[Hiring] Legal Counsel @Seqera

Role Description

Seqera is hiring a full-time in-house lawyer. Legal work today is split between a fractional Head of Legal and external firms, and the volume has outgrown that setup. You will take on the day-to-day legal work, contracts above all, and build the systems that keep it running as the company grows.

You will report into the fractional Head of Legal, so you have a senior lawyer to escalate to and learn from while owning your own desk from week one. As the legal function grows, so does the scope of this role.

We're looking for a hands-on qualified lawyer with 3 to 6 years' post-qualification experience who can draft and negotiate a SaaS agreement without close supervision, and who wants to broaden into privacy, employment, IP and corporate work.

You'll work day to day with Sales, Finance, Product, Engineering, IT & Compliance and People, helping the company move fast while staying protected.

You will run commercial contracting and legal operations end to end, and support the Head of Legal on corporate governance, data privacy (working closely with Seqera's IT & Compliance team and external providers such as our external DPO), employment, IP and compliance.

What You'll Do

• Commercial contracting:
  • Draft, review and negotiate customer agreements, MSAs, DPAs, SaaS terms, NDAs, partner and vendor contracts.
  • Run deals with Sales and Revenue from first draft to signature, escalating the harder points.
  • Develop and maintain contract templates, fallback positions, and playbooks to accelerate deal cycles.
  • Provide pragmatic, business-oriented advice on contract interpretation and risk.
  • Review procurement/vendor/advisor contracts as required.
• Legal operations:
  • Set up and run contract lifecycle management: one repository, clear naming, version control, renewal and expiry tracking.
  • Automate the routine work: self-serve NDAs, approval routing, standard clause libraries.
  • Report on contract volumes, cycle times and open matters.
• Corporate and compliance support:
  • Assist with entity management, corporate filings and board documentation.
  • Support equity, compensation, and cap table-related processes in collaboration with Finance and People.
  • Help maintain internal policies and compliance frameworks.
  • Support audit readiness and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions.
  • Handle the legal input into customer security and procurement reviews.
• Data privacy and IP:
  • Support data privacy and data protection work (GDPR and global frameworks) alongside IT & Compliance and our external DPO.
  • Partner with Security and Engineering on compliance initiatives.
  • Maintain records of processing, DPAs and the sub-processor list.
  • Handle day-to-day IP and licensing questions, including open source licensing, and flag the novel ones early.
• Cross-functional support:
  • Partner with Product and Engineering on new features, ensuring legal and regulatory alignment.

Qualifications

• 3-6 years of post-qualification experience (in-house tech/SaaS and/or private practice).
• Qualified to practise law in a relevant jurisdiction.
• Hands-on commercial contracting experience, ideally within SaaS, tech or high-growth environments.
• Exposure to at least one area beyond contracting (privacy, corporate, IP or compliance).
• Working knowledge of GDPR.
• Experience in a startup, scale-up, or international business environment with venture capital experience is highly preferred.

Skills and Approach

• Commercially minded with a strong ability to balance risk and opportunity.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and making pragmatic decisions quickly.
• Hands-on and execution-focused, with a willingness to build from scratch.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Highly organized with a process-oriented mindset.
• Fast and responsive.
• Comfortable asking for help on matters outside your experience, and quick to escalate.

Mindset

• Builder mentality: you enjoy creating structure where none exists.
• Business partner first, not just a gatekeeper.
• Autonomous and proactive, with strong ownership.
• Practical, solutions-driven, and low ego.

Nice to Have

• Experience supporting global, distributed teams.
• Familiarity with legal tech, CLMs, and AI-enabled workflows.
• Exposure to life sciences, biotech, or data-driven platforms.

Benefits

• Time off: 23 days for vacations per year, 3 days given by Seqera in December, and the national/public holidays according to your location.
• Equity.
• Private health insurance.
• Private life insurance.
• Home office allowance (valued over 1,000 USD).
• Subscription to Oliva, Mental Health App.
• Learning and development budget per year (1,000 USD).