Head of Legal

Head of Legal (North America, Montreal)

Unit8 SA · Montreal, Canada (Hybrid) · Full-time · Posted 2026-10-15

Workplace: hybrid

Department: Operations - New hire

Description

Who we are

Unit8, founded in 2017, is a high-tech, dynamic Swiss leader in AI and data analytics consulting, renowned for solving complex challenges in non-digital native industries such as automotive, chemicals, financial services, manufacturing, and pharma. Our partnerships with industry leaders like Palantir, NVIDIA, and OpenAI underscore our commitment to excellence. With over 300 successful projects and a team of ~200 professionals across Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Spain and the US, we have entered the Canadian market in early 2026 and are set for further expansion.

Our mission

Unit8 is dedicated to driving AI adoption in non-digital industries and accelerating their digital transformation. We invest in projects that matter, including pro-bono initiatives and “engineering for good” causes.

The opportunity

Following our growth in Europe and our recent expansion into the US market in early 2026, Unit8 is taking its next strategic step in North America. We are looking for a commercially minded Head of Legal to help establish our Canadian presence in Montréal and to be the senior legal voice for our North American business.

This is, above all, a business-enabling role. You are the person who sits with our sales, delivery and finance teams, understands what a deal needs to succeed, and turns complex legal risk into clear, practical positions that help us close. You are the bridge between our clients’ legal and procurement teams and our own business, fluent enough in both to protect Unit8 without slowing it down.

You own the contracting and legal strategy for Canada and the US. You negotiate our client and purchasing agreements, decide what is handled in-house and what goes to external counsel, and build a modern, AI-enabled contract review process. Reporting directly to our CFO, you also lead our junior In-house Legal Counsel in Europe and act as the escalation point for contract reviews across our other geographies.

As one of our first Canadian hires, you will help shape how Unit8 contracts in North America, which standards and playbooks we work from, and how our legal function scales as we grow.

What you'll do

As our Head of Legal, you will be the senior legal voice for Unit8 in North America. Based in our Montreal office and reporting directly to our CFO in Europe, you will own commercial, procurement and governance legal work for our Canadian and US business, and lead a small, global legal function. This is a hands-on role with real ownership: you’ll close deals, shape how we contract, and build a modern, AI-enabled legal process from the ground up.

Close the deals that grow our North American business

• Review, draft and negotiate client contracts: MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, data processing agreements, IP and licensing terms, subcontracting and partnership agreements, as well as purchasing contracts.
• Lead face-to-face and remote negotiations with client legal and procurement teams, preparing the negotiation strategy, fallback positions and risk assessment for every material deal.
• Advise our sales, delivery and finance teams on liability caps, indemnities, IP ownership and data protection, in plain language they can act on.
• Own our Canadian and US contract templates, playbooks and standard positions: learn them quickly, improve them where needed, and use them to build client proposals and contracts.
• Work alongside our DPO and CISO on data protection topics.

Keep our North American entities in good shape

• Prepare and maintain corporate governance documents for our Canadian and US entities.
• Support the CFO and the board on corporate structure matters.

Decide what stays in-house and what goes out

• Route matters to external counsel in Canada, the US or Europe when it makes sense, weighing urgency, complexity and cost.
• Select, brief and manage external counsel, own the external legal budget and review invoices against scope.

Lead and grow the legal team

• Manage and coach our junior In-house Legal Counsel based in Europe: set priorities, allocate work and review output across time zones.
• Act as backup reviewer for EU and MEA contracts when our European counsel is at capacity.
• Report to the CFO on workload, open matters, material contractual risks and external legal spend.

Build an AI-enabled legal function

• Run and continuously improve our end-to-end contract review process: intake, triage, turnaround targets, approval thresholds and sign-off.
• Govern and develop AI tools for first-pass review, clause comparison and redlining, with clear rules on confidentiality, human sign-off and quality control. You’ll be working at an AI company, so expect to put these tools to real use.
• Track review volumes and turnaround times and use the data to make the process faster and better.

To be clear on scope: employment and labour law, as well as litigation and dispute resolution, are not part of this role and remain with HR and external counsel.

Requirements

Who you are

• You hold a law degree and are a member in good standing of the Barreau du Québec (or another Canadian law society with eligibility to practise in Quebec).
• You bring 7–10 years of experience as legal counsel in commercial and corporate law, in-house or at a law firm or legal service provider.
• You have negotiated services agreements, SOWs and software terms in an IT, SaaS or professional services company.
• You’re confident with Quebec civil law and the common-law framework of the other provinces, particularly Ontario.
• You have a working knowledge of US commercial contract law: you can work from our US templates, spot issues and know when to bring in US counsel. (You won’t be practising US law.)
• You’re familiar with Quebec Law 25, PIPEDA and, at a basic level, US state privacy laws.
• You have managed at least one direct report or a small team, and you enjoy developing people.
• You’re fully bilingual in French and English, and comfortable negotiating and drafting in both languages.
• You have built or redesigned a legal intake and review process, and you measure turnaround and quality.
• You read contracts for their business impact on margin, cash and delivery risk, not only for legal exposure.
• You’re curious about AI in legal work: you use these tools, understand their limits, and know how to govern them responsibly.
• You thrive working autonomously as the only lawyer in your region, while staying closely connected to a team in Europe.

Language

Unit8 operates as one international team across Switzerland, Poland, Germany and now North America, and works with global clients. English is therefore our day-to-day working language across the company and within delivery teams. For this role, professional fluency in both English and French is required.

Benefits

What we offer

• The chance to be the first senior legal hire in North America and shape how Unit8 contracts across the region, with direct access to our CFO and leadership.
• Real impact: your work directly enables projects that bring AI and data science to some of the largest companies in traditional industries.
• A modern legal function where AI tools are part of the daily workflow, not an afterthought.
• Flexible working: 30–40 hours per week to be agreed with you, with at least 2–3 days per week in our Montreal office and the rest remote. Your day starts by 8:00 or 9:00 AM Eastern to overlap with our European colleagues.
• Occasional travel to client sites in Canada and the US, and regular visits to our European offices.
• A collaborative, international team of 150+ engineers, data scientists and consultants who care about doing great work, including pro-bono and “engineering for good” projects.

Please submit your application materials exclusively in English.

We welcome people from all backgrounds, regardless of gender, personality, national origin, race, religion, skin color, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, disability, or veteran status.

Apply

Apply at Unit8 SA

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