Sole Counsel (Global)
Location: Park Royal, London (on‑site 4 to 5 days per week)
Reports to: CEO
Job type: Full-time, permanent
About Us
Isembard is a software‑first manufacturer serving critical industries including aerospace, defence, energy and advanced engineering. We enable faster and cheaper products to be made by combining advanced machine tools, robotics and our proprietary software, MasonOS. Founded in 2024 and after significant VC funding, Isembard is expanding across the UK, US and Europe, with a mission to forge industrial acceleration. Our vision is to become the industrial base for the West - a connected network of factories and software that accelerates invention, safeguards sovereignty and powers the next generation of critical industries.
Our values:
- If not now, when
- Follow the five maxims
- Humour and humility
About the Opportunity
You will work directly with the CEO and leadership team to design legal systems that scale to dozens, hundreds and eventually thousands of factories. We don’t view legal a cost centre. The best businesses are beautiful in every facet of their being. You will architect and execute the legal foundations of a sovereign, multi-jurisdictional manufacturing company operating across defence, aerospace, energy and advanced manufacturing.
You will own the legal infrastructure that enables:
- Government, defence and wider industrial contracting
- A global franchisor-franchisee factory model
- Equity and debt financing across jurisdictions
- Export-controlled manufacturing
- International expansion (UK, US, Germany, France and beyond)
Role Responsbsiniles
- Lead all equity and debt legal work: venture/growth/pre-IPO financings, option schemes (EMI & US equivalents), shareholder agreements, board governance, venture debt, equipment financing and franchisee loan frameworks.
- Design and maintain the global corporate structure across UK, US, Germany, France and future markets, including subsidiary setup, cross-border structuring and governance consistency. Structure and negotiate UK MOD, US DoD and allied government contracts, including procurement compliance and flow-down clauses.
- Structure and negotiate complex customer contracts (MSAs, framework agreements, long-term supply agreements), with strong IP, liability and risk allocation architecture.
- Draft, evolve and enforce scalable franchise agreements (master, conversion, greenfield), including royalties, territory rights, performance standards and exit/buyback mechanisms.
- Own regulatory compliance, including US state-level requirements and cross-border enforceability alongside export control, ITAR/EAR and UK/EU export compliance frameworks, including dual-use governance and controlled-data handling systems.
- Advise on national security and foreign investment regulations (including NSIA and equivalents) and manage engagement with regulators where required.
- Own international employment legal frameworks, equity-linked compensation, consultancy transitions, visas and HR risk management.
- Coordinate and manage external counsel globally while building internal legal systems that enable rapid but controlled scale.
- Build a team to help accelerate all of the above.
About You
- UK or US qualified lawyer (Additional EU qualification advantageous)
- Strong Corporate / Commercial experience in a top tier law firm
- Commercially minded with excellent judgment - balances risk with speed.
- High agency; thrives in a flat, non‑hierarchical environment
- Strong communicator with technical and executive stakeholders.
- Ideally some exposure to broader compliance but this is not essential
- Ideally experience in regulated, defence‑adjacent or advanced manufacturing environments but not essential.
What We Offer
- Ownership of legal architecture enabling global scale
- Exposure to broad range of high quality, global work
- Strategic seat at the table during expansion
- Equity participation in a scaling industrial business
- Opportunity to build long-term governance foundations