Legal Counsel

Our mission

We're making Africa the first cashless continent.

In 2017, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason-the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash.

We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. Now, we have millions of users across 9 countries and are growing fast.

Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent and that's where you come in...

How you'll help us achieve it

As a Senior Legal Counsel at Wave, you will play a key role in supporting our  Legal Team in Mali and contributing to the company’s growth and compliance objectives.

You will work closely with both operational and functional teams to help them achieve their goals while proactively identifying, assessing, and managing legal risks to ensure full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 

Your main responsibilities will be providing clear, practical, and business-oriented legal advice and implementing legal strategies that protect the company’s interests and contribute to its overall success. You will report directly to the Head of Legal.

In this role, you'll;

Contracting

• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts across all business areas, ensuring alignment with company objectives and compliance with applicable laws.
• Support contract drafting and review for Wave’s core products and services, ensuring the protection of the company’s commercial and legal interests while optimizing value and efficiency.
• Lead and participate in complex and high-value contract negotiations, providing strategic legal input to achieve balanced and sustainable agreements.
• Enhance and manage the contracting process, including the implementation of contract policies, contract management systems, electronic signature tools, and document archiving procedures.

Legal Operations

• Implement group legal policies and propose updates based on legal developments, operational feedback, and industry best practices (e.g., contract policy, data privacy policy).

Litigation

• Develop and apply procedures for managing legal claims and disputes, including pre-litigation strategy, mediation, arbitration, and litigation follow-up.

People Support

• Provide legal support on employment matters such as contracts, disciplinary procedures, and terminations.

Company Secretarial

• Oversee company secretarial responsibilities in coordination with the Head of Regulatory Affairs/Company Secretary.

Risk Management

• Collaborate with the Risk and Controls teams to identify legal risks and implement appropriate mitigations and internal controls.

Data Privacy & Consumer Protection

• Support the rollout and enforcement of the company’s data privacy compliance framework.

Regulatory Support

• Provide legal advice on licensing and regulatory requirements, working closely with colleagues across the legal and compliance teams.

External Counsel Management

• Build and maintain relationships with external law firms and manage legal service delivery.

Special Projects

• Contribute to cross-functional legal initiatives and support other legal priorities as they arise.

Key details

• Location: You'll work from our office in Mali.
• Work authorization in Mali is required.
• This is a permanent position.  
• Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula.  
• We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents.
• We support working parents - we offer generous parental leave policies (26 weeks for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers) and subsidized child care when you return to work.
• We help you live your fullest life now - we subsidize gym memberships and fitness classes.
• Airtime reimbursement.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Law or equivalent.
• 5-7 years of professional legal experience, ideally within a dynamic corporate or regulatory environment.
• Fluency in both written and spoken French and English.
• Proven experience in corporate governance, including planning and preparing for board and shareholder meetings.
• Strong knowledge of general legal and regulatory requirements applicable to corporate and commercial activities.

You might be a good fit if you

• Efficiently and quickly apply instructions from your lead, and proactively identify and report problems or blockers.
• Excel in both teamwork and independent work.
• Are proficient in drafting and reviewing contracts in English and French.
• Demonstrate tenacity and a commitment to completing tasks.
• Possess a strong analytical approach to problem-solving.
• Are highly organized and detail-oriented, with a clear and accurate legal approach.
• Have excellent writing, listening, and communication skills, consistently striving for excellence in all endeavors.

Our team

• We have a rapidly growing in-country team in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Uganda, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon plus remote team members spread across the world.
• We're deeply passionate about our mission of bringing radically affordable financial services to the people who need them most.
• We foster autonomy for our employees. You'll own your projects at every stage, from understanding the problem to monitoring your solution in production.
• We raised the largest Series A in Africa in 2021. Our world-class investors, include Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, and Partech Africa.
• We are on  Y Combinator's top companies by revenue.

How to apply

Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English and a cover letter describing your interest in Wave and the role.

We review applications frequently and recommend that you apply to the role that most closely aligns with your skills, experience and career goals.

Wave is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.