Senior Associate, Legal Counsel

Location: Addis Ababa

Organization: Kifiya

Deadline:  September 12, 2026

Job Description

Department: CEO’s Office

Reports To: Director, Legal and Compliance

About Kifiya:

Kifiya is an AI-powered financial and market infrastructure company advancing inclusive economic growth across Africa. We design and deploy risk decisioning systems, intelligent financial infrastructure, and market linkage platforms that unlock credit, insurance, payments, and capital access for MSMEs and smallholder farmers. We build the AI, data, and financial infrastructure that helps financial institutions serve hard-to-finance segments at scale.

Business Unit Description

The Office of the Chief Executive Officer is the central coordination and executive enablement function of Kifiya. It supports the Chief Executive Officer in driving enterprise strategy, execution discipline, and cross company alignment.

The Office of the Chief Executive Officer exists to reduce fragmentation, protect executive bandwidth, and ensure that Kifiya operates as one coherent, high performing institution.

Position Summary

The Associate, Legal provides end-to-end legal support across Kifiya’s operations, ensuring that all business activities are conducted in full compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and internal governance frameworks.

The role supports management and operational teams through proactive legal advisory, contract management, regulatory engagement, and dispute resolution. The position also plays a key role in safeguarding corporate integrity, ethical conduct, and regulatory readiness in a fast-scaling fintech and AI-driven environment.

Key Responsibilities

Legal Drafting and Contract Management

• Draft, review, negotiate, and approve contracts, memoranda of understanding, service agreements, partnership agreements, and other legal instruments required for Kifiya’s operations.
• Ensure contractual terms appropriately mitigate legal, financial, regulatory, and operational risks.
• Maintain standardized contract templates and clauses aligned with regulatory and business requirements.
• Provide legal input on new products, partnerships, platforms, and market solutions prior to rollout.

Legal Advisory, and Legal Risk Management

• Provide timely and practical legal advice to management and business units on operational, regulatory, and strategic matters.
• Identify, assess, and advise on legal risks associated with business decisions, partnerships, and market expansion.
• Apply effective risk management techniques and recommend mitigation strategies to protect the company’s interests.
• Support the Director of Legal, Risk, and Governance in strengthening corporate governance frameworks, internal policies, and codes of conduct.
• Ensure alignment with financial sector regulations, fintech laws, data protection requirements, labor laws, and applicable commercial laws.

Regulatory Engagement and External Relations

• Serve as a point of contact with regulators, government authorities, and supervisory bodies, under the guidance of the Director of Legal, Risk, and Governance
• Coordinate and manage engagements with external legal counsel, ensuring cost-effective and high-quality legal support.
• Support regulatory licensing, approvals, reporting, and ongoing compliance obligations.
• Monitor regulatory developments relevant to fintech, digital finance, data, and AI, and advise management on implications.

Compliance and Internal Capacity Building

• Conduct legal and compliance needs assessments across departments.
• Design and deliver in-house legal and compliance training programs, including annual or bi-annual refresher sessions.
• Promote awareness of legal obligations, compliance standards, and ethical conduct across the organization.
• Support the development and implementation of internal compliance policies, procedures, and controls.

Litigation, Dispute Resolution, and Court Representation

• Prepare and review statements of claim, defenses, appeals, and other pleadings for court and quasi-judicial proceedings.
• Represent Kifiya before courts of law and quasi-judicial bodies, as required.
• Manage disputes and litigation matters in coordination with external counsel when necessary.
• Advise management on dispute resolution strategies, including negotiation and settlement where appropriate.

Investigations, Ethics, and Safeguarding

• Lead or participate in safeguarding, disciplinary, and ethics-related investigations in accordance with company policies.
• Prepare investigation reports and recommendations for management review.
• Support the enforcement of disciplinary actions and corrective measures while ensuring procedural fairness and legal compliance.

Key Outputs

• Legally sound and risk-mitigated contracts and agreements
• Timely and practical legal advisory to management and teams
• Reduced legal and operational risk exposure
• Strengthened internal compliance culture and staff awareness

Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree is required
• Master of Laws (LLM) is an advantage

Experience

• Minimum of five years of relevant experience in legal practice, consulting, or in-house legal advisory
• Prior experience in financial services, fintech, technology, or regulated environments is strongly preferred

Core Competencies

• Strong legal drafting, analysis, and negotiation skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Sound judgment and ability to handle complex and sensitive matters
• Strong business acumen with the ability to engage senior leaders
• High ethical standards and professional integrity
• Strong stakeholder management, networking, and influencing skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel; familiarity with AI-enabled legal or productivity tools is an advantage