Head of Legal Partnerships

About the role

An AI safety technology company is looking for a Head of Legal Partnerships to build and run the network of law firms behind its service, which lets users share evidence packs with vetted firms. The role sits in Lagos, Nigeria, with travel across Nigeria in the first three months, and reports to the CEO. It combines legal, commercial and marketing work in roughly a 35/40/25 split, starting in Nigeria and extending to the Netherlands and the United States.

Key responsibilities

• Source, vet, contract and onboard law firms state by state across Nigeria, using the Nigerian Bar Association branches as the main route, and cover the practice areas needed by users.
• Extend the network to the Netherlands and the United States, with bar counsel engaged before signing firms, and scope further markets with a signed counsel memo required.
• Run every firm through a structured vetting standard and sign a partner agreement covering the per-report fee, service levels, data terms, no exclusivity, no steering and termination for breach.
• Own the escalation flow end to end with Product: user selects a firm from a matched list, the firm receives the evidence pack securely, responds within the agreed time, and the user rates the experience.
• Publish service levels (response time, acceptance rate, user rating, complaint rate), coach firms below standard and remove non-compliant ones.
• Keep the evidence pack trustworthy (hashing, timestamps, chain of custody, access logs, retention and deletion rules) in agreement with Security Operations and the data protection lead.
• Ensure the company never gives legal advice, recommends one firm over another, takes a share of a legal fee or pays or receives a referral commission, and structures the platform fee lawfully in each market.
• Own the service's website, social media (at least five posts a week, approved before going live), in-app messaging, rights trainings and PR.
• Win over firms with partner decks, bar branch presentations, practice area events and a monthly firm update, and track escalation rate, firm pipeline, cost per signed firm and platform engagement.

Required profile

• Qualified lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar, with at least six years of practice or legal operations experience.
• Proven commercial record: signing partners, running accounts and hitting targets in legal tech, insurance, a law firm network, a marketplace or a comparable B2B2C business.
• Marketing experience: running a website and social accounts, briefing creative, reading a funnel and speaking on a stage.
• Knowledge of professional conduct rules on referral fees, fee sharing and advertising in Nigeria, and ability to brief outside counsel in the Netherlands and the United States on the same.
• Fluent English; Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo an advantage.

Required skills

• Able to explain a hash, a timestamp and a chain of custody to a judge and a product manager.
• Working understanding of data protection and the user's free choice of lawyer.
• Preferred: network across Nigerian Bar Association branches, practice in victims' rights, domestic violence or personal injury, familiarity with legal aid processes, and legal tech experience.

The position is full-time with a six-month probation, starts as soon as possible, and is paid N400,000 monthly plus a bonus linked to accepted escalated reports and revenue. Only qualified candidates will be contacted.