In-House Counsel (UK Qualified)

Job Description

Location: Fully Remote, but you must be qualified in UK law

Contract Type: Part time 3-4 days per week, 24-32 hours, but will consider various working patterns

Interviews: Max 3 stages totalling around 3.5 hours

Reports to: Head of People & Operations

Salary: We have benchmarked a salary in the region of £42-56k pro-rata or £70k FTE

Why join us? 👋

If you love technology and also staying on top of the news that matters, you’ll love life at Vable. We are a profitable SaaS business servicing the needs of international law firms and government departments, mostly in the USA and UK. We’re on a mission to help our clients become as efficient as possible when it comes to managing huge volumes of information - so that lawyers and business leaders can stay on top of the news that matters, and as a result make faster and better decisions.

Our enterprise news aggregation and alerting platform is used by over 50 global law firms. We are passionate about what we do - particularly in how we operate. This is where you come in.

As Vable continues to grow and navigate legal complexities, we are seeking an In-House Counsel (qualified as a lawyer in the UK), to play a pivotal role in ensuring compliance with UK laws and regulations, safeguarding our business interests and reputation, advising on UK and international contracts, protecting Vable's intellectual property globally, and ensuring compliance with EU data protection regulations. This role will also help lead on infosec and will oversee Vable’s cybersecurity strategy.

We would love to hear from you if you have the criteria below: 📬

• You are a UK Qualified Lawyer with the relevant practising certificate and a minimum of 4 to 5 years commercial law experience.
• You have a strong understanding of SaaS, data privacy, intellectual property and contract law in the UK, with thorough familiarity with GDPR and other relevant data protection laws.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey legal advice clearly to non legal stakeholders
• Excellent attention to detail, teamed with negotiating and drafting skills
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills, with the ability to think critically and provide pragmatic legal solutions.
• Ability to build strong professional relationships across a remote business and work collaboratively across cross-functional teams, providing legal support in a fast-paced environment
• Flexibility to manage a variety of legal matters and adapt to changing priorities
• Clear communicator with the ability to influence and act as a trusted advisor to internal stakeholders

Nice to have:

• Proficiency in intellectual property law, with a focus on protecting and managing intellectual property rights internationally.
• Experience managing Infosec compliance and ISO certification. To include the procurement, implementation and operation of a range of information security services and technologies

Why this role may excite you: 🎊

• We are a globally dispersed team of Vablers - currently a team of 24 and growing - 50% in engineering and 50% across Content/Sales/Marketing/Client Success/People/Operations.
• We are a fully remote and a close-knit team. Communicating and checking in is our thing. Our CEO Matthew is based in Germany, our Head of Client Success Emily is in Atlanta (USA), our Head of People & Ops Sarah is in Northern Ireland, our Product Marketing Manager Martin is in Bulgaria and our Engineering Team is in the Ukraine. See, we are dispersed! Most of our Vablers work throughout Europe.
• We have a proven business with an established client base of global law firms and professional organisations.
• We are moving into a rapid growth phase, funded from existing revenue streams and it’s a really exciting time to join Vable, as we scale.
• We are a small team and try really hard to make time to connect and learn about each other.
• This is a great opportunity for someone who is wanting to help shape the legal landscape of a dynamic SaaS business

This is a great opportunity for you if you want to:

🤸‍♂️Contribute to all things legal and information security at Vable

🌟 Work in Tech with an established product that has proven success within the legal market

💚 Join a great team

🎢 Join a company looking to scale and a team that understands that people are their greatest asset and culture is foremost

🌍 Be part of a remote and global team

The day-to-day job: 👩‍💻

While the below is not an exhaustive list of your duties, it outlines the bulk of the role on a day-to-day basis.

