Senior Legal Counsel

Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company, operating 240+ data centers across the globe and providing interconnections to all the key clouds and networks. Businesses need one place to simplify and bring together fragmented, complex infrastructure that spans private and public cloud environments. Our global platform allows customers to place infrastructure wherever they need it and connect it to everything they need to succeed.

We are a fast-growing global company with 20 years of continuous growth. Through our innovative portfolio of high-performance products and services, we have created the largest, most active global ecosystem of 10,000+ companies, including 2,100 networks and 3,000+ cloud and IT service providers in 32 countries spanning six continents.  

A career at Equinix means you will collaborate on work that impacts the world and be surrounded by endless opportunities to learn new skills and grow in varied directions. We embrace diversity in thought and contribution and are committed to providing an equitable work environment. that is foundational to our core values as a company and is vital to our success.

Job Summary : Senior Legal Counsel

We are more than legal professionals protecting Equinix’s interests. We are valued business partners, known as responsive, consistent and proactive. We take customer service seriously and strive for excellence in our execution. Equinix’s dynamic growth trajectory keeps us on our toes and constantly learning. Our strong relationships with our internal clients, fuelled by our solution-driven orientation and creative yet practical advice, bring us to the table early and often and lead to interesting and rewarding work in support of Equinix’s overall business objectives.

Our global Legal department may span four continents, but we are One Legal – a true team working together across borders in support of our shared strategic objectives. We work hard but take time to celebrate our accomplishments – both professional and personal, with a healthy dose of fun thrown in along the way. We look forward to coming to work every day to support Equinix and each other and highly value the “team first” culture we have created. We are proud that our collective effort has led to Equinix One Legal being named as one of the Top Innovative Law Departments in North America by the Financial Times (FT, December 2015).

This new role of Senior Legal Counsel, Corporate will be responsible for providing corporate law and related support for our business in South Africa where we recently announced plans to build a greenfield US$160 million data center in Johannesburg (augmenting our existing footprint in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire). The new data center is expected to open mid-2024. This role will be working with the newly appointed management team in Johannesburg as well as with regional and global business support functions, in particular Corporate Development, Finance, Tax and Treasury functions.

Responsibilities

• Being a close partner to the business, the successful candidate will be assisting in a broad spectrum of legal, compliance (a.o. Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment), and corporate secretariat matters within Equinix’s business, with a particular focus on the Equinix business in South Africa
• Assist to implement and maintain the Company’s Compliance program, including policies and procedures, deliver Compliance training addressing employee needs and Compliance requirements as well as enhancing employee awareness and knowledge of regulatory requirements and sensitivities in South Africa
• Advising on legal matters and projects; working closely with and providing strategic guidance to the business, especially the internal Corporate Development Team, Real Estate Team as well as the Construction & Design Team to support the Company’s expansion activities in South Africa
• Working with members of Equinix legal team (including Equinix regional and global teams) and external counsels where required
• Providing pragmatic and commercially focused legal advice and responding to queries on a wide range of corporate contracts, including prosecuting and defending litigation and/or insurance claims if required
• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts to ensure Equinix’s interests are protected. Liaising with colleagues globally on corporate matters
• Identifying contracts that do not comply with Equinix policies, processes, and procedures and escalating issues to stakeholders/approvers and to appropriate party to address non compliance
• Conducting presentations, training and educating the business team members on legal review processes and procedures, legal documents and applicable laws
• Functioning as part of the wider global legal team, including engaging with other departments, providing input on corporate issues, undertaking any global projects, initiatives, deals, corporate or other commercial transactions as may arise or be assigned

Qualifications

• Degree qualification, with solid post qualification experience (proven years) in corporate law from a middle or top tier law firm and/or a large multi-national organization in South Africa is essential
• Experience of working in an in-house legal role in a dynamic business environment is strongly preferred
• Strong communication and relationship building skills, and experience (internal or external) working with other business focused personnel is essential
• Strong attention to detail
• Strong ability to organise and prioritise tasks and workload, and good administrative skills. Ability to work with tight deadlines
• Strong ability to take a pragmatic and commercial approach. Ability to multi-task and work with limited supervision
• General working knowledge of financial spreadsheets, accounting rules (revenue recognition etc.) is desirable
• Good presentation skills; and
• General working knowledge of databases, e.g. Access databases etc. IT proficient in relation to all MS Word packages, and good typing skills

Equinix is committed to ensuring that our employment process is open to all individuals, including those with a disability. If you are a qualified candidate and need assistance or an accommodation, please let us know by completing this form.

Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law.

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