The role
This is a remote-first (UK-based) role, with access to our London office and/or other WeWork coworking spaces across the country. Some in-person attendance is expected for board and leadership meetings, plus international travel as required.
We are looking for a commercially intuitive General Counsel to lead the legal function of our established and rapidly scaling AI business as we launch our flagship innovation, Workspace, to market. This is a senior leadership role covering UK legal matters, with oversight across major international jurisdictions. You will support a growing global customer base in sectors including media and entertainment, retail, healthcare and the public sector.
You will be a trusted member of the executive leadership team, supported directly by the c suite and balancing legal risk management with pragmatic, business-focused advice.
You will build on the foundations of our existing legal function, with real freedom to shape how the department works moving forwards. The legal team’s structure, ways of working and tools are yours to design as you grow a high-performing in-house team. You will oversee external counsel relationships and own Stelia's legal, compliance, governance and regulatory frameworks as we expand globally.
Uniquely, you will build the legal function's technology on Stelia's own platform. You will act as an internal design partner to our product and engineering teams, and make legal a showcase for what our technology can do.
What you'll do
1. Corporate & Governance
Advise the Board and CEO on corporate structure, governance and shareholder matters.
Lead legal due diligence for upcoming funding rounds.
Oversee company secretarial duties, board meetings and statutory filings in the UK and internationally.
Draft, review and negotiate shareholder agreements and investment documentation.
2. Product Launch & Go-to-Market
Ensure the legal and regulatory foundations for the continuous development of Stelia's technologies are in place, and scale them as adoption grows.
Own Stelia's customer-facing terms, including master services and SaaS agreements, acceptable use policies, SLAs and data processing agreements.
Maintain Stelia's positions on AI-specific contract issues, including ownership of outputs, IP indemnities for generated content, use of customer data for model training and performance disclaimers.
Review marketing materials and product claims so that statements about AI capabilities are accurate and defensible.
Advise on sector-specific requirements in target markets with external support, such as medical device and clinical safety rules in healthcare, and procurement, security accreditation and transparency obligations in the public sector.
3. Commercial Contracts
Introduce tools and processes that streamline contracting, balancing efficiency with Stelia's risk appetite and growth trajectory.
Establish playbooks for scalable contract management across a global client base.
Lead the negotiation and drafting of complex technology, SaaS, licensing, distribution and strategic partnership agreements.
4. Data Protection, AI Regulation & Compliance
Act as the company's lead on data privacy, leading compliance with the UK GDPR, EU GDPR, CCPA and other international frameworks.
Classify Stelia's products under the EU AI Act and other emerging AI regimes, and run the resulting transparency, documentation and governance obligations.
Monitor and advise on developing AI legislation and ethical frameworks globally, and lead the strategy for managing conflicting requirements between jurisdictions.
Oversee export controls and sanctions compliance as Stelia sells internationally.
Partner with product and engineering teams to embed legal and regulatory compliance in product development.
Develop internal compliance policies and training programmes.
5. Legal Technology & Operations
Build the legal function's technology stack on Stelia's own platform and in-house models.
Act as an internal design…