Legal Advisor

To provide in-house legal drafting, review, and advisory support that enables compliant, commercially sound decision-making, while ensuring disciplined legal risk identification and consistent contract quality across SolarAfrica’s operations.

Position of the job in the organisation:

The Legal Advisor will report directly to the Head of Legal. Should a Senior Legal Advisor position be established, the role will then report to the Senior Legal Advisor.

Principal responsibilities:

Legal Drafting and Review

- Draft, review, and support negotiation of commercial and project agreements, including NDAs, MoUs, supplier and service agreements, leases, and first-pass reviews of EPC, O and M, and PPA-adjacent documentation.

- Prepare and issue contractual correspondence, including letters of demand, notices, and responses.

- Support contract renewals, amendments, and variations from a legal review perspective.

Legal Advisory and Risk Support

- Advise internal stakeholders on key contractual terms, legal implications, and risk exposure arising from tenders, supplier contracts, customer agreements, and project documentation.

- Analyse contracts pre-award, identify legal and commercial risks, and provide clear, practical recommendations.

- Support contract strategy discussions by assessing legal risk associated with available options and proposed approaches.

Procurement and Commercial Support

- Participate in and support procurement processes, including RFIs, RFQs, and RFPs, from a legal and governance perspective.

- Provide legal input into bid documentation, deviation schedules, and contracting strategies.

- Support preparation for contract negotiations and work alongside commercial leads as require

Post-Signature Contract Support, Disputes, and External Counsel

- Support and advise on day-to-day post-signature contract management matters, working in coordination with Contracts Managers responsible for project execution and administration.

- Provide legal advice on contractual interpretation, rights and remedies, review of notices and correspondence, variations, claims, and dispute escalation.

- Support the management of contractual disputes, claims, and compensation events, including matters referred to arbitration or court.

- Prepare legal positions, correspondence, and supporting documentation for dispute resolution proceedings.

- Coordinate with and manage external legal consultants and counsel, including briefing, document preparation, progress tracking, and cost monitoring.

Governance, Compliance, and Document Control

- Maintain legal templates, clause standards, and precedent documents.

- Support consistent naming, filing, and document-control standards for legal agreements and dispute-related documentation.

- Ensure compliance with applicable statutory and internal governance requirements in the contractual context.

- Contribute to the development and implementation of legal policies, procedures, and compliance guidance.

- Provide regular updates on assigned legal matters, risks, disputes, and turnaround times.

- Any other job duties associated with this role.

Experience & Skills

- Minimum 5+ years’ experience in a legal or commercial legal advisory role

- Strong experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts

- Knowledge of contract law, procurement processes, and dispute resolution

- Experience coordinating with external legal advisors

- LLB or equivalent law degree.

Specific attributes:

- Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills.

- High levels of integrity, professionalism, and sound judgement.

- Strong commercial awareness and ability to balance legal risk with business objectives.

- Excellent attention to detail with a structured and organised approach to work.

- Ability to work under pressure, manage competing priorities, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Desirable attributes:

- Experience within the renewable energy, infrastructure, or project-based sectors.

- Proven ability to provide practical, commercially balanced legal advice to non-legal stakeholders.

- Awareness of legal, regulatory, and market developments relevant to the business environment.

What Does Success Look Like?

By month 3:

- I will have a thorough understanding of SolarAfrica’s legal environment, systems, contract landscape, and internal governance structures.

- I will be fully familiar with all core contract types used across the business, including PPAs, EPC agreements, lease agreements, installer and supplier contracts.

- I will have identified key legal, contractual, and compliance risk themes across active contracting workflows.

- I will have identified key legal, contractual, and compliance risks and prioritised them based on business impact.

- I will have gained a clear understanding of existing legal and contract support processes and highlighted priority improvement are

- I will have established strong working relationships with key stakeholders across compliance, commercial, procurement, sales, and operations.

By month 6:

- I will be providing consistent and timely legal drafting and review support across sales, procurement, and commercial activities.

- I will be actively supporting sales, procurement, and commercial teams with contract negotiations, amendments, and renewals.

- I will be providing clear, commercially balanced legal advice on proposed contract changes and new agreements.

- I will be coordinating effectively with external legal advisors where required, ensuring cost control and efficient turnaround times.

- I will have introduced consistent contract templates, clause standards, and a centralised contract filing and naming system.

- I will be advising management on legal and contractual risks before agreements are signed, reducing exposure and rework.

By month 12:

- I will be operating as a trusted legal advisor to cross-functional teams, providing day-to-day legal support with sound judgment and appropriate escalation.

- I will be a trusted legal and commercial advisor to senior management and cross-functional teams.

- I will have contributed to embedded and consistent legal review and governance practices that support scalable business growth.

- I will be adding measurable value through reduced legal risk, improved contract turnaround times, and better commercial outcomes.

- I will be contributing to policy development, compliance initiatives, and continuous improvement of legal processes.

- I will be supporting dispute resolution and post-signature legal matters.

- I will be supporting SolarAfrica’s growth strategy by enabling faster, more secure deal execution aligned with scalable legal practices

Core Values:

We hire, reward, and recognise our team against these values. It is imperative that you believe in these values and demonstrate them consistently.

- We are passionate and proud of what we do.

- We communicate candidly, especially when it is difficult

- We take the initiative, share our mistakes, and grow together

- We are dependable and take accountability

- No one person is bigger than the solution - no egos.

We are currently only considering candidates based in South Africa with valid working rights. Unfortunately, we are unable to consider applications from outside the country at this time.