Head of Legal
Location: London
On-site: 5 days per week
We are looking for a US-qualified senior technology lawyer to join a fast-growing, profitable AI SaaS business as its first permanent senior legal hire. The company builds LLM-powered research technology used by leading private equity firms, management consultancies and financial institutions globally.
With just under 100 employees and £30m ARR, the business is profitable and expanding internationally, with London and New York as its immediate growth markets. Working directly with the CEO and founders, you will serve as the sole legal counsel. Overseeing regulatory and compliance functions, leading major commercial negotiations while building the legal infrastructure required to support continued international growth. This is initially a hands-on role, with the opportunity to scale a legal team.
Package & Benefits
- Base salary: £150,000 – £180,000
- Annual bonus: approximately 20–25%
- Equity / stock options
- Opportunity to build and lead the legal function as the business scales
- Longer-term progression towards a senior legal leadership / CLO position
- International exposure across the UK, US and wider global business
- US travel is expected approximately twice per year
The Role
- Leading negotiations on complex enterprise SaaS agreements with major private equity firms, investment banks, consultancies and other institutional customers.
- Negotiating MSAs, data processing and licensing agreements, security schedules and other complex technology contracts, predominantly governed by US law.
- Building the legal processes, contracting playbooks, and frameworks required to support a rapidly scaling commercial organization.
- Owning the company's AI governance and compliance framework, including model training, data-use policies and evolving AI regulation.
- Advising on recording consent and two-party consent requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
- Owning data privacy matters across UK GDPR, GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, DPAs, subprocessors and privacy-by-design.
- Advising Product and Engineering on data ownership, data usage, intellectual property and the development of new AI products.
- Partnering with Security on SOC 2, customer security requirements, DPIAs and information security matters.
About You
- Admitted to the US Bar – this is an absolute must.
- 7 - 12 years' legal experience.
- Strong private practice training combined with meaningful in-house experience.
- Significant experience within an AI, SaaS, technology or data-intensive business.
- Strong experience negotiating complex B2B SaaS and technology agreements.
- Experience negotiating with sophisticated enterprise customers and their legal, procurement and security teams.
- Deep understanding of data privacy, including GDPR, UK GDPR and US privacy requirements.
- Strong knowledge of AI, data ownership, model training, IP and the developing regulatory environment.
- Comfortable operating across US, UK and European legal issues.
- Comfortable working directly with founders and senior commercial stakeholders.
How to apply
For a confidential discussion, please contact Ben Karnezos at ben@heriotbrown.com.