[Hiring] Senior Legal Counsel @Seqera

Role Description

This is a rare opportunity to step into a high-impact role as Seqera’s dedicated in-house legal hire. You will take ownership of the legal function end-to-end, partnering closely with leadership and cross-functional teams to enable the business to scale globally, commercially, and responsibly. This role sits at the intersection of commercial strategy, risk management, compliance, and operational excellence.

We’re looking for a hands-on, business-minded legal generalist who is equally comfortable:

• Drafting a complex SaaS agreement
• Advising leadership on risk
• Building scalable processes from scratch

You’ll act as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to Leadership, Sales, Finance, Product, Engineering, and People - helping the company move fast while staying protected.

You will own Seqera’s legal function across:

• Commercial contracting
• Corporate governance
• Data privacy
• Employment
• IP
• Compliance
• Legal operations

What You’ll Do

• Commercial & Revenue Support
  • Own and lead all commercial contracting (customer agreements, MSAs, DPAs, SaaS terms, partnerships, vendor agreements).
  • Partner closely with Sales and Revenue teams to support deal execution and negotiations.
  • 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 & Infrastructure
  • Build and manage Seqera’s legal operations (contract lifecycle management, documentation, workflows).
  • Implement and optimize legal tools, automation, and scalable processes.
  • Establish and maintain a centralized contract and documentation repository.
  • Introduce structure, tracking, and reporting across legal matters.
• Corporate, Governance & Compliance
  • Own corporate governance, entity management, and board-related matters.
  • Support equity, compensation, and cap table-related processes in collaboration with Finance and People.
  • Design and maintain internal policies and compliance frameworks.
  • Support audit readiness and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions.
• Data Privacy, IP & Risk
  • Co-lead data privacy and data protection efforts (GDPR and global frameworks).
  • Partner with Security and Engineering on compliance initiatives.
  • Identify, assess, and proactively manage legal and regulatory risks.
  • Advise and manage IP, licensing (including open-source licensing) and related matters in the ordinary course of business.
• Employment & Cross-Functional Support
  • Advise on employment-related matters in collaboration with People (contracts, policies, international workforce considerations).
  • Support local compliance considerations.
  • Partner with Product and Engineering on new features, ensuring legal and regulatory alignment.
• Strategic Partnership
  • Act as a trusted advisor to the Leadership Team on legal, risk, and business decisions.
  • Balance risk with growth, enabling the business rather than blocking it.
  • Help define how legal contributes strategically to Seqera’s long-term success.

Qualifications

• 6–10+ years of legal experience (in-house tech/SaaS and/or private practice).
• Strong background in commercial contracting, ideally within SaaS, tech, or high-growth environments.
• Experience operating as a broad legal generalist across multiple domains (privacy, corporate, employment, IP, compliance).
• Experience in a startup, scale-up, or international business environment with venture capital experience is highly preferred.

Requirements

• 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.
• Able to zoom in (drafting, execution) and zoom out (strategy, risk, structure).

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.

Bonus Points

• Experience supporting global, distributed teams.
• Familiarity with legal tech, CLMs, and AI-enabled workflows.
• Exposure to life sciences, biotech, or data-driven platforms.
• Admission to practice law in a relevant jurisdiction (or equivalent qualification) is advantageous but not essential; candidates with comparable experience will be considered.

Company Description

Seqera is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. However you identify or whatever your journey to this point, we welcome all candidates to apply for the position that inspires them. Come join us and help us build a global company that everyone is proud to be part of.

As we scale, we constantly improve our in-office and WFH environments and learn to help everyone have the best setup for our company's success and your personal development while always keeping the human touch in every aspect of our lives.

By learning from and with each other, we ensure our ability to drive innovation and make better decisions toward our mission. Most importantly, our culture provides a genuinely fun, inclusive, and challenging environment that will allow you to grow while making a huge difference in human health and beyond.