Director Legal

Overview of the role

This role was written for someone who thinks like a founder, executes like an operator, and happens to have a law degree. We are not looking for a “legal department in a person.” We are looking for a builder — someone who will architect the legal function from the ground up, move with speed and precision, and harness AI to do the work of five lawyers at a fraction of the cost and time. If you thrive in ambiguity, hold yourself to exacting standards, and believe that great legal work should accelerate the business rather than slow it down, this is for you.

The 10X mandate is non-negotiable. You will be measured on your ability to use AI and legal technology to deliver ten times the output, speed, and quality of a conventional legal function of the same size. Contracts should be reviewed, negotiated, and closed in hours — not days or weeks. Legal research and risk memos should be produced with AI assistance, then reviewed and signed off by you with precision. Compliance workflows, playbooks, and contract templates should be built once and scaled automatically. You will lead a lean team that consistently punches above its weight because every process is designed around AI-assisted leverage. You will not only select and implement the right AI and LegalTech stack — you will continuously refine it, building intelligent workflows rather than merely using tools.

Expectations from the role

LEGAL PRACTICE AREAS

You will own the full legal surface area of the organisation — end to end, from policy to execution.

General Contracts & Commercial Agreements

▸ Employment contracts, offer letters, separation agreements

▸ Vendor and supplier agreements (MSAs, SOWs)

▸ Customer and client contracts (SaaS, licensing)

▸ NDAs, consultancy agreements, freelancer contracts

▸ Office leases and service provider agreements

Investment & Capital Markets Activity

▸ Term sheets, SHA, SSA for funding rounds (seed through growth)

▸ Investor rights agreements (anti-dilution, liquidation provisions)

▸ Due diligence support for incoming investors

▸ Cap table management and ESOP/options scheme structuring

▸ Secondary transactions and convertible instruments (SAFEs, CLAs)

Venture Building & New Entity Formation

▸ Legal structuring for new ventures, SPVs, subsidiaries

▸ Joint venture agreements and co-development arrangements

▸ Incubation agreements, IP assignment, founder vesting

▸ Licensing and spin-out structures from existing IP

▸ Cross-entity governance and intercompany agreements

M&A and Strategic Transactions

▸ Acquisitions, mergers, and asset purchases (buy and sell side)

▸ LOIs, exclusivity agreements, SPAs, warranties, indemnities

▸ Post-close integration legal workstreams

▸ Strategic partnerships (commercial and equity components)

▸ Earn-outs, deferred consideration, escrow arrangements

Intellectual Property & Technology

▸ IP ownership, assignment, and protection strategy

▸ Software licensing and open-source policy compliance

▸ AI-generated work product (IP ownership and risk)

▸ Brand protection (trademarks, domains, brand guidelines)

▸ Data licensing, API terms, and platform usage rights

Regulatory, Compliance & Data Privacy

▸ Data protection compliance (GDPR, CCPA, DPDP, etc.)

▸ AI governance and EU AI Act obligations

▸ Regulatory licensing, permits, jurisdictional filings

▸ Anti-bribery, sanctions, export controls, AML

▸ ESG reporting and supply chain due diligence

Dispute Resolution & Risk Management

▸ Litigation strategy and management of external counsel

▸ Regulatory investigations and enforcement defence

▸ Pre-dispute negotiations, demand letters, settlements

▸ Insurance programme review and claims coordination

▸ Legal risk register (identification, triage, escalation)

Corporate Governance & Board Affairs

▸ Board and shareholder resolutions, minutes, statutory filings

▸ Director duties, conflicts of interest, board procedures

▸ Corporate housekeeping across all group entities

▸ Company secretarial matters (filings, registers, annual compliance)

▸ Governance frameworks for subsidiaries and joint ventures

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Legal Strategy & Business Partnership

▸ Own the legal strategy across all practice areas, aligned tightly with business priorities, growth plans, and risk appetite.

▸ Be embedded in the business — present in deal rooms, product discussions, fundraising processes, and board meetings.

▸ Advise the CEO and executive team with clarity, concision, and commercial intelligence. No unnecessary memos — communicate what moves decisions forward.

Execution, Speed & Precision

▸ Set and meet aggressive turnaround standards (routine contracts same-day; complex agreements within 48 hours).

▸ Build and maintain an AI-powered library of contract templates, playbooks, and self-service tools to reduce bottlenecks.

▸ Own quality end-to-end — ship work you are proud to sign.

▸ Triage relentlessly — distinguish what requires legal intervention from what can be solved through process design.

AI-Powered Legal Operations

▸ Architect and optimise the legal technology stack (CLM, AI contract review, e-signature, research tools, compliance monitoring, automation).

▸ Use AI tools daily across drafting, reviewing, research, and summarisation.

▸ Design workflows from first principles with AI leverage embedded at the core.

▸ Train and guide the wider business on safe AI usage versus areas requiring human legal judgement.

Team Building & Culture

▸ Build a deliberate, high-calibre legal team with a founder mindset and operator discipline.

▸ Create a culture where high standards and speed reinforce each other.

▸ Manage external counsel with commercial rigour — clear scope, defined budgets, zero tolerance for inefficiency.

Governance, Ethics & Integrity

▸ Act as the organisation’s conscience — escalate clearly and without hesitation when legal or ethical lines are approached.

▸ Maintain a living, proactive compliance programme.

▸ Lead regulatory interactions with transparency, preparation, and authority.

Qualifications and Requirements

Essential

▸ Qualified lawyer, fully admitted to practice — LLB/LLM, JD, or equivalent.

▸ 8–12+ years of experience, with a meaningful blend of top-tier private practice and in-house leadership. Pure private practice candidates will be considered only where significant relevant exposure is demonstrated.

▸ Demonstrable track record across at least four of the practice areas listed above — generalist depth, not narrow specialisation.

▸ Proven experience with investment activity: funding rounds, SHA/SSA, cap table matters, investor negotiations.

▸ Experience building or materially improving legal infrastructure in a fast-growth or resource-constrained environment.

▸ Active, hands-on user of AI in your legal practice — not as a pilot, but as a daily workflow.

Highly Valued

▸ Experience in venture building, new entity creation, or incubation-style legal structuring.

▸ Exposure to regulated industries, cross-border transactions, or multi-entity group structures.

▸ Background deploying or managing CLM, AI contract review, or legal automation platforms.

▸ Deep expertise in data protection law (GDPR, CCPA, DPDP) or AI governance frameworks.

▸ Experience working alongside founders, investors, or boards — not just advising them from a distance.