In-House Legal Counsel

In-House Counsel 

NewsWhip is the only real-time media monitoring platform that predicts the stories and topics that will matter in the hours ahead, giving communications professionals the clarity they need for quick and confident decisions. Our platforms are used daily by the world’s leading brands, PR agencies and newsrooms to understand and predict trends across all channels in the news and social media.

We are currently seeking an experienced In-House Legal Counsel to join our Team. You will support everything legal across the business, in particular, reviewing and managing SaaS revenue contracts, partnership and other non-revenue generating contracts for the company. You will partner with all departments on special projects including providing legal advice to our product and engineering teams in relation to new features and launches.  

You’ll also act as the Company Secretary for the Group, attending and creating minutes for board meetings, and be responsible for all related corporate governance matters.

The role is recruited on a flexible, part time basis. It is envisaged the role could be successfully completed on 3 or 4 days per week (depending on your availability), and can be carried out on a remote first basis, with very occasional office visits (1x / month)

The role is ideal for someone that wants flexibility to their work week. If you prefer, you are also welcome to work from our office in central Dublin 2, where some members of the team do their work midweek.

At NewsWhip, we believe that work should enrich your life, not consume it. Your job should support you - and give you the freedom and flexibility to enjoy life outside of work. As a remote-first company, we ensure we provide that flexibility daily. 

Legal Duties & Responsibilities

Legal responsibilities are core to this role, and touch every part of our organization. These will include:

• Work closely with internal departments such as sales &  customer success, to draft and negotiate our general commercial contracts (e.g. licensing agreements, NDAs, and support and maintenance agreements). 
• Attend negotiation calls where necessary to support finalization of sales SaaS contracts with urgency.
• Support Sales and Business Development teams with submission of tenders, RFIs and pre-contractual queries particularly relating to data protection, AI or other regulatory requirements.
• Drive the successful use and adoption of our new contract automation software, Juro.
• Work closely with product and engineering teams on legal issues relating to our product, our infrastructure and access to data sources.
• Monitor Risks and provide advice on ad-hoc legal issues to all levels of staff, up to and including senior executives and the NewsWhip Board across a variety of areas including: intellectual property, data privacy, copyright, employment law, contract negotiations, compliance matters in the EMEA and USA including emerging AI regulation.
• Research other legal issues that may arise across the business, and where applicable, suggest appropriate further actions or the engagement of external advisors. 
• Administration of our Employee Share Option Plan.
• Act as the company secretary for the Group and advise on Irish company law, corporate governance and all company-secretarial related matters.

Key Competencies:

• Commercially astute and pragmatic, with ability to think critically about a situation and present options to move a negotiation forward.
• Awareness and some experience in privacy and data protection regulation.
• Excellent written communication skills, with a strong attention to detail
• Demonstrates initiative with a proactive approach to work.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work autonomously in a fluid and fast-paced changing environment.
• Flexible, organised and able to prioritise and manage own workload, as well as anticipate the needs of the business.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to quickly assess potential for risk and opportunity.
• Proven experience of developing and implementing processes.

Relevant Education And Experience Required

• 5+ years PQE, licensed to practice in Ireland or the US
• Commercial contract drafting and negotiation with a focus on SaaS technology and B2B licensing agreement.
• Sound understanding of law relating to IT as well as issues relating to data protection and intellectual property.
• Experience with corporate transactions relating to fundraising and M&A an advantage.
• Independent worker, able to work under their own initiative and set their own agenda.
• Experience working in-house with a software company is desired but not required

Benefits:

• Competitive salary
• Health Insurance
• Bonus for individual performance
• Great working environment - remote first or hybrid model
• ESOP
• Pension
• An opportunity to help define an entire new industry category

If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you!!

Our Ethos:

We believe in maintaining a friendly work environment, a healthy work-life balance, and compensating our employees fairly for their input. You’ll be part of a team that believes in mutual support and education, and for a company where a work week isn’t just the gap between weekends, but an opportunity to do work that is impactful and innovative. We also love eating and socializing together and enjoy annual and seasonal company and team retreats, healthy and unhealthy snacks and other perks.

NewsWhip is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression