Legal Counsel in London

In House Legal Counsel EMEA & APAC

Salary: £120,000 neg on experience, plus company benefits

Location: Remote from the United Kingdom

Contract: Full Time, Permanent

Shifts: 37.5 hours per week, Monday – Friday, 9am until 5:30pm with 1 hours unpaid lunch break

Work model: Remote

Williams Lea seeks In House Legal Counsel!

Williams Lea is the leading global provider of tech-enabled business and marketing services helping clients manage and transform processes through resilient, scalable 24/7 operations. We combine deep expertise, agentic AI-imbedded workflows, and a global delivery model into a tech-enabled, seamless human expert-in-the-loop experience that helps clients achieve superior business outcomes.

Built on a strong heritage and great client relationships, we harness deep industry expertise, emerging technology and our global “Optishore™” delivery model to plan, build, execute and measure business processes, driving operational agility and digital transformation at speed and scale.

Williams Lea, an RRD company, serves clients in 20 countries across four continents and has 15,000 employees worldwide.

Purpose of role

The The In-House Counsel – EMEA & APAC will provide practical, commercially
focused legal advice across the EMEA and APAC regions, with a primary focus
on contract law and commercial agreements. This role is designed for an
experienced in-house lawyer, comfortable operating in a fast-paced,
international environment, supporting business leaders and partnering closely
with HR, Finance, Sales and Operations.
The role requires strong hands-on drafting, negotiation and risk assessment
capability, together with the ability to balance legal risk with commercial
objectives.

The In-House Counsel – EMEA & APAC is responsible for providing
high-quality, commercially focused legal support across the EMEA and APAC
regions, with a particular emphasis on contract law and commercial
agreements.
The role exists to enable the business to operate confidently and efficiently by
ensuring that legal risk is identified, managed and mitigated in a pragmatic way,
while supporting growth, client relationships and operational delivery.
Acting as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, the In-House Counsel will
balance legal, regulatory and commercial considerations, supporting informed
decision-making and promoting best practice in contracting and legal
governance across the regions

Key responsibilities

Commercial & Contract Law

• Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial contracts, including:
  • Client services agreements
  • Master services agreements (MSAs)
  • Statements of Work (SoWs)
  • Supplier and vendor contracts
  • NDAs and confidentiality agreements
• Provide clear, pragmatic advice on contractual risk, liabilities, indemnities and termination provisions.
• Develop and maintain contract templates and playbooks to support consistency and efficiency across regions.
• Support contract governance and approval processes.

Business & Operational Support

• Act as a trusted legal advisor to senior stakeholders across EMEA and APAC.
• Partner with Sales and Commercial teams to support bids, tenders and client negotiations.
• Provide legal input on new business initiatives, client onboarding, and service delivery models.
• Support dispute management and resolution in conjunction with external counsel where required.

Regulatory & Risk Management

• Advise on region‑specific legal and regulatory matters impacting EMEA and APAC operations.
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and internal policies.
• Identify and escalate legal risks, providing mitigation strategies aligned to business priorities.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work closely with HR on employment‑related matters (with employment law handled by specialists where appropriate).
• Collaborate with Finance and Procurement on supplier negotiations and commercial risk.
• Strong collaboration with key business stakeholders

Governance & Continuous Improvement

• Contribute to the development of legal best practice, policies and processes
• Support legal training and awareness for non‑legal stakeholders

Essential

• Qualified lawyer in the UK
• Significant in‑house legal experience (strong preference for candidates with extensive in‑house backgrounds).
• Demonstrable strength in commercial contract law, including drafting and negotiation.
• Experience supporting international or multi‑region businesses.
• Strong commercial judgement and ability to provide pragmatic, business‑focused advice.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and manage competing priorities across regions and time zones.

Desirable

• Experience in professional services, outsourcing, or regulated environments.
• Exposure to APAC legal frameworks and cross‑border contracting.
• Experience supporting bids, tenders, and large client negotiations.

Using AI in your application

We’re happy for you to use AI tools to research us, polish your cv/cover letter, and practice interviews. Please make sure everything you submit reflects your authentic skills and experience.

To keep things fair, please don’t use AI to invent or exaggerate achievements, complete assessments (unless we say it’s allowed), or to generate live interview answers.

Rewards and Benefits

We believe in supporting our employees in both their professional and personal lives. As part of our commitment to your well-being, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including but not limited to:

• 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays(pro-rata for part time or fixed term roles)
• Salary sacrifice schemes, retail vouchers – including our TechScheme which can be used on a range of gadgets such as Smart TV’s, laptops and computers or household appliances.
• Life Assurance
• Private Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Health Assessments
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Discounted gym memberships
• Referral Scheme

You will also have the opportunity to work for a global employer who is dedicated to offering each and every employee an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding career with future career development prospects!

Equality and Diversity

The Company values the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation and will not discriminate because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation (each of these being a “protected characteristic” in discrimination law). It will not discriminate because of any other irrelevant factor and will build a culture that values openness, fairness and transparency.

If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like to make a reasonable adjustment to enable you to make an interview please contact us at careersatWL@williamslea.com(we do not accept applications to this email address).

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