Legal Counsel - Regulatory Compliance, Product and Privacy

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is used in enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. We are expanding our in‑house legal team and are looking for an exceptional lawyer to work on compliance and privacy matters.

Location: Home based in Europe, the Middle East, Africa or the Americas with an option to work at our London office.

What your day will look like:

• Draft and review corporate policies, spearhead process change and deploy controls to meet compliance regulatory requirements globally.
• Help develop, maintain and scale global privacy programs. This includes conducting PIAs, ROPAs and support operational initiatives.
• Work cross‑functionally with teams to evaluate the impact of privacy and data protection laws and regulations, including AI regulations.
• Provide legal support to various internal clients across the company, including Canonical’s product teams.
• Interface with cross‑functional teams to support company initiatives, including AI deployment and use.
• Work with local counsel in many countries to seek and implement advice.

What we are looking for in you:

• An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university.
• A degree in law, JD or equivalent, and active licence to practice law or current progress towards that.
• Drive and a track record of going above-and-beyond expectations.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills with the ability to work in a fast-paced, multi-cultural environment.
• Effective both independently and as part of a team.
• A passion for technology evidenced by personal initiatives and projects.
• Professional written and spoken English with excellent drafting and presentation skills.
• Confidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback, and share ideas without hesitation.
• Appreciative of diversity; polite and effective in a multicultural multinational organisation.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability.
• Thoughtfulness and self‑motivation.
• Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments.
• Ability to travel twice a year, for company events up to two weeks long.

Additional skills we value:

• Experience in compliance, data privacy, or product development.
• Leadership and the ability to influence others to embrace new ideas or practices.
• Understanding of the open source software community and values.
• Understanding of the technology industry – silicon, data centres, PCs, connected devices, and software.
• Experience working on an in‑house legal team and/or law firm.

What we offer you:

• Distributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in person.
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year.
• Annual compensation review.
• Recognition rewards.
• Annual holiday leave.
• Maternity and paternity leave.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues.
• Priority Pass, and travel upgrades for long‑haul company events.

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer. We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.