Senior Legal Counsel – Contracts (German speaker)

Pennylane; Colmar; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Pennylane seeks a Senior Legal Counsel, Contracts to partner with Sales, Partnerships, Security, Finance and Product teams across Europe. You will draft and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements and help scale contracting processes from drafting through signature and post-signature follow-up.

You will drive international contracts, including France, Germany and other European markets, while improving templates and playbooks.

Qualifications

• Experience in contract law, gained in a law firm or fast-growing tech company.
• Fluent in English; working knowledge of French and German.
• Expertise in B2B SaaS agreements, incl. IP, indemnification, liability caps, SLAs and data provisions.
• Autonomous and capable of managing matters from start to finish.
• Experience in multi-jurisdictional Europe (France/Europe).
• Interest in legal operations and contract-management tech.
• Genuine business partner, able to move teams quickly while protecting the company.
• Rigorous, concise, able to explain complex topics to non-lawyers.
• Enjoys a fast-moving environment with ambiguity and iteration.

Responsibilities

• Draft and negotiate international contracts and commercial agreements.
• Improve customer, reseller and integrator terms and playbooks.
• Structure and improve internal contracting processes for efficiency.
• Support Sales, Partnerships, Finance, Security and Product teams.

Skills

Contract law

IP/IT law

SaaS agreements

Cross-border deals

English fluency

German knowledge

Autonomy

Business partnering

Education

Law degree

Tools

Tomorro

Pivot

Notion

Job description

Could your legal expertise help build the contractual foundations of Europe’s next financial management platform? At Pennylane, we believe legal should be more than a safeguard. It should be a business enabler.

Our ambition is to equip millions of small and medium-sized businesses across Europe with a complete, high-performing financial management platform. As Pennylane continues to grow rapidly in France and expand internationally, we are looking for a Senior Legal Counsel, Contracts to join our Legal, Compliance & Risk team.

Within a Legal department of 10 professionals, the Contracts team secures Pennylane’s commercial and operational relationships with customers, suppliers, partner firms, resellers, integrators and strategic partners.

Reporting to the Lead Legal Counsel, Contracts, you will work closely with our Sales, Partnerships, Security, Finance and Product teams. This is a hands-on role where legal rigor, creativity and business pragmatism are equally valued.

Pennylane is one of France’s most dynamic fintech companies, currently expanding rapidly across Europe.

In just six years, we have managed to:

• Establish ourselves in the market as an innovative provider of accounting and financial management software
• Raise a total of €400 million from renowned investors, including Sequoia, Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firm, known for backing Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Stripe, PayPal, and many others in their early days
• Grow from 7 co-founders to a team of 1,000 employees, with an average Glassdoor rating of 4.9/5 and 94% of reviewers saying they would recommend Pennylane to their friends and family
• Build an international team made up of employees from 25 different countries, with a truly flexible remote-working culture
• More than 900,000 small and medium-sized businesses and over 6,000 accounting firms in France already use Pennylane!

Your role

You will act as a trusted legal partner for teams across Pennylane, managing a broad range of commercial and operational agreements from drafting through to signature and post-signature follow-up.

You will also help make our contracting processes more efficient and scalable, contributing to the tools, templates, playbooks and legal culture that support Pennylane’s growth.

Your Responsibilities

International contracts

• Draft and negotiate purchase orders and related agreements with partner firms, primarily outside France, with a current focus on Germany.
• Manage contracts with strategic international suppliers.
• Maintain and improve templates in line with regulatory, product and business developments.
• Work with Sales and Partnerships to streamline the contracting process.

Customer, reseller and integrator agreements

• Improve customer terms and conditions for SME customers across France and Europe.
• Support Sales with the contracting process and automated quotations.
• Review and negotiate agreements with Pennylane integrators and resellers.
• Anticipate the contractual impact of key regulations, including e-invoicing, payment services and the EU AI Act.
• Contribute to contract templates and playbooks.

Legal operations and collaboration

• Structure and improve internal contracting processes to increase efficiency and scalability.
• Optimize our contract management tools, including Tomorro, Pivot and Notion.
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive, low-value tasks, including through AI.
• Provide clear, pragmatic advice to Sales, Partnerships, Finance, Security and Product teams.
• Train non-legal teams and help build a strong legal culture across Pennylane.

The profile we are looking for

• You are a qualified lawyer or legal counsel with extensive experience in contract law, gained in a law firm, particularly in IP/IT, technology or SaaS, and/or in a fast-growing tech company.
• You are fluent in English and have a working knowledge of Franch and German.
• You have strong expertise in B2B SaaS agreements, including IP, indemnification, liability caps, SLAs and data-related provisions.
• You are autonomous and comfortable managing matters from start to finish.
• You have experience working in a multi-jurisdictional environment, particularly across France and Europe.
• You are interested in legal operations and technology, and have experience structuring processes or optimizing contract management tools.
• You are a genuine business partner, able to help teams move quickly while protecting the company.
• You are rigorous, concise and able to make complex legal topics clear to non-legal audiences.
• You enjoy building in a fast-moving environment where ambiguity, prioritization and rapid iteration are part of the job.

Location and working model

This role is available in a hybrid format from Paris or as a fully remote position elsewhere in France or Germany.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion

Pennylane is committed to providing an inclusive and supportive work environment, with equal opportunities for all candidates regardless of social or ethnic background, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or any other personal characteristic.