The Role

Gigs is growing fast across markets, and we need someone to build the operational systems that make that growth possible. That includes compliance -- but this isn't a compliance role. It's a BizOps role where regulatory work is one of the hardest and most important problems you'll solve.

You'll build workflows, design processes, ship tooling, and work across Business Development, Legal, Product, and Engineering. You'll enable how we launch new markets, how we stay compliant across jurisdictions, and how we keep internal operations tight as we scale.

This is our first hire in this area. You'll shape the function from scratch.

What You Will Do

• Build our operational infrastructure for market expansion. Own the end-to-end process for launching in new markets: regulatory readiness, product compliance checks, internal workflows, and cross-functional coordination.
• Turn regulatory requirements into systems. Work with Legal to understand what's required, then build clear, repeatable processes that the team can follow without bottlenecks. Don't just document rules -- make them run.
• Automate before it breaks. Partner with Engineering and Product to embed controls into our systems early. Reduce manual work. Build things that scale before they need to.
• Own filings, registrations, and reporting. Manage our ongoing regulatory obligations across jurisdictions. Track deadlines. Make sure nothing slips.
• Run audits. Develop audit frameworks for internal operations and customer-facing processes. Keep them current.
• Track compliance health. Define metrics, build dashboards, flag problems early, fix them fast.
• Keep documentation sharp. Maintain policies, procedures, and process docs that are clear, findable, and up to date.
• Stay ahead of regulatory changes. Monitor new requirements across target markets. Build implementation plans before deadlines arrive.

What We Are Looking For

• 5+ years in business operations, ideally at a fintech, payments company, or other regulated tech business.
• You've built or scaled operational systems in a fast-moving environment. You know how to take a messy process, structure it, and make it run.
• Real experience with compliance or regulatory work -- not as a lawyer, but as someone who's turned regulatory requirements into working processes across areas like product compliance, vendor risk, or cross-border operations.
• Comfortable with tooling: GRC systems, databases, workflow automation. You don't need to be an engineer, but you can build things using AI.
• Strong communicator. You can explain a regulatory filing to an engineer and a process gap to a lawyer.

Bonus if you have experience in telecoms, fintech, or B2B SaaS.

We are looking for an experienced lawyer to join us as Legal Counsel. The role will report to the Legal Director and be part of a global legal team supporting a fast-growing, market-leading company. You will collaborate closely with a team of experienced commercial lawyers across multiple regions, sharing knowledge and contributing to a high-performing, business-oriented legal function, while helping scale and refine processes to support continued growth. The ideal candidate has a sharp business focus, is proactive, decisive, and highly collaborative. Your primary responsibility will be to lead and support the company’s commercial activities end-to-end, with a strong focus on both sales (revenue-generating) and procurement (vendor and partner) engagements. You will act as a proactive business partner, taking ownership of transactions from initial structuring through negotiation and execution. This includes anticipating legal and commercial risks, driving alignment across stakeholders, and helping move deals forward efficiently. You are expected to lead deals—not just support them—and play a key role in enabling the business to move quickly and responsibly.

Responsibilities:
·       Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice and actively support company departments (Sales, Product, Operations, Marketing, HR, etc.) in addressing a wide variety of legal and commercial matters
·      Structure, draft, and lead the negotiation of complex agreements, while effectively engaging with sales professionals, internal stakeholders, and representatives of customers and partners across APAC and EMEA
·      Apply and leverage expertise across a broad range of technology agreements, including sales, licensing, consulting, services, OEM, vendor, NDA, open-source, channel partner, and strategic alliance agreements
·      Proactively monitor and guide the business on data privacy and other applicable laws and regulations
·      Develop, implement, and continuously improve standard templates, business processes, and internal policies to support scalable growth

Requirements
·      Law degree (Juris Doctor / LL.B or equivalent) and admission to at least one bar
·      5-7+ years of experience in commercial law from global high-tech companies and private practice (advising international clients)
·      Strong background from the technology, data, and security industries
·      High capability of independently, effectively, and proactively negotiate various commercial agreements whilst partnering with internal and external stakeholders
·      Relevant experience negotiating and finalizing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) agreements as well as software licenses agreements with large enterprise customers, value-added resellers, agents, distributors, vendors and technology partners
·      Knowledge and understanding of privacy and data protection laws and regulations
·      Fluent in English (written and spoken)
·      Candidate must possess strong communication, analytical and organizational skills with an attention to complex detail
·      Experience working in a cross functional global organization is required
·      Ability to multi-task in a dynamic and fast-paced work environment
·      Outstanding interpersonal skills

Legal Counsel - Commercial Contracts (EMEA) (part-time)

3 days per week 

Location: Amsterdam, hybrid

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention services across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Meta, eBay, and OpenAI. We have been certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.

