Legal Counsel
Wave Mobile Money
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 Legal Counsel at Wave, you will play a key role in supporting our Côte d'Ivoire Legal Team 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.
In this role, you will be responsible for providing straightforward, practical, and business-oriented legal advice, as well as implementing legal strategies that protect the company's interests and contribute to its overall success.
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Contracting
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Draft, review, and negotiate contracts across all business areas to align with company objectives and legal requirements.
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Support contract work for core products/services, balancing legal protection with commercial value.
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Lead high-value, complex contract negotiations, providing strategic legal guidance.
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Improve and manage contracting processes, including policies, management systems, e-signature tools, and document archiving.
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Legal Operations
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Implement group legal policies and propose updates in response to legal developments, operational feedback, and industry best practices.
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Litigation
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Develop and execute procedures for managing claims and disputes, including pre-litigation strategies, mediation, arbitration, and litigation follow-up.
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People Support
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Provide legal guidance on employment matters, including contracts, disciplinary actions, and terminations.
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Company Secretarial
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Oversee company secretarial responsibilities in collaboration with the Head of Regulatory Affairs/Company Secretary.
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Risk Management
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Work with Risk and Controls teams to identify legal risks and implement mitigations and internal controls.
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Data Privacy & Consumer Protection
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Support rollout and enforcement of the company’s data privacy compliance framework.
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Regulatory Support
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Provide legal advice on licensing and regulatory requirements, collaborating with legal and compliance colleagues.
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External Counsel Management
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Maintain relationships with external law firms and manage their service delivery.
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Special Projects
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Contribute to cross-functional legal initiatives and support ad hoc legal priorities.
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Key details
- Location: You'll work from our office in Côte d'Ivoire.
- 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.
- 3–5 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.