Head of Legal - Client Services Agreements

ABOUT US:

As a world leading provider of integrated solutions for the alternative investment industry, Alter Domus (meaning “The Other House” in Latin) is proud to be home to 90% of the top 30 asset managers in the private markets, and more than 6,000 professionals across 24 jurisdictions. 

With a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in alternatives, we believe in being different - in what we do, in how we work and most importantly in how we enable and develop our people. Invest yourself in the alternative, and join an organization where you progress on merit, where you can speak openly with whoever you are speaking to, and where you will be supported along whichever path you choose to take. 

Find out more about life at Alter Domus at careers.alterdomus.com  

The Head of Legal, Client Services Agreements is a senior leadership role within the Alter Domus Group Legal team, reporting directly to the Group Head of Legal. This role owns the legal lifecycle of client service agreements across the group's Fund Administration and Debt Capital Markets Services business lines, and leads a small team of lawyers and legal support staff responsible for delivering that remit.
This is a commercially focused, client-facing legal leadership role that sits at the heart of Alter Domus's service delivery model. The successful candidate will combine strong contracts expertise and commercial awareness with the ability to lead, develop and manage a team — setting standards, allocating work, building capability and ensuring consistent, high-quality legal output across a high-volume, multi-jurisdictional client portfolio.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Team Leadership and Management

• Lead, manage and develop a team of lawyers responsible for client service agreement work across Fund Administration and DCM business lines
• Set clear objectives, priorities and quality standards for the team, ensuring work is allocated appropriately and delivered to a consistently high standard
• Provide day-to-day supervision and guidance to team members on complex negotiations, novel issues and escalated matters — acting as the senior review point before matters are escalated to the Group Head of Legal
• Foster a collaborative, commercially-minded team culture that is responsive to the business, consistent in its legal positions and continuously improving in its processes
• Ensure the team operates in accordance with the group's legal quality standards — including appropriate use of templates, playbooks, escalation protocols and privilege disciplines

Client Service Agreements — Core Remit

• Own the end-to-end legal management of client service agreements across both Fund Administration and DCM business lines, from first draft through negotiation, execution, amendment and renewal
• Lead or supervise the drafting, review and negotiation of complex, bespoke client agreements including:
  
  • Fund administration agreements
  • Transfer agency agreements
  • Depositary services agreements
  • SPV administration agreements
  • Sub-administration arrangements
  • Side letters and ancillary service documentation
• Maintain and develop the group's CSA template library and negotiation playbooks, ensuring standard positions are current, commercially calibrated and consistently applied across the business
• Define and maintain a clear approved deviations framework — enabling the team and the business to move quickly on routine positions while escalating genuinely novel or high-risk points appropriately
• Advise the Sales and Relationship Management teams on key commercial risk positions — liability caps, indemnities, service levels, termination rights, confidentiality and governing law — providing clear, practical guidance that supports deal execution
• Ensure contract terms are operationally deliverable, working with Operations and Technology teams to sense-check service commitments and flag terms that create delivery risk
• Manage the contract amendment and variation process — advising on and documenting changes to service scope, fee arrangements and contractual obligations as client relationships evolve

Contract Lifecycle Management

• Maintain and develop the group's contract register, tracking material terms, renewal dates, liability exposure, governing law and key obligations across the client portfolio
• Proactively manage contract renewals and renegotiations, flagging upcoming expiries and coordinating the renewal process with Relationship Management
• Advise on client termination scenarios — whether initiated by Alter Domus or the client — including notice obligations, transition arrangements, data return obligations and liability crystallisation
• Identify and escalate patterns and systemic issues arising from client contract negotiations — feeding insights back to the GC and into template and playbook improvements
• Support the business on client onboarding from a contracts perspective, ensuring new client relationships are documented accurately and efficiently

Business Partnering

• Act as the senior legal point of contact for the Sales, Relationship Management and Operations teams on all client contracting matters
• Attend and contribute to client pitches, RFP processes and onboarding meetings where legal input is required at a senior level
• Provide training and guidance to commercial and operational colleagues — and oversee the team's delivery of training more broadly — building legal literacy across the business
• Work collaboratively with the Compliance and Risk functions to ensure client agreements reflect regulatory requirements, including AIFMD, UCITS, GDPR and applicable depositary rules
• Support the Legal Quality Control function in maintaining template standards and ensuring consistency of legal advice across the client portfolio

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

Essential

• Qualified lawyer with 6–10 years' post-qualification experience in commercial contracts, with a mix of private practice and in-house
• Proven people management experience — comfortable leading a small team, setting direction, managing performance and developing junior lawyers
• Strong drafting and negotiation skills across complex commercial agreements in a financial services or professional services context
• Solid understanding of fund administration, asset servicing, depositary or capital markets services and the types of contractual arrangements involved
• Ability to provide clear, practical, commercially-oriented advice and to instil that approach across the team
• Demonstrated ability to manage a high-volume, multi-jurisdictional workload while maintaining quality standards and supporting a team doing the same
• Strong stakeholder management skills — credible with senior commercial and operational leaders as well as with the GC and Board
• Good working knowledge of multi-jurisdictional contracting, including the practical differences between civil law and common law contract frameworks

Desirable

• Experience building or developing a contracts or commercial legal team within a scaling business
• Familiarity with AIFMD, UCITS, GDPR and depositary regulatory frameworks and their implications for client agreements
• Experience with contract lifecycle management tools or legal technology platforms
• Exposure to a PE-backed or high-growth financial services business

What Success Looks Like

• The team operates as a well-run, high-performing function — work is delivered to a consistent standard, the team is well-managed and developing, and capacity is understood and managed proactively
• Client contracting is a commercial enabler — deals close efficiently, legal positions are consistent, and the business has confidence in the framework
• The template library and playbooks are well-maintained, actively used and reduce the time spent on routine negotiations
• The contract register is accurate and current — the business has clear visibility of its obligations, renewal dates and exposure
• Commercial and operational colleagues view this role as a trusted, go-to senior legal partner — accessible, practical and solutions-focused
• Legal risk in the client portfolio is well-understood and well-managed, with issues identified early and escalated appropriately
• Team members are engaged, growing and retained — this is a team people want to be part of

WHAT WE OFFER

We are committed to supporting your development, advancing your career, and providing benefits that matter to you. 

Our industry-leading Alter Domus Academy offers six learning zones for every stage of your career, with resources tailored to your ambitions and resources from LinkedIn Learning. 

Our global benefits also include:

• Support for professional accreditations such as ACCA and study leave 
• Flexible arrangements, generous holidays, plus an additional day off for your birthday!
• Continuous mentoring along your career progression 
• Active sports, events and social committees across our offices 
• 24/7 support available from our Employee Assistance Program 
• The opportunity to invest in our growth and success through our Employee Share Plan 
• Plus additional local benefits depending on your location 

Alter Domus is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Equity Statement 
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. 

(Alter Domus Privacy notice can be reviewed via Alter Domus webpage: https://alterdomus.com/privacy-notice/)

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