Background

Tenwek Hospital is a Christian community committed to excellence in compassionate healthcare, spiritual ministry, and training for service to the glory of God. The hospital was founded in 1937 by missionaries from World Gospel Mission and has since grown to be a leading teaching and referral hospital in the region and one...

Job Summary

The Legal Officer will provide in-house legal advisory, compliance oversight, and risk mitigation support to AGC Tenwek Hospital. The role is critical in managing medical-legal exposure, labour relations matters, data protection compliance, contract management, and litigation coordination, while supporting sound governance and institutional integrity.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Medical-Legal & Clinical Risk Support
  • Provide legal advice on medical negligence claims, patient complaints, and medico-legal exposure.
  • Review and advise on incident reports, adverse event investigations, and medico-legal documentation.
  • Coordinate with insurers, external advocates, and clinical leadership on claims management and litigation strategy.
  • Support development and review of clinical consent frameworks, patient rights policies, and medico-legal SOPs.
• Labour & Employment Relations
  • Advise HR on disciplinary cases, grievances, terminations, suspensions, and appeals in line with the Employment Act, CBA provisions, and hospital policies.
  • Review and clear disciplinary investigation reports and recommendations before implementation.
  • Support management in labour disputes, union engagements, conciliations, and court cases (currently and future).
  • Ensure alignment of HR practices with labour laws, CBAs, and best industrial relations standards.
• Contract Review & Legal Documentation
  • Review, draft, and vet contracts, MOUs, SLAs, consultancy agreements, supplier contracts, and partnership agreements.
  • Ensure contracts adequately protect the Hospital from legal, financial, and reputational risks.
  • Maintain a central legal contract register with key terms, expiry dates, and risk flags.
  • Advise departments on contract interpretation and enforcement.
• Litigation & External Counsel Management
  • Coordinate all litigation matters involving the Hospital (medical, labour, commercial, data protection).
  • Liaise with external advocates, insurers, regulators, and courts.
  • Track legal cases, costs, timelines, and outcomes; prepare periodic litigation status reports for management.
  • Support out-of-court settlements where appropriate and cost-effective.
• Data Protection & Regulatory Compliance
  • Support compliance with the Data Protection Act, 2019, including staff and patient data handling.
  • Advise on data breaches, investigations, and mitigation actions.
  • Support compliance with healthcare regulatory bodies and statutory requirements applicable to Level 6 Teaching & Referral Hospital.
• Governance, Ethics & Advisory
  • Provide legal advisory support to Management, Committees, and the Board through the Director HR & Admin.
  • Support policy development, review, and interpretation from a legal compliance perspective.
  • Promote ethical conduct, risk awareness, and legal compliance culture across the Hospital.
• Credit Control & Finance Legal Support
  • Support the Finance Unit on credit control legal matters, debt recovery processes, and enforcement.
  • Review legal aspects of credit agreements, guarantees, and recovery actions.
  • Advise on legal risk exposure related to non-performing accounts and contracts.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from a recognized university
• Advocate of the High Court of Kenya
• Valid practicing certificate
• Minimum 4-6 years post-admission experience, preferably: In healthcare, insurance, labour law, or corporate legal practice

• Provide legal advice on medical negligence claims, patient complaints, and medico-legal exposure.
• Review and advise on incident reports, adverse event investigations, and medico-legal documentation.
• Coordinate with insurers, external advocates, and clinical leadership on claims management and litigation strategy.
• Support development and review of clinical consent frameworks, patient rights policies, and medico-legal SOPs.
• Advise HR on disciplinary cases, grievances, terminations, suspensions, and appeals in line with the Employment Act, CBA provisions, and hospital policies.
• Review and clear disciplinary investigation reports and recommendations before implementation.
• Support management in labour disputes, union engagements, conciliations, and court cases (currently and future).
• Ensure alignment of HR practices with labour laws, CBAs, and best industrial relations standards.
• Review, draft, and vet contracts, MOUs, SLAs, consultancy agreements, supplier contracts, and partnership agreements.
• Ensure contracts adequately protect the Hospital from legal, financial, and reputational risks.
• Maintain a central legal contract register with key terms, expiry dates, and risk flags.
• Advise departments on contract interpretation and enforcement.
• Coordinate all litigation matters involving the Hospital (medical, labour, commercial, data protection).
• Liaise with external advocates, insurers, regulators, and courts.
• Track legal cases, costs, timelines, and outcomes; prepare periodic litigation status reports for management.
• Support out-of-court settlements where appropriate and cost-effective.
• Support compliance with the Data Protection Act, 2019, including staff and patient data handling.
• Advise on data breaches, investigations, and mitigation actions.
• Support compliance with healthcare regulatory bodies and statutory requirements applicable to Level 6 Teaching & Referral Hospital.
• Provide legal advisory support to Management, Committees, and the Board through the Director HR & Admin.
• Support policy development, review, and interpretation from a legal compliance perspective.
• Promote ethical conduct, risk awareness, and legal compliance culture across the Hospital.
• Support the Finance Unit on credit control legal matters, debt recovery processes, and enforcement.
• Review legal aspects of credit agreements, guarantees, and recovery actions.
• Advise on legal risk exposure related to non-performing accounts and contracts.

• Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from a recognized university
• Advocate of the High Court of Kenya
• Valid practicing certificate