Head of Legal
No salary listed
Expert
Bachelor's
Montreal, QC, Canada
HybridAt least 2–3 days per week in the Montreal office; remote work the rest of the week. Start by 8:00 or 9:00 AM Eastern; occasional travel to client sites in Canada and the US, and regular visits to European offices.
LegalLegal Counsel & Legal Support
About the job
Requirements
- Hold a law degree and be a member in good standing of the Barreau du Québec, or another Canadian law society with eligibility to practise in Quebec.
- Have 7–10 years of experience as legal counsel in commercial and corporate law, in-house, at a law firm, or at a legal service provider.
- Have negotiated services agreements, statements of work, and software terms in an IT, SaaS, or professional services company.
- Be confident with Quebec civil law and the common-law framework of the other provinces, particularly Ontario.
- Have a working knowledge of US commercial contract law, including the ability to work from US templates, identify issues, and know when to involve US counsel; practising US law is not required.
- Be familiar with Quebec Law 25, PIPEDA, and, at a basic level, US state privacy laws.
- Have managed at least one direct report or a small team and be willing to develop people.
- Be fully bilingual in French and English, and comfortable negotiating and drafting in both languages.
- Have built or redesigned a legal intake and review process and measured turnaround and quality.
- Assess contracts for business impacts on margin, cash, and delivery risk, as well as legal exposure.
- Use AI tools in legal work, understand their limits, and govern them responsibly.
- Work autonomously as the only lawyer in the region while staying closely connected to a team in Europe.
Responsibilities
- Review, draft, and negotiate client contracts, including master services agreements, statements of work, non-disclosure agreements, data processing agreements, intellectual property and licensing terms, subcontracting and partnership agreements, and purchasing contracts.
- Lead face-to-face and remote negotiations with client legal and procurement teams; prepare negotiation strategies, fallback positions, and risk assessments for material deals.
- Advise sales, delivery, and finance teams on liability caps, indemnities, intellectual property ownership, and data protection in actionable terms.
- Own Canadian and US contract templates, playbooks, and standard positions; improve them as needed and use them to build client proposals and contracts.
- Work with the data protection officer and chief information security officer on data protection topics.
- Prepare and maintain corporate governance documents for Canadian and US entities.
- Support the chief financial officer and board on corporate structure matters.
- Route matters to external counsel in Canada, the US, or Europe based on urgency, complexity, and cost.
- Select, brief, and manage external counsel; own the external legal budget and review invoices against scope.
- Manage and coach the junior in-house legal counsel in Europe by setting priorities, allocating work, and reviewing output across time zones.
- Act as backup reviewer for EU and MEA contracts when European counsel is at capacity.
- Report workload, open matters, material contractual risks, and external legal spend to the chief financial officer.
- Run and continuously improve the end-to-end contract review process, including intake, triage, turnaround targets, approval thresholds, and sign-off.
- Govern and develop AI tools for first-pass review, clause comparison, and redlining, with rules for confidentiality, human sign-off, and quality control.
- Track review volumes and turnaround times and use the data to improve the process.
Desired Qualifications
- French is valued as an asset for working with Quebec-based clients and colleagues.
About the company
Unit8 is a Swiss data services and consulting firm that helps traditional, non-digital-native companies use data, analytics, and artificial intelligence through end-to-end data projects. It operates on a service-based model, delivering the full data journey: Data & AI consulting, custom solutions, robust data platforms, and ongoing operations and MLOps. It also specializes in Palantir Foundry services and contributes to open-source tooling like the Darts time-series forecasting library. The company differentiates itself through its founders’ combined experience in large-scale data infrastructure and advanced analytics, a clear focus on transforming traditional industries, and a European-driven growth strategy supported by seed funding and a growing office footprint. Unit8’s goal is to become a leading European data and AI consulting firm by expanding its client base, capabilities, and geographic presence while helping clients achieve digital transformation.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
Prilly, Switzerland
Founded
2017
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Unit8 says 300-plus projects and 80-plus GenAI implementations strengthened 2026 demand.
- The Weleda chatbot launch shows fast enterprise GenAI delivery in weeks, not quarters.
- OpenAI partner access in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria opens larger regulated enterprise accounts.
What critics are saying
- OpenAI partnership concentration exposes Unit8 if partner status shifts or competitors outbid it.
- Anonymized case studies and logo-heavy marketing limit buyer confidence and talent pull.
- Services revenue stays headcount-bound; a weak 2026 pipeline quickly hits Lausanne staffing.
What makes Unit8 unique
- OpenAI named Unit8 a 2026 Services Partner and awarded High-Trust AI Delivery.
- Unit8 pairs Palantir Foundry depth with regulated-industry delivery across finance, pharma, and manufacturing.
- Its Darts library and 300-plus projects create technical credibility beyond consulting slideware.
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Benefits
- Paid Vacation
- Health Insurance
- Flexible Work Hours
- Professional Development Budget
- Company Social Events
- Remote Work Options
- Performance Bonus
- 401(k) Retirement Plan