Housing Finance Company Secretary & Head of Legal Services Job in Kenya

Company Secretary & Head of Legal Services

Job Purpose: 

An appointee of the Board who formulates and develops internal legal advice to the entire business, as well as the Board, on all governance matters whilst ensuring all standard financial and regulatory compliance including continuing obligations and requirements by Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) are complied with. In addition, he/she will act as the registered company secretary to the board of Housing Finance and its subsidiaries.

This role will be reporting into the Managing Director (MD) & Board of Directors while managing the legal and shares function of the company.

Principal Accountabilities

1. Act as the Company Secretary of the Board of Directors of Housing Finance, Kenya Building Society Limited, Housing Finance Foundation and Housing Finance Insurance Agency.
2. Develop structures and policies that ensure all the above subsidiary companies comply with all the regulatory and statutory regulations including the following: Central Bank Prudential guidelines, Companies Act, Capital Markets Authority’s regulations, Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) regulations and Insurance regulations.
3. Develop programmes that ensure all statutory and regulatory returns are furnished in a timely manner and the company complies with all the Continuing Obligations including issuance of all cautionary and company statutory notices.
4. Act as custodian of all the Company Seals, Minutes and all the various records to ensure conformity with the regulations.
5. Execute all documents of the company under seal as Secretary to the various Boards.
6. Ensure and promote good governance in the various Boards including advising on requirements of Directorships in compliance with the various Articles of Association.
7. Oversee overall management of reputational and financial risk of the group by managing the major litigations and suits of all the Companies.
8. Convene, provide secretarial services and attend to the Board and all subsidiary companies for proper planning of all Board & AGM meetings and for record keeping.
9. Maintain accurate and up to date shareholder records whilst facilitating timely and effective communication between the Company and Shareholders.
10. Custodian of the Company contracts, titles, powers of attorneys securities and all legal documents pertaining to the business for safety custody.
11. Provide sound legal opinions on all legal and commercial matters pertaining to the business of the Companies and to oversee the proper representation of the Bank in legal cases appearing before the courts so as to save the company any damages and effectively manage the litigation portfolio.
12. Oversee handling arbitration matters on behalf of the company so as to ensure the timely resolution of cases and reduce litigation costs.
13. Oversee the Management of external Bank lawyers Service Level Agreements to ensure turnaround times are within range and HF costs that may incur due to delays.
14. Developing and overseeing systems that ensure the company complies with all applicable codes in addition to its legal and statutory requirements.

Expected Minimum Qualification

• Education: Degree in Law & a Certified Public Secretary (CPS)
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years legal & company secretarial experience at a senior management level, preferably in the Banking industry.

Technical and General Competencies

• Technical competencies:

1. Leadership abilities
2. Communication skills
3. Analytical skills
4. Presentation skills
5. Keep abreast with the change of regulatory environment

• General competencies: Team player

How to Apply

Applicants should email their applications attaching a detailed curriculum vitae and a letter indicating why they are interested in and are qualified for the position above, as well as provide the names of three referees who can provide confidential assessment of their capabilities to a Search Committee. 

All communication relating to applications for this position should be addressed to: hf@preferredpersonnel.co.ke. 

Applications should be received by 3rd July 2013.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

On the subject matter of the email, please indicate the position you are applying for.