Legal Counsel - Corporate Governance & Regulatory

Who are we?

Cohere is the leading security-first enterprise AI company. We build cutting-edge foundation AI models and end-to-end products that are designed to solve real-world business problems.

We’re training and deploying frontier models for enterprises who are building AI systems. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI and we are looking for folks that want to be part of that.

We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are all passionate about their craft.

We are a global technology company headquartered in Toronto with key offices in London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul. Join us!

About the role

We are looking for a versatile corporate and regulatory lawyer to join Cohere’s Legal team. Reporting to our Senior Governance Counsel, this role will support a global portfolio of corporate governance, entity and intercompany matters, together with cross-border regulatory, trade and compliance workstreams.

This role is designed for a lawyer with a strong corporate foundation who has also developed meaningful regulatory and trade experience. You should be comfortable moving between different types of legal work including:

• supporting global corporate governance and entity matters, including subsidiary governance, entity establishment and restructuring, intercompany arrangements and delegated authorities;

• supporting cross-border regulatory workstreams, including foreign investment and national-security reviews, regulatory diligence and filing coordination;

• helping the business navigate export-control, sanctions and related compliance requirements; and

• supporting legal and regulatory issues arising from public-sector and regulated-market opportunities, particularly where sovereignty, procurement, security or other market-access requirements come into play.

You will work closely with colleagues across Legal, Finance, Tax, People, Security, Government Affairs and commercial teams, as well as with specialist external counsel in multiple jurisdictions. The role requires sound judgment, curiosity and the ability to take ownership of a workstream, identify when specialist advice is needed, and turn that advice into practical action.

What you’ll do

• Support Cohere’s global corporate governance and entity matters, including subsidiary governance, entity establishment and restructuring, board and shareholder matters, corporate approvals, delegated authorities, signing frameworks and ongoing entity maintenance.

• Support Cohere’s intercompany legal architecture, including intercompany agreements and other cross-border operating arrangements, working closely with Finance, Tax, People and local counsel to ensure Cohere’s entities are structured and operated appropriately across jurisdictions.

• Support cross-border regulatory workstreams, including foreign investment screening, national-security reviews, regulatory diligence, filing coordination and the implementation of regulatory commitments arising in connection with acquisitions, investments, restructurings and other significant matters.

• Support Cohere’s export-control, sanctions and related compliance matters, including coordinating specialist external advice and translating regulatory requirements into practical internal guidance, controls and documentation.

• Support legal and regulatory workstreams arising from public-sector and regulated-market opportunities, particularly where sovereignty, procurement, security or other market-access requirements need to be understood and operationalised.

• Coordinate internal stakeholders and external counsel across jurisdictions, ensuring that legal and regulatory workstreams are appropriately scoped, progressed and implemented.

• Take ownership of matters within the role’s remit and help develop practical, scalable approaches as Cohere’s international footprint grows.

What we’re looking for

• A qualified lawyer with approximately 4–8 years of relevant experience, gained at a leading law firm, a sophisticated in-house legal team, or preferably a combination of both.

• A strong corporate and cross-border legal foundation, with experience across areas such as subsidiary governance, entity structuring and reorganisations, intercompany arrangements, delegated authorities, corporate approvals and other aspects of international corporate practice.

• Meaningful exposure to cross-border regulatory matters, particularly foreign investment screening, national-security reviews, export controls, sanctions, international trade or related corporate compliance issues. Deep specialism in any one of these areas is not required.

• Experience working across multiple jurisdictions, including coordinating local and specialist external counsel and bringing different legal, regulatory and business inputs together into a coherent internal position.

• Strong judgment, range and commercial awareness, with the ability to get quickly up to speed on unfamiliar issues, identify what matters most and distinguish issues that can be handled internally from those requiring specialist advice.

• The ability to take ownership of an internal legal workstream, ask the right questions of specialist counsel, digest complex advice and translate it into clear, practical next steps for the business.

• Clear and practical communication skills, including the ability to work effectively with stakeholders across Legal, Finance, Tax, People, Security, Government Affairs and commercial teams.

• A collaborative and pragmatic approach, with comfort moving between different subject areas and working across functions, jurisdictions and time zones.

• Experience in technology, AI or another regulated industry would be helpful, but is not essential.

• Exposure to public-sector, government-facing or regulated-market matters is a plus but is not a prerequisite.

Nice to have

• Experience in technology, AI, cloud or infrastructure, or another regulated industry.

• Experience supporting a multinational organisation with a growing international entity footprint, particularly where legal, tax, finance and operational considerations intersect.

• Exposure to public-sector, government-facing or regulated-market matters, including procurement, digital sovereignty, security, accreditation or related market-access requirements.

• Familiarity with North American, UK or EU regulatory frameworks relevant to cross-border technology businesses.

What success looks like

• You can move comfortably between corporate and regulatory matters, identify the core issue quickly and make progress even where the work does not fit neatly into a single legal category.

• You can take ownership of a complex cross-border workstream, bring together the right internal stakeholders and external advisers, and drive it through to a practical outcome.

• You know when specialist advice is needed, can frame the right questions for external counsel, and can turn complex advice into clear, actionable guidance for the business.

• You become a trusted execution partner across Cohere’s corporate governance and regulatory portfolio, taking meaningful ownership of workstreams and creating capacity for more strategic, cross-functional and government-facing work at the senior level.

Full-Time Employees at Cohere enjoy these Perks:

• A weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in your local currency for lunch.

• Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget for mental health.

• RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme.

• 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months, for either parent.

• Annual enrichment benefits:

  Arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, and a workspace improvement credit.

  Education & learning stipend for conferences, courses, and coaching.

• 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days!)

• Budget for traveling to other offices if you are remote, plus an annual company offsite.

How and Where We Work:

• Cohere is remote-friendly, but we also have offices in Toronto, London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul with more opening soon.

• For those in the office: a daily lunch program, plenty of snacks, and regular community and social events.

• For those not near an office: a co-working benefit so you can work alongside others in your city.

• Everyone receives a $500 home office stipend to set up your workspace properly.

If any of the above doesn’t line up exactly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply.

We strive to create an inclusive work environment for all; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form, and we will work together to meet your needs.

We may use AI-enabled tools to screen and assess applicants against the criteria for this position. This helps our recruiters identify potentially qualified candidates, but it doesn't limit the applications our recruiters may review or consider.

Beware of Scams: Cohere will never ask for payment or third-party services (e.g., CV writing) as part of our hiring process. All legitimate roles are listed on the Cohere careers page and LinkedIn only, with all communications from Cohere employees coming from an @cohere.com or @cw.cohere email alias. If jobs are viewed on other sites then please verify these through our official careers page.