Group Head of Legal (Johannesburg)

ABOUT US

About Us

HyperionDev is one of the world’s leading providers of accelerated tech education, partnering with top universities such as Imperial College London, The London School of Economics, and The University of Edinburgh to deliver industry-driven coding bootcamps that fast-track learners into meaningful tech careers. Backed by Meta, the UK government’s Department for Education, and nearly 2000 investors, we are a profitable, high-growth scaleup shaping the future of tech education.

Within the HyperionDev ecosystem, we’re building and scaling innovative spin-outs that include HyperDev, our AI-powered developer tools venture, and Longdue Games, our narrative-first video game studio. These ventures combine cutting-edge technology with a shared mission: to create tools, experiences, and opportunities that change lives.

By joining us, you’ll be part of a global team driving impact across AI, education, and interactive entertainment.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are a rapidly expanding startup with international growth, managing complex government and university partnerships. Our legal operations involve working with multiple law firms across jurisdictions, ensuring compliance, risk management, and strategic legal guidance to support our expansion.

The Group Head of Legal will be responsible for overseeing all legal aspects of our businesses, providing strategic direction, managing external legal counsel, and ensuring compliance with international regulations. This role is critical in safeguarding our company’s interests while facilitating scalable and legally sound growth. As the Group Head of Legal, you will be part of our leadership team, working directly with the CEO and Partnerships team on business expansion. You will represent us in all legal matters, lead our preparedness for legal challenges, and provide strategic counsel to other departments.

Please note this is a full time position.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Your responsibilities will include:

• Develop and implement the company’s legal strategy to support international expansion
• Manage and negotiate a wide range of business contracts, including agreements with government, universities, service providers, and strategic partners.
• Oversee compliance with global regulatory requirements, including data protection, local legislation and corporate governance.
• Liaise with and manage relationships with external law firms across multiple jurisdictions.
• Provide legal risk assessments and mitigation strategies to the CEO and management team.
• Lead dispute resolution, litigation management, and regulatory investigations when necessary.
• Support corporate structuring, investor contracts and any MA activities as the company scales.
• Develop and review legal policies and procedures
• Lead and train the internal team in their contract management, compliance, legal administration and litigation tasks.

REQUIREMENTS

Minimum

• Should be an admitted attorney with an LLB degree
• Minimum of 10 years of in-house legal experience reviewing policies and procedures.
• 5+ years experience in a leadership role
• Minimum of 1 year experience with English and Welsh law cases
• Strong experience in contract negotiation, corporate law, and compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
• Exposure to working with or within fast-growing startups and international business environments
• Experience managing external law firms and legal budgets.
• Excellent leadership and management skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with both legal and non-legal stakeholders.
• Proven ability to analyse and solve complex legal issues.
• Strong negotiation skills

Preferred

• Master's degree in Law or Business Administration
• Prior experience in a startup / tech environment
• Prior experience or knowledge in government procurement legislation
• Experience drafting shareholder agreements, Board resolutions or minutes, sale of share agreements
• Experience in matters dealing with Intellectual Property Law or trademark application/enforcement
• Strong ethical standards and commitment to integrity and compliance.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills.
• Strong writing skills and high attention to detail
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work independently and meet timelines

BENEFITS

Flexible remote working: We are a remote-friendly organisation and offer flexible work options.

Join the heart of tech in Africa, the US, and Europe: You'll work with the best of the best and rub shoulders with the world leaders in edtech, developer education, and developer assessments. Join one of the most ambitious and highest performing tech companies in the space, with a founding team that draws their former experience from companies such as Google, Amazon, GetSmarter/2U, Yoco.

Life-changing work: Solve real problems that make education and tech careers accessible to those who need it most: you're allowed to brag about it.

Originally posted on Himalayas