• Stay abreast of relevant laws, regulations and industry standards in the SaaS, technology, and data privacy fields in the UK and EU to ensure compliance practices remain up to date.
• Provide guidance and recommendations to executive leadership on legal matters affecting the company in the UK and EU.
• Review, draft, and negotiate a variety of contracts, including international vendor agreements, client contracts, and partnerships. Ensure that contractual terms protect the company's interests and align with UK and EU legal requirements, addressing cross-border legal considerations, jurisdictional differences, and potential risks.
• Manage and protect Vable's intellectual property globally, including trademarks, copyrights, and patents. Assist in safeguarding intellectual property rights and advise on UK, EU, and international IP-related matters.
• Advise on, and ensure compliance with, all relevant Infosec, data protection, GDPR and cybersecurity laws, regulations and industry standards. Conduct due diligence on suppliers’ policies, systems and agreements in the aforementioned, identifying risk areas and mitigating risk accordingly. Where necessary, respond to any situations that arise and advise on business transparency obligations.
• Continuous compliance with ISO 27001 best practice.
• Manage and mitigate legal and business risks and protect Vable’s reputation by assisting the Head of People & Operations to design and implement company policies and procedures, helping to drive efficiencies and enhance brand value and stakeholder engagement.
• Collaborate with external counsel on any litigation matters and dispute resolution in the UK and EU.
• Assist in managing legal claims and potential legal risks.
• Assist with UK corporate governance matters, including company secretarial duties, shareholder agreements, and board resolutions.
• Assist the Head of People & Ops in providing guidance on UK employment law matters, including reviewing employment contracts, policies, and handling HR-related legal issues as needed.

About you: 👀

This role puts you at the heart of ensuring Vable is compliant with UK and EU laws, regulations and best practices. You need to be a self-starter with high standards. Attention to detail and tenacity are essentials. We will also be looking for the following:

• You have a commitment to safeguarding our business interests and reputation
• You have a desire to understand our industry, operations and business objectives
• You have high ethical standards and act with integrity at all times, maintaining confidentiality of sensitive information
• You are committed to keeping up to date with the legal landscape, adapting to changes in laws, regulations and business practices
• You have an interest of all things Infosec and data protection, or a great desire to learn
• You have strong time management skills, allowing you to juggle multiple projects simultaneously
• You are a strategic thinker, identifying potential legal obstacles and opportunities
• You are approachable and flexible
• You take accountability for your work and take pride in completing tasks to a high standard

To be successful in this role, your values matter just as much as your skills. Does this sound like you? ✨

• We are Kind and Empathetic = Our behaviour and words assume the best in people, we ask and listen

• We are Always A Team = We are a globally dispersed team. We are bound together by accountability to ourselves and others

• We are Curious = A bunch from various backgrounds. We ask questions, plan things out, push the boundaries, challenge the status quo and welcome creativity

• We Take Ownership = We care deeply about the work that we do and strive for excellence. We are focused on our goals and love the details. We are accountable to ourselves and others.

Why work for Vable? 🌱

• We are characterised by pace, progress and change, and believe in unlocking everyone’s potential. Above all, we value the contributions each of our team members make and reward them
• We encourage constant learning so you can stay sharp and up to date and provide a yearly learning budget
• We love and encourage creativity and bringing your true self to work
• We embrace people who have different opinions, perspectives and personalities and concentrate on the Cultural Add
• We provide comprehensive healthcare cover
• We provide a MacBook, monitor and other required technical equipment when you join
• 33 days of paid leave a year inclusive of statutory holidays, which are based on where you live
• We offer an Employee Assistance Programme through Oliva, with unlimited counselling
• We have company meetups in which we meet in person
• We like our virtual socials and really do like to get to know everyone in the team
• We are well-established, have been around for 18 years and have an amazing set of clients

Ready to apply? 💌

• Great! Send us a CV and give us some context on why you’d like to join Vable and feel you’d be a great add.

• Intro Call: A short 20 minute call will be organised with Sarah our Head of People, Culture & Ops or Suzanne our People & Culture Exec. A chance to get to know you better, explore your experience and an opportunity for you to ask questions. A two way process throughout ✨

• Interview: If, after the intro call, we’re both excited to proceed, you will be invited to a second stage interview with Matthew, CEO. This interview will cover your experience, behaviours and personal traits. It should take no longer than 1 hour.

• Final Interview: This will be with Emily, our Head of Client Success and Sarah, Head of People, Culture & Operations. It will be a chance for you to learn more about our company, culture and team and a chance for us to delve deeper into any areas of your background, not yet discovered. This will take no longer than 1 hour and is the final stage. For most candidates we expect the whole process to be no longer than 3-4 weeks.

🎥 We record all of our interviews, with your permission. It makes it easier, as we are globally distributed and various members of the interview panel can rewatch and give you their full attention without having to take notes.

Vable is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment regardless of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or disability status.