Senior Legal Manager – Financial Litigation & Regulatory Disputes

About the role

PalmPay is seeking a Senior Legal Manager to lead its financial litigation, regulatory investigations and complex dispute portfolio across Africa. The role reports to the Head of Legal and requires an experienced financial litigation lawyer who can independently manage high‑value, high‑profile disputes while safeguarding the company’s commercial, regulatory and reputational interests.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and execute litigation strategy from pre‑action assessment through judgment, appeal, settlement and enforcement.
• Lead banking, fintech, commercial, regulatory and financial‑crime litigation, including fraud, unauthorized transactions, chargebacks and asset recovery.
• Manage responses to injunctions, garnishee orders, subpoenas, freezing and preservation orders.
• Represent PalmPay before regulators such as CBN, EFCC, NFIU and FCCPC.
• Coordinate internal investigations involving AML, sanctions and financial crime.
• Oversee external counsel, litigation budgets and cross‑jurisdictional legal strategy.
• Advise executive management on legal risk, crisis response and sensitive matters.
• Establish litigation governance, reporting, KPIs and continuous improvement.

Required profile

• LL.B and admission to practice in Nigeria (LL.M preferred).
• Minimum 10 years post‑qualification experience, with at least 5 years leading litigation for banks, fintechs or regulated financial institutions.
• Extensive experience in commercial, banking and regulatory enforcement litigation.
• Proven track record handling high‑value disputes (NGN 1 billion+).
• Strong courtroom strategy, negotiation and advocacy abilities.

Required skills

• Litigation strategy development
• Drafting pleadings, affidavits, witness statements and legal submissions
• Courtroom advocacy and negotiation
• Asset tracing and financial‑crime recovery
• Managing external counsel across multiple jurisdictions

What we offer

• Regional leadership exposure across Africa
• Opportunity to build a best‑in‑class litigation function
• Competitive compensation and performance incentives
• Career progression to Director/Head of Litigation