Assistant Legal Counsel

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 just at the beginning of our product roadmap and potential impact on people’s everyday lives.

As Assistant Legal Counsel, you will support Wave’s operations in The Gambia, working closely with the Senior Legal Counsel (Anglophone Africa) to help the business achieve its goals through robust contracting, risk management, and regulatory compliance. You will report directly to the Senior Legal Counsel, Anglophone Africa.

In this role, you'll

Contracting

• Draft and negotiate contracts for Wave’s core products and services (agents, payments, procurement) to protect the company’s commercial and legal interests.
• Manage and improve contracting processes, including policy implementation, contract management software, e-signature tools, and archiving.

Legal operations

• Implement group legal policies and propose improvements based on legal developments and industry best practices (e.g., contracts, data privacy).

Litigation & Dispute Resolution

• Manage claims and disputes, including case management, mediation, arbitration, and litigation.

People support

• Provide legal support on employment contracts, disciplinaries, and terminations.

Company secretarial

• Organize board meetings and manage secretarial matters for the Gambian entity.

Risk management

• Work with the Risk & Controls teams to implement mitigations for legal risks.

Data privacy & consumer protection

• Support implementation of the data privacy compliance strategy.

Regulatory support

• Advise on licensing and regulatory matters in collaboration with the wider legal team.

Other responsibilities

• Manage relationships with external law firms.
• Contribute to cross-jurisdictional legal projects as needed.

Key details

• Location: You'll work from our office in The Gambia and may travel to field locations
• 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 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

• Bachelor’s degree in Law from a leading accredited institution.
• Qualified lawyer in an Anglophone African or Commonwealth jurisdiction.
• 5+ years of in-house experience in technology, finance, fintech, or mobile money, preferably with a leading regional or global organization.
• Fluency in French is a significant advantage.

You might be a good fit if you

• Have excellent communication skills (written and oral) and can explain complex legal concepts simply.
• Are a proactive self-starter who takes initiative to achieve ambitious goals.
• Thrive under pressure, with strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Adapt quickly to changing priorities.
• Excel in planning, organization, and meeting deadlines.
• Build strong relationships and help others succeed.
• Possess outstanding legal drafting skills.

• 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.

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.