About the role
We are looking for a hands-on General Counsel to lead our in-house legal function to support our evolving needs as we scale toward long-term operational maturity and category leadership. Reporting to the COO, the GC will serve as a strategic legal advisor to executive leadership while remaining deeply connected to the day-to-day work of the business.
This role lives at the intersection of strategic counsel and hands-on execution. You’ll inherit a small, capable legal team already managing the day-to-day commercial legal operations and work beside them as a true player-coach.
This is a perfect position for an ambitious lawyer who moves fluidly between board-level counsel and day-to-day operations, and wants to lead a function at a rapidly scaling company that’s defining how the world manages cyber risk.
What will you do?
Legal Strategy & Operations
Act as a strategic legal advisor to executive leadership, proactively identifying risks and opportunities to support informed, high-impact decisions.
Assess UpGuard's current legal and compliance posture across key areas; identify gaps against applicable standards; and develop a sequenced, prioritised roadmap that reflects business risk, organisational capacity, and realistic timelines — then lead the company through the change required to close those gaps.
Lead and develop the in-house legal team, implementing scalable processes and metrics-driven practices to accelerate deals and reduce risk.
Compliance, Privacy & Risk
Build and execute a scalable compliance program covering data privacy (GDPR, CCPA), OFAC/trade compliance, anti-bribery, AI governance, and ethics — with particular emphasis on driving organisational alignment and adoption beyond policy creation.
Identify and mitigate legal and regulatory risks across the business, working cross-functionally to embed compliance awareness into day-to-day decision-making.
Corporate & Governance
Manage corporate legal activities, including governance, equity administration, and any M&A or financing activity as it arises.
Advise People and Finance teams on employment law matters across UpGuard's global workforce, including hiring, employee relations, equity programs, and local labor law compliance.
Support board governance functions, including preparation of board materials, maintenance of corporate records, and management of director obligations across jurisdictions.
Product & Intellectual Property
Provide strategic product counselling to product, engineering, and go-to-market teams, addressing legal issues and enabling compliant, successful product launches.
Direct intellectual property strategy, proactively protecting and managing UpGuard's trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets.
Advise on the legal and regulatory implications of AI-driven features, data handling practices, and cybersecurity product capabilities as the platform evolves.
What will you bring?
10+ years of legal experience (with 4+ years in a leadership role), with a strong in-house background at an international, B2B SaaS company.
Law degree and admission to, and in good standing with, the local governing body.
Proven experience building a compliance program at a scaling company — including assessing current posture, defining improvement targets, sequencing priorities, and executing change.
Demonstrated ability to drive compliance and legal improvements across functions with competing priorities: communicating risk in business terms, building cross-functional buy-in, and moving organisations through change with practical, actionable guidance aligned with business and technology objectives.
Deep understanding with sell-side SaaS contracting and experience navigating complicated deals across various deal sizes and buyer types.
Strong interpersonal and cross-functional collaboration skills, with experience providing responsive, business-oriented legal support across global teams, time zones, cultures, and distributed (hybrid/remote) environments.
Experience implementing AI tools and workflow automation to enhance legal operations, drive efficiency, and scale support for business needs.
What will give you an edge?
Prior experience as General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel at a B2B SaaS company at a comparable growth stage (post-Series B or C, approximately 200–600 employees).
A track record of building compliance programs from the ground up at a company navigating rapid scale.
Background in cybersecurity, data privacy, or another regulated technology sector, with related certifications (CIPP/US, CIPP/E, etc.) a plus.
Experience building real alignment with go-to-market, product, and marketing teams on legal and compliance priorities, and driving meaningful, lasting change through incremental steps that scale with the business.
