Principal: Legal

Job title: Principal: Legal

Company: Cellulant

Job description: About Cellulant:is Africa’s leading payments company, providing seamless, secure and innovative solutions that empower businesses, banks, and global brands to thrive in a fast-changing global economy.With a presence in over 24 countries and 200+ payment methods across cards, bank transfer and mobile money, our single API payment platform, Tingg, simplifies collections, disbursements, and reconciliations. It processes over 1 million transactions daily for market leaders in various sectors, such as Airlines, Telecoms, E-commerce, Ride-Hailing, Retail, and Remittances.By simplifying how people pay and get paid, we drive trust, commerce and scale – and connect companies to their ambitions.Our Story:Across Africa, payments are more than transactions. They are gateways to prosperity, connecting people, businesses and communities to opportunities and growth.From enabling a logistics company in Lusaka to pay suppliers across borders, to enabling a hospitality brand in Lagos to scale effortlessly, to supporting an airline in Nairobi to reconcile payments from multiple platforms, Cellulant is the bridge that makes it all possible.Through trusted technology and customer-centric innovation, we build connections that inspire progress, strengthen economies and transform payments into a tool for progress.Since our founding in 2003, we’ve continuously adapted and grown, leveraging our experiences to simplify payments for businesses. We are driven by an unshakable belief that seamless people-centred payments are the key to unlocking prosperity.Today, Cellulant powers online and offline payment processing, allowing businesses to collect payments, send payouts, and accelerate business growth.Our Mission:To deliver seamless, secure and innovative payment solutions for businesses.Our Vision:To create a connected world where businesses move money as easily as they share ideas.Key Relationships and Stakeholders:

• Business teams

• Product and Technology teams

• Regulators

• External Legal Counsel

• Company Secretaries

• Other counterparties

Role Overview:As a Principal: Legal, you will work closely with the Senior Manager, Legal or Head of Legal, helping build a strong compliance culture across the business. You’ll serve as a key partner to the business, ensuring our teams understand the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern our operations: locally, regionally, and internationally.This role isn’t just about legal advice: it’s about helping the business anticipate change, assess risk, and act confidently. You’ll work across departments and jurisdictions, providing legal support that enables bold but responsible growth.Key Responsibilities:

• Understand and advise the business on applicable laws, regulations, and standards across all jurisdictions where Cellulant operates.

• Interpret laws and help the business design programs that ensure compliance.

• Support and implement legal and compliance processes including drafting, negotiating, and reviewing commercial agreements.

• Review and advise on licensing, approvals, and registrations required to operate legally in different markets.

• Represent the business in commercial disputes, including court proceedings or alternative dispute resolution forums.

• Educate staff and leadership on the impact of legal and regulatory requirements.

• Analyze emerging laws and regulations to identify both risk and opportunity for the business.

• Collaborate with the Head of Legal to build effective compliance frameworks.

• Maintain active relationships with regulators and legal authorities at local, national, and regional levels.

• Provide legal guidance on employment and other operational matters as needed.

What You’ll Need to SucceedMust-Have Experience

• A bachelor’s degree in Law with at least 6 years of relevant work experience.

• Strong legal judgment and the ability to recommend practical solutions.

• Ability to handle complex legal issues across management and operational levels.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

• Business awareness and sound leadership capabilities.

Experience That Will Count in Your Favor

• Prior experience in FinTech, insurance, or a financial services institution.

• Strong business acumen and comfort working in a commercial environment.

Nice to Have

• Cross-border legal experience.

• Compliance certifications such as CIPP or CAMS.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of legal experience, with at least 3 years in a senior role.

• Deep understanding of fintech regulations, including payments, crypto, and lending.

• Proven ability to build legal strategies that support business growth.

• Skilled in negotiation and contract drafting.

• Demonstrated experience aligning legal frameworks with strategic business goals.

Skills:

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving ability

• Strong written and verbal communication

• Project management and organizational skills

• Legal research proficiency

• Attention to detail and ability to work under pressure

• Sound judgment and confident decision-making

Personal Attributes

• High integrity and confidentiality

• Strategic and proactive thinker

• Strong resilience under pressure

• Ethical, principled, and dependable

• Committed to continuous learning and growth

Why Work for Us?At Cellulant, we are more than a payments company: we are bridge-builders. We believe that by simplifying the way people pay and get paid, we are connecting companies to their ambitions, people to opportunities, and Africa to the global economy. Our work goes beyond payments—it’s about what people, businesses, and communities can do when the movement of money becomes more dependable, seamless, and secure.Some exciting things about us…

• We have an extensive footprint: We have an office presence in 10 countries, and our products serve 24 countries across Africa, with a global workforce of about 300 employees.
• We believe innovation is at the heart of Fintech: Thousands of market leaders and top enterprises trust our technology to power their payments. Our customers are in various sectors, including financial services, travel and hospitality, telecom, e-commerce, remittance companies, SaaS, and the gig economy.
• We support a diverse and inclusive workforce: We focus on the growth and development of our employees through well-developed, individualised career paths, ensuring you reach your full potential in a supportive and delivery-oriented environment.
• We put our employees first: We offer market-related compensation, generous personal time off, and medical and life insurance benefits (markets permitting).
• We seek collaborative builders. At Cellulant, we believe that great ideas happen when we come together. Therefore, we nurture a collaborative work environment that challenges, engages, and empowers each person to contribute to the growth and success of the business.
• We solve for Africa’s digital economy: We’re solving payment challenges on the continent to create opportunities and accelerate economic growth for all of Africa.

Expected salary:

Location: Lagos, Lagos State

Job date: Wed, 23 Jul 2025 22:56:47 GMT