Corporate Counsel

FIS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

FIS is seeking an