Head of Legal

ABOUT NEXGEN CLOUD

NexGen Cloud is the company behind Hyperstack, a full‑stack AI cloud serving tens of thousands of customers from AI researchers to enterprises running the world’s most compute‑intensive workloads. We deliver on‑demand and private GPU infrastructure to teams who treat performance as a requirement, not a feature. We’re a tight‑knit, fast‑moving team working at the cutting edge of AI cloud infrastructure. We practise what we preach — equipping our people with AI at every level so we can solve harder problems, ship faster, and keep raising the bar for what enterprise GPU infrastructure looks like.

THE ROLE

This is NexGen Cloud’s first permanent in‑house legal hire — a role that exists because the business has scaled to a point where a single legal resource is no longer enough. Commercial contracts, M&A workstreams, KYC, board secretarial, data protection, and platform terms all need dedicated ownership. As the company approaches Series B and expands into new geographies, the legal complexity is only growing. You’ll take direct ownership of the day‑to‑day commercial and operational legal workload and, critically, build the legal infrastructure the business needs from the ground up. This is simultaneously an execution role and a build role. This is a role for someone who thrives on responsibility, autonomy, and the tangible impact of their work. You won’t be inheriting a functioning function — you’ll be setting its foundations.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING

• Own the commercial contracts pipeline end‑to‑end — NDAs, MSAs, order forms, SOWs — running the day‑to‑day without escalation while building a library of standard forms and DocuSign templates from scratch.
• Build the legal infrastructure NexGen Cloud needs — platform terms, KYC policy, M&A due diligence frameworks, anti‑bribery policies, and export controls classification — putting in place the foundations the business is currently missing.
• Collaborate closely with the Commercial and Sales teams as the first legal port of call for deal queries, and with HR, Finance, and Compliance to embed legal rigour across business processes.
• Manage board and company secretarial mechanics — resolutions, Companies House filings, statutory registers — running independently from day one.
• Support M&A and transaction workstreams alongside David Andrews (Seconded Counsel / GC) — due diligence checklists, closing mechanics, conditions precedent tracking.
• Systematise legal operations as the business scales — contract register, matter tracking, external counsel spend management, and a legal risk escalation process that keeps the executive team ahead of issues.
• Identify and close gaps proactively — whistleblowing frameworks, trademark registration programmes, insurance oversight — without waiting to be asked.

ABOUT YOU

We’re more interested in how you think and work than in a perfect CV. You’ll likely bring a combination of the following:

Essential

• Qualified solicitor or barrister (England & Wales) with 5–12 years PQE, calibrated to the market.
• Meaningful in‑house experience in a fast‑moving, high‑volume environment with limited legal resource around you.
• Strong commercial contracts drafter — NDAs, MSAs, order forms, SOWs — who takes a position and defends it commercially.
• M&A and transaction exposure — you understand due diligence, closing mechanics, conditions precedent, and contractual risk in deal contexts.
• A genuine process builder — you’ve built or rebuilt legal infrastructure rather than inherited a functioning system.
• Comfortable working independently alongside a senior lawyer without needing day‑to‑day oversight.
• Organised and reliable under volume — you manage a varied, fast‑moving workload without dropping the ball.

Nice to Have

• In‑house experience in technology, SaaS, cloud infrastructure, or a high‑growth scale‑up environment.
• Exposure to KYC, sanctions screening, or export controls in a B2B tech or regulated context.
• Company secretarial and corporate governance experience in a growth‑stage business.
• International legal awareness across UK, EU, US, UAE, or the Nordics.
• Familiarity with DocuSign, contract management platforms, or legal operations tooling.
• Working knowledge of employment law sufficient to handle HR escalations without always going external.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Competitive salary and annual discretionary bonus scheme.
• Employee wellbeing benefits.
• 25 days of holiday, plus public holidays.
• Flexible working arrangements (hybrid — London office‑based with flexibility).
• Real ownership and autonomy.
• The opportunity to make a visible, meaningful impact as we scale towards Series B and beyond.
• Clear career progression and growth opportunities in a fast‑growing company.
• A collaborative, international culture built on trust, transparency, and ownership.
• The chance to help shape NexGen Cloud’s legal function and future alongside ambitious, mission‑driven colleagues.