General Counsel

About the role

Canonical is a profitable, fast-growing technology company focused on open source and the Ubuntu platform, privately held with the intention to list on a public exchange. This role leads Canonical’s global Legal and Compliance function, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and owning the company’s legal, regulatory and governance posture across EMEA and the Americas. Location is remote in EMEA time zones, with an option to be office based in London, UK.

What you'll do

• Lead the global Legal and Compliance function across EMEA and the Americas, building a distributed team and setting structure, standards and priorities.
• Own corporate governance, group and entity structure, delegated authority, policies, disclosure controls and records in partnership with Finance, and drive public-market readiness.
• Advise the CEO, COO, CFO and the Board, and support in Board and committee meetings.
• Own the commercial contracting framework including standard templates, negotiating positions and a deviation and escalation process to make commitments visible before signing.
• Lead intellectual property and open source licensing strategy, including copyleft, trademarks and distribution terms for Ubuntu and products.
• Own the global compliance programme covering data protection and privacy, export controls and trade compliance, anti-bribery and corruption, competition and AI regulation, and manage litigation with external counsel.

What they're looking for

• An exceptional academic track record with a degree in law and an active licence to practice in an EMEA or Americas jurisdiction.
• Substantial senior in‑house experience in a global technology or software business and proven ability to lead a distributed legal team across regions and time zones.
• A track record of high performance, including hiring well, developing people and addressing under‑performance directly.
• Experience building or restructuring an in‑house legal function and managing technology contracts including enterprise software, subscriptions, channel and reseller agreements, cloud and services, plus open source licensing experience.
• Experience or readiness for public company governance including listing preparation, board and committee support, disclosure controls and records.
• Depth in at least two of data protection and privacy, IP and trademark, export controls and trade, competition or disputes; excellent written and spoken English, with strong drafting and presentation skills; willingness to travel.

For applicants in Nigeria

• The listing states worldwide eligibility and remote work in EMEA time zones, with an option for London office; confirm alignment during interview.
• The listing specifies EMEA time zone based remote work; confirm timezone compatibility for your location before interviewing.
• The listing does not state whether the role is a contractor or employee.
• The listing does not state pay currency or salary range.
• The listing does not provide visa or work‑authorization notes; verify requirements in the interview process.