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 six 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
Wave is now the largest financial institution in Senegal, with over 7 million users. And we're still in the early days of our product roadmap and potential impact on people's everyday lives.
As an Assistant Legal Counsel, you will support the legal team in Senegal by managing legal risks and providing protection and guidance to help the business achieve its ambitious goals.
In this role, you'll:
- Litigation:
- Implementing procedures to manage claims and disputes, including pre-action case management, mediation, arbitration, and litigation.
- Working hand in hand with internal stakeholders and external lawyers to file court matters and follow-up with external legal counsel.
- Represent Wave's interests before the appropriate authorities, e.g., police, CDP, etc.
- Building relationships with our external law firms.
- Seizures and recoveries: Working with the Fraud team to manage seizure orders and working with the recovery officer in respect of debt recovery litigation.
- Contract drafting and management: Implementing electronic and physical archiving of legal documents.
- People support: Legal and administrative support is provided with respect to employment law matters.
- Data privacy and consumer protection: Implementing the data privacy compliance strategy, including preparing authorization applications.
- General Legal Support: Contribute to other areas of the legal function and participate in projects as they arise.
Key details
- Location: You'll work from our office in Senegal.
- Work authorization in Senegal is required.
- This is a permanent position.
- Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula. We run performance reviews twice a year and award bonuses to strong performers who have been with the company for more than 6 months.
- We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents.
- We support working parents - we offer 26 weeks of parental leave for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers, in addition to subsidized child care when they return to work.
- Airtime reimbursement.
- Free food and a beautiful office space.
Requirements
- A Master's degree in Business Law.
- At Least 3 years experience with a mobile money company, bank, telecom operator, or law firm.
- Experience in litigation management, including interactions with lawyers, bailiffs, and police.
- Demonstrate strong listening and communication skills, fluent in French and English.
You might be a good fit if you:
- Communicate clearly and proactively, with the ability to independently manage tasks and prioritize effectively.
- Are familiar with legal research, drafting contracts, and preparing legal documents.
- Have a strong interest in technology, particularly in contract management and electronic signature tools.
- Enjoy working as part of a team, but can also work efficiently independently.
- Are skilled in negotiation, especially in challenging or high-pressure situations.
- Approach problems with a strong analytical mindset.
- Possess excellent planning and organizational skills, with a proven ability to meet deadlines.
- Have exceptional writing skills and attention to detail.
- Have the ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritize workloads, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Our team
- We have a rapidly growing in-country team in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, and Uganda, 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.