Company Secretary / Legal Adviser at Grand Cereals Limited (GCL)

Grand Cereals Limited (GCL), a subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc, is an integrated foods company whose primary activity is the creation of superior value from local raw materials to produce and deliver superior quality brands in the animal feed, edible oils, breakfast cereals, pet food and other intermediate and consumer cereals products to Nigeria and West Africa markets.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Company Secretary / Legal Adviser

Location: Plateau
Job Type: Full time

Job Outcomes
Legal: Set legal direction and deliver high-quality, correct and timely legal advice to the Company and its functional units:

• Draft, review and finalize all legal agreements involving the Company and implement effective contract management, ensuring 100% of contracts are subsisting and valid.
• Implement strategic management of litigation portfolio ensuring no new avoidable litigations arise. Reduce litigation portfolio by 10% year on year.
• Implement strategic management of the Company’s intellectual property portfolio (including copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, etc.,) ensuring 100% of intellectual properties are validly registered and subsisting.
• Provide strategic, functional, correct and timely legal advice on all new product launches.
• Zero regulatory penalty.

Governance and Secretariat: Support the overall effectiveness of the Board:

• Implement, model and encourage good corporate governance practices and culture within the Company to ensure 100% compliance with applicable corporate governance requirements.
• Provide a central source of guidance and advice to the Board and the Company on matters of ethics, conflict of interest and good corporate governance.
• Coordinate the induction of new directors within three (3) months of being appointed.
• Provide high-quality secretarial support to the Board, improving the effectiveness of the Board year on year by 10%.
• Oversee the planning and coordination of the Company’s Annual General Meeting (at least once every year) and other general meetings, as may be required.
• Draft minutes of Board-related meetings within 2 weeks, reports of committee meetings within 24 hours and action points within 24 hours.

People: Implement continuous training and ensure talent retention:

• Achieve 50% increase in employees’ knowledge of contracts requisition and signing process through targeted training programs over the next fiscal year.
• Ensure no loss of key talent in the Company’s legal function.
• Implement two (2) Company-wide employee trainings per year on relevant Company policies for improved efficiency.

Stakeholder Management: maintain effective stakeholder engagement and management:

• Develop a stakeholder map for the Company within 3 months.
• Organize and oversee at least 2 stakeholder engagement visits in a financial year.

Technology: Infuse Technology into the legal function for improved efficiency and effectiveness:

• Successfully integrate artificial intelligence in one key legal process, resulting in a 10 - 15% increase in efficiency within the next six months.
• Drive efficiency in the utilization of technology across the business – at least one technology-based initiative/recommendation introduced in a financial year.

Competencies of the Job

• LL.B and B.L (at least 2.1 either way).
• ICSAN (this is an added advantage).
• Minimum of 10 years of appreciable and functional post-call corporate and commercial law experience
• Has an eye for detail. Analytical and possesses elite legal research and drafting skills.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.A high level of organization, professional maturity and ability to juggle multiple tasks.
• Strong passion for continuous learning and development.
• Keen interest in technology improvement (particularly artificial intelligence).
• Analytical and strategic thinking.
• Talent spotting and development.
• Good team player with relationship management and networking skills.
• High level of integrity and ethics. Consistently demonstrates ‘clearly above-board’ principles.
• Enthusiasm: clearly “on board” with the mission, lives and breathes the Company.
• Committing and delivering. Setting bold targets and relentlessly pursuing them to execution.
• Inspiring teams. Building high-performing teams, setting high standards and challenging colleagues to strive for excellence.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CVs to: [email protected] using the job title as the subject of the mail