Corporate Counsel advising Ricoh Canada on commercial contracts, compliance, and disputes. Negotiating agreements and coordinating legal support across Canadian and North American teams.
About the role
- Head of Legal leading commercial, procurement and governance work for Unit8, a Swiss AI and data analytics consultancy. Building its Canadian and US legal function from Montreal.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the senior legal voice for Unit8 in North America.
- Own commercial, procurement and governance legal work for the Canadian and US businesses.
- Lead a small, global legal function and report directly to the CFO in Europe.
- Review, draft and negotiate MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, data processing agreements, IP and licensing terms, subcontracting and partnership agreements, and purchasing contracts.
- Lead face-to-face and remote negotiations with client legal and procurement teams.
- Prepare negotiation strategies, fallback positions and risk assessments for material deals.
- Advise sales, delivery and finance teams on liability caps, indemnities, IP ownership and data protection.
- Own Canadian and US contract templates, playbooks and standard positions.
- Work with the DPO and CISO on data protection topics.
- Maintain corporate governance documents for Canadian and US entities.
- Support the CFO and board on corporate structure matters.
- Select, brief and manage external counsel in Canada, the US and Europe.
- Own the external legal budget and review invoices against scope.
- Manage and coach the junior In-house Legal Counsel based in Europe.
- Act as backup reviewer for EU and MEA contracts.
- Report on workload, open matters, material contractual risks and external legal spend.
- Build and improve the end-to-end contract review process.
- Govern and develop AI tools for first-pass review, clause comparison and redlining.
- Track review volumes and turnaround times to improve process performance.
- Employment and labour law, litigation and dispute resolution remain outside the role.
Requirements
- You hold a law degree and are a member in good standing of the Barreau du Québec (or another Canadian law society with eligibility to practise in Quebec).
- 7–10 years of experience as legal counsel in commercial and corporate law, in-house or at a law firm or legal service provider.
- Experience negotiating services agreements, SOWs and software terms in an IT, SaaS or professional services company.
- Confidence with Quebec civil law and the common-law framework of the other provinces, particularly Ontario.
- Working knowledge of US commercial contract law; ability to work from US templates, spot issues and know when to bring in US counsel.
- Familiarity with Quebec Law 25, PIPEDA and, at a basic level, US state privacy laws.
- Experience managing at least one direct report or a small team.
- Fully bilingual in French and English, and comfortable negotiating and drafting in both languages.
- Experience building or redesigning a legal intake and review process, measuring turnaround and quality.
- Ability to assess contracts for business impact on margin, cash and delivery risk.
- Curiosity about AI in legal work; ability to use these tools, understand their limits, and govern them responsibly.
- Ability to work autonomously as the only lawyer in the region while staying connected to the European team.
- Professional fluency in English is required for the role.
- French is a strong asset but not a requirement.
Benefits
- The chance to be the first senior legal hire in North America and shape how Unit8 contracts across the region, with direct access to our CFO and leadership.
- Real impact: your work directly enables projects that bring AI and data science to some of the largest companies in traditional industries.
- A modern legal function where AI tools are part of the daily workflow, not an afterthought.
- Flexible working: 30–40 hours per week to be agreed with you, with at least 2–3 days per week in our Montreal office and the rest remote.
- Occasional travel to client sites in Canada and the US, and regular visits to our European offices.
- A collaborative, international team of 150+ engineers, data scientists and consultants who care about doing great work, including pro-bono and “engineering for good” projects.
- Inclusive workplace welcoming people from all backgrounds.
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