Senior Legal Counsel

Phocas Software; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Phocas Software seeks a Senior Legal Counsel to lead as the principal in-house legal resource, driving SaaS contract negotiations and the development of AI-assisted playbooks to scale the function beyond headcount.

Reporting to the CFO, you will own the full contract lifecycle, oversee privacy and AI governance across AU/NZ/UK/US, and manage corporate governance and entity structures. There is potential for M&A support as opportunities arise.

Qualifications

• Experience drafting and negotiating SaaS/commercial contracts.
• Knowledge of data privacy and global regulatory frameworks (AU/NZ/UK/US).
• Ability to implement templates, workflows, and AI-assisted tooling.
• Ability to work autonomously as sole in-house legal resource.
• Willingness to grow into General Counsel leadership.

Responsibilities

• Own the full contract lifecycle, including MSAs, DPAs, and employment terms.
• Develop privacy and AI governance across AU, NZ, UK, and US.
• Manage corporate governance and entity management.
• Provide M&A support as opportunities arise.
• Build legal operations playbooks and automation to scale.

Skills

SaaS contracts

Commercial negotiation

Data privacy frameworks

AI governance

Legal operations

In-house autonomy

Job description

We’re looking for a Senior Legal Counsel to serve as our principal in-house legal resource. You are someone who is equally comfortable leading commercial negotiations directly with counterparty legal counsel as you are building the playbooks and AI-assisted tooling that let a lean legal function scale ahead of headcount.

Reporting to the CFO, you’ll own the full contract lifecycle, across customer MSAs and DPAs, supplier and partner agreements, employment terms, to negotiating directly with counterparty legal counsel. Alongside contracting, you’ll build and own our privacy and AI governance framework across our operating regions (AU, NZ, UK, US), and take care of corporate governance and entity management across the group. You’ll also get the opportunity for M&A support as opportunities arise.

Why This Role Matters

This isn’t a “sign off on contracts and wait for the next one” role. You’ll be developing the legal operations layer using the latest technology, including templates, negotiation playbooks, approval workflows, and AI-assisted review and redlining tooling, that scales legal capacity so Sales and Customer Success can self-serve on standard terms and come to you for what actually needs your advice.

Success will look like a legal function that enables the business to continue to grow with confidence. In practice, that means contracts turning around within agreed SLAs, a privacy and AI governance framework fully operational within your first 12 months, and Sales, GTM, and the Executive team describing legal as an enabler.

What you’ll bring

• Strong SaaS/commercial contract drafting and negotiation experience, including real, demonstrated experience negotiating directly with counterparty legal counsel
• Working knowledge of data privacy and regulatory frameworks across multiple jurisdictions (AU/NZ/UK/US), and depth in AI governance — GDPR and equivalent regimes, AI use policy, model and vendor risk
• A legal operations mindset — you’d rather build a template or workflow than personally absorb the volume forever
• Comfort operating with high autonomy as the sole in-house legal resource, with the judgement to know when to bring in outside counsel and manage that spend
• A pragmatic, business-minded approach to risk that balances protection with commercial speed
• Confidence using AI tools to extend your owncapacity
• Ambition to grow this role toward General Counsel as we scale, with the appetite to eventually build and lead a team

Sound like your kind of challenge? We look forward to hearing from you.