JOB PURPOSE

This role is part of our Legal Team at DEPT®, a group of collaborative, pragmatic and business-focused legal professionals that will feel like friends in no time. You will collaborate with stakeholders that will challenge and inspire you, in the environment of a leading international agency with the energy of a dynamic local team. We trust and value creative freedom and autonomy. 

As Legal Counsel – Commercial Contract (EMEA), you will support DEPT®’s business across EMEA, with a focus on drafting, reviewing and negotiating a broad range of commercial agreements. 

As we currently do not have German language capabilities within the Legal Team, strong German language skills (written and spoken) are essential. You will support German-speaking stakeholders and handle German language contracts and negotiations where required. 

You will act as a pragmatic business partner, balancing legal risk with commercial objectives. 

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Draft, review and negotiate a wide range of commercial contracts, including client service agreements (e.g. MSAs, SOWs, SLAs), supplier contracts, and licensing agreements (IP, AI, software, cloud and technology-related agreements)
• Provide clear, pragmatic legal advice to business stakeholders across EMEA on commercial law matters
• Act as a trusted advisor to internal stakeholders, helping them navigate legal risks in a fast-paced environment
• Support the development and improvement of contract templates, policies, playbooks and legal workflows
• Deliver legal training to business teams on key legal topics (e.g. contracting, risk, AI, data)
• Partner with business and operational teams to identify and mitigate legal risks while achieving commercial objectives
• Stay informed about relevant developments in law and industry-specific regulations in the EMEA region, including GDPR, IP, digital services, AI and other technology-related legal developments
• Collaborate closely with the wider global Legal Team to ensure consistency and knowledge sharing across all regions

WHAT YOU BRING:

• Fully qualified lawyer (preferably NL, Germany or another European jurisdiction) or equivalent in-house experience 
• 3-5 years’ experience in commercial and contract law at a law firm and/or in-house role
• Fluent German (written and spoken) and fluent English required
• Familiarity with German and Swiss law is a plus 
• Experience in (digital) marketing, advertising and/or technology services is preferred
• Experience in drafting and negotiating commercial contracts in a services-based environment is a plus
• Working knowledge of key regulatory frameworks relevant to digital marketing and technology services, including GDPR, the EU AI Act, and preferably advertising/marketing regulations applicable in the DACH region

• Pragmatic, business-oriented mindset with the ability to balance legal risk and commercial needs
• Comfortable making risk-based decisions in an in-house environment 
• Able to work independently while collaborating effectively within an international Legal Team
• Exceptional analytical skills and attention to detail
• Confident communicator who can advise non-legal stakeholders clearly, practically and commercially
• A proactive team player who thrives in a fast-paced, international environment and embraces a dynamic, evolving business landscape

WE OFFER

• A flexible, hybrid working policy (2-3 days from the office, depending on location) and the opportunity to work from abroad for 13 weeks a year. 
• 24 vacation days per year and the possibility to buy an unlimited number of extra vacation days.
• DEPT®/YOU Learning Menu and DEPT®/YOU Special Programs. Develop your skills with courses and programs tailored to your needs.
• Stay happy and healthy with a contribution to your health through the OpenUp platform, gym and wellness discounts, and healthy lunches at the office.
• Get a discount on your lease bike and ride in style. You can also enjoy hassle free-commutes with an NS Business Card. 
• A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021, has been named a Great Place To Work since 2022 in the Netherlands and named ‘Agency of the Year’ at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards.
• Awesome clients. Whether big, small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with all of them. And we celebrate all of our successes together!
• You can discover even more employee benefits here.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION 

At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives.

Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine.

We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us.

Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here.

This is Adyen

Adyen provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Meta, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft - making us the financial technology platform of choice. At Adyen, everything we do is engineered for ambition. 

