General Counsel (Remote, EMEA Time Zones)

About the role

Canonical is hiring a General Counsel to report to the Chief Operating Officer and lead its global Legal and Compliance function. The company is a profitable, fast-growing privately held technology firm with the intention to list on a public exchange, and is looking for a senior lawyer fluent in the software industry and open source. The role is remote, based in EMEA time zones, and covers a distributed team across EMEA and the Americas.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the global Legal and Compliance function, setting its structure, standards and priorities across EMEA and the Americas.
• Build and manage a management capability: hire and develop managers, set objectives and address under-performance.
• Set the operating cadence: intake and prioritization of legal work, service expectations with internal clients, and reporting on workload and risk to leadership.
• Own public-market readiness on the legal side: corporate governance, group and entity structure, delegated authority, policies, disclosure controls and records, in partnership with Finance.
• Advise the CEO, COO, CFO and the Board, and support Board and committee meetings.
• Own the commercial contracting framework: standard templates, negotiating positions and a deviation and escalation process.
• Lead intellectual property and open source licensing strategy, including copyleft, trademark and the terms on which Ubuntu and products are distributed.
• Own the global compliance programme: data protection and privacy, export controls and trade compliance, anti-bribery and corruption, competition and AI regulation.
• Manage litigation, disputes and regulatory engagement, together with the external counsel panel, its budget and its quality.
• Advise on M&A, partnerships, strategic alliances and financing.

Required profile

• Degree in law or equivalent, with an active licence to practice in an EMEA or Americas jurisdiction.
• Substantial senior in-house experience in a global technology or software business.
• Proven experience leading a distributed legal team and managing managers across regions and time zones.
• Experience building or restructuring an in-house legal function, including what is retained, delegated or sent to external counsel.
• Depth in at least two of: data protection and privacy, IP and trademark, export controls and trade, competition, or disputes.
• Professional written and spoken English with excellent drafting and presentation skills.

Required skills

• Negotiating and owning commercial technology contracts, including enterprise software, channel and reseller agreements, cloud and services.
• Open source licensing, including permissive and copyleft licences.
• Public company governance: listing preparation, board and committee support, disclosure and controls.
• Nice to have: experience taking a company through an IPO, a technical or engineering background, a subscription business model, and a qualification in more than one jurisdiction.

What we offer

• Compensation shaped by location, experience and performance, with an annual performance-driven bonus or commission.
• Distributed work environment with twice-yearly in-person team sprints.
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year.
• 40 days annual leave, maternity and paternity leave, and a Team Member Assistance Program and wellness platform.
• Opportunities to travel to meet colleagues, with Priority Pass for lounge access.