Role:                                     Transactional Legal Counsel

Location:                             Maidenhead, England

SDL

Having recently acquired Donnelley Language Solutions, SDL is the global leader and innovator in language and content management solutions. For over 25 years, SDL has helped companies communicate with confidence and deliver transformative business results by enabling powerful experiences that engage customers across multiple touchpoints, all strengthened by our human expertise and machine learning technology. 

Today SDL is enabling companies to create, translate and deliver relevant and personalized content to support meaningful customer journeys and form important emotional connections by making understanding possible. The world’s biggest brands trust SDL’s expertise in digital content management and language translation, with 90 out of the top 100 global brands working with us, to underpin their content creation, translation and delivery. 

The Role:

The successful candidate will be part of a growing, proactive and energetic global legal team and will report directly into the VP of Legal and Contracts. This role would suit a candidate with a wealth of in-house experience within a large corporate IT / software company who is seeking a challenging role to assist with setting up a global legal framework for SDL to operate within and be the lead lawyer for specific business units globally.  

Key Accountabilities:

•   Working with global counterparts to deliver a first class proactive Transactional support for both the Product and Services business units within the DACH and EMEA Territory, with particular specialisation in Germany 
•   Being the lead lawyer and in some cases the single point of contact for these business units. Emphasis is on sound service delivery, appropriate and pragmatic solutions, quick turnaround time and high quality advice on legal aspects of all contract negotiation.
•   Develop effective working relationships with key operating personnel in the respective business units, and understanding how legal can provide a more responsive delivery of service for these sections.  Attend sales forecast calls and meetings and demonstrate a strong legal presence in all these matters.
•   Work to defined triggers and referral points for approval by VPs.
•   Assist VP of Legal and Contracts on aligning all business units in SDL globally to a more standardised legal contract and contract review process. Assist with the relevant training in the respective business units to understand the potential exposures and “pit falls” in contract negotiations.
•   Assist VP of Legal and Contracts on alignment of contracts following any acquisition by the company.
•   Work with the RFP Teams and the Public Services sector to best respond to all invitations to tender in the manner which reduces legal exposure but enables the business to win potential opportunities.
•   Work with the respective business units and key personnel to advice on Data Protection / Data Privacy matters.

Key Skills & Experience Requirements:

•   Qualified lawyer within the UK or international arena.
•   In-house experience gained across multiple legal areas of domestic and international business, intellectual property law, and regulatory compliance.
•   Proficient in German and a working knowledge and understanding of German law.
•   Experience of supporting an IT / Software technology sales environment is highly desirable.
•   Up to date Contract Legal Knowledge with the ability to amend standard company templates.
•   Demonstrable experience managing the negotiation / drafting of various contractual documentation, including but not limited to Software License Agreements (on premise and SaaS/Cloud), Professional Services Agreements, Maintenance and Support Agreement and Strategic Partnership Contracts.
•   Being able to provide clear, consistent and accurate legal advice to both internal and external clients.
•   Ensuring professional standards and safeguards are in place to protect company’s integrity.
•   Ability to "think on their feet" and well developed interpersonal skills.
•   Strong negotiation & conflict resolution skills
•   Strong legal & analysis skills.
•   Competent in both Word, Excel and PowerPoint.