For our teams, we create an environment with opportunities for our people to succeed, backed by the culture and support to ensure they are enabled to truly own their careers. We are motivated individuals who tackle unique technical challenges at scale and solve them as a team. Together, we deliver innovative and ethical solutions that help businesses achieve their ambitions faster.

About the team and role

Adyen’s Payment & Product Partnerships Counsel team is newly chartered within the Regulatory organization to build and scale the legal framework for our most critical financial and technology infrastructure relationships. We are looking for a skilled, business-oriented financial services transactions lawyer to join our team in Amsterdam or London, focusing on partnerships in the EMEA region. In this role, you will be a principal advisor to our partnerships, product, risk, and compliance teams, responsible for a broad range of transactions and relationships that span financial services ecosystems, business operations and processes, and technology.

Adyen’s Regulatory and Legal teams build and operate at the intersection of global financial services law and regulation, commercial strategy, and product innovation. We’re looking for a lawyer who’s at home leading deals to support highly regulated, complex products, and who’s willing to roll up their sleeves and take on projects large and small. Experience with financial services transactions and a working understanding of market-dominant financial services regulatory models are a must; experience in payments, lending, and fintech are a plus, but not required.

What you’ll do

• Partner with Adyen’s payment and product partnerships teams to help build, manage, and grow strategic relationships with card networks, payment methods, financial institutions, and other financial and technology partners that support Adyen’s product and technical stack.
• Structure, draft, and negotiate strategic infrastructure partnership agreements to enable and optimize Adyen’s payments and financial products across our Europe and Middle East markets.
• Collaborate with product, regulatory, compliance, risk, finance, partnerships, and other cross-functional teams to ensure our partner deals conform to our regulatory positions and support our product development, market expansion, and commercial objectives.
• Counsel stakeholders across the business on operation and interpretation of partner agreements (including scheme, network, and operating rules), partner and regulatory ecosystem interdependencies, and corresponding risks and opportunities affecting Adyen’s product and go-to-market strategies.
• Scale our deal cycles and the products they support by generating and maintaining documents and other resources for working with partners, including form agreements, position guides, and implementation briefs.
• Stay current on laws, regulations, and scheme and network rules governing bank-partner relationships, third-party service providers and outsourcing, privacy, data security, consumer protection in financial services, and marketing.
• Build relationships as a trusted advisor by providing clear, practical, actionable guidance in areas involving significant ambiguity or rapid industry evolution.

What we’re looking for

• 8+ years experience as a qualified lawyer across in-house and law firm roles, with a significant portion spent working with financial institutions or technology companies on transactions opposite experienced counsel.
• Working dexterity with financial services partnership transactions, where a regulated financial institution and another party (e.g., a network, a fintech, another financial institution) collaborate to stand up and run a unified financial product or service, preferably a payment, credit, or lending product.
• A capable contract generalist who’s able to spot a broad range of legal issues across disciplines (e.g., contract, regulatory, IP, privacy); an avid drafter with a passion for simple, elegant language and an aversion to gratuitous legalese; and, a seasoned lead negotiator who is able to identify and communicate practical, risk-based solutions to deal points persuasively and on the fly.
• Excellent English-language communication skills, with the capacity to translate complex legal and contractual concepts to technical teams and other non-lawyer audiences.
• Constitutional curiosity and enthusiasm to self-educate quickly on complex business models, technologies, and product use cases.
• Strong, risk-tuned judgment, outstanding project management skills, and the ability to juggle competing priorities under tight deadlines.
• Proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese is a strong plus but not required.

Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments 

Our unique approach is a product of our diverse perspectives. This diversity of backgrounds and cultures is essential in helping us maintain our momentum. Our business and technical challenges are unique, and we need as many different voices as possible to join us in solving them - voices like yours. No matter who you are or where you’re from, we welcome you to be your true self at Adyen. 

Studies show that women and members of underrepresented communities apply for jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Does this sound like you? If so, Adyen encourages you to reconsider and apply. We look forward to your application!

What’s next?

Ensuring a smooth and enjoyable candidate experience is critical for us. We aim to get back to you regarding your application within 5 business days. Our interview process tends to take about 4 weeks to complete, but may fluctuate depending on the role. Learn more about our hiring process here. Don’t be afraid to let us know if you need more flexibility.

This role is based out of our Amsterdam or London office. We are an office-first company and value in-person collaboration; we do not offer remote-only roles.