as  the most socially impactful startup operating in Africa, where we initially started our work.

We are dedicated to closing the global tech skills gap and we achieve this by integrating tech education with human mentorship and expert code review powered by a workforce in Southern Africa, which lowers the cost of an accessible education in technology. This model has been successful, allowing us to reach millions of learners a year from over 60 countries. We have also partnered with government bodies such as the UK's Department for Education who provide scholarships for students to study on our bootcamps and gain employment at companies such as AstraZeneca and the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS).

We're backed by nearly 2000 investors, having raised the largest crowdfunding round of funding for an edtech company in history. As a primarily bootstrapped, profitable, and scale up tech business join us as we play our part in making the world a more stable, safer, and fair place. 

 

ABOUT THE ROLE 

As a full-time Internal legal Counsel at HyperionDev you will be part of our People Operations Department within the Wellness division, and work towards ensuring legally sound policies and practices at the company, representing the company and leading our preparedness for all legal matters, and provide general counsel to other departments. 

In this role, you will be required to advise and work on a variety of legal matters arising from the company's dealings with individual and business customers, employees and contractors, and third parties. Your work will include drafting and reviewing in-house legal documents, drafting and reviewing third party contracts, agreements and leases, settlement of legal disputes, and research and preparation for ongoing and new cases of litigation at any court of law, tribunal or ombudsman. 

To excel in this role, you should possess sound legal skills, experience in drafting and reviewing legal documents, a fine attention to detail, excellent time- and task- management skills and high levels of motivation and ambition.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Your responsibilities will include but not be limited to: 

Reviewing, drafting and managing contracts

• Reviewing and drafting contracts with employees and contractors
• Reviewing and drafting contracts and agreements with third parties including business clients, service providers and suppliers
• Negotiating and liaising with third parties to finalise contracts
• Ensuring that agreements are finalised, signed by relevant parties, and filed properly for internal reference 
• Ensuring that contract end dates, notice periods, lock-in periods are tracked for renewing agreements.

 

Developing and reviewing policies and procedures

• Reviewing our legal terms and privacy and data protection policy for South African and international website users 
• Reviewing the terms and conditions of use of our service by customers (e.g. refund policy, disenrollment policy, student undertaking)
• Reviewing internal workplace/human resources policies and procedures
• Ensuring that the business meets compliance norms with respect to relevant regulations or regulatory requirements
• Researching on legal matters and providing legal opinion
• Assisting in training department leads and employees on internal policies, processes and relevant regulations (e.g. labour law).

 

Support in litigation, legal representation and enforcing the company’s rights

• Negotiating with third parties over disputes and settlement terms 
• Supporting or representing the company at legal hearings including the CCMA
• Serving notice of breach, letters of demand, cease & desist letters through electronic means or via sheriffs, and seeing the matters through to conclusion.
• Research and preparation for ongoing and new cases of litigation at any court of law, tribunal or ombudsman.
• Preparation of documents for external counsel containing information pertinent to legal matters, including draft affidavits, pleadings, notices. 

 

Legal Administration

• Drafting Board resolutions
• Ensuring that all legal correspondence, pleadings and notices are archived.
• Checking invoices from external attorneys against services rendered.

REQUIREMENTS 

Minimum

• Should be an admitted attorney/ qualified LPC
• 2+ years of experience in drafting legal documents as a candidate attorney
• Strong writing skills and high attention to detail
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills 
• Ability to work independently and meet timelines 
• Strong negotiation skills 

Preferred 

• 2+ years of post-admission experience 
• Prior experience in a startup / tech environment
• Prior experience or knowledge in government procurement legislation

BENEFITS

Flexible & remote working: We are a remote-friendly organisation and offer flexible work options.

Join the heart of tech in Africa, the US, and Europe: You'll work with the best of the best and rub shoulders with the world leaders in edtech, developer education, and developer assessments. Join one of the most ambitious and highest performing tech companies in the space, with a founding team that draws their former experience from companies such as Google, Amazon, GetSmarter/2U, & Yoco. 

Life-changing work: Solve real problems that make education and tech careers accessible to those who need it most: you're allowed to brag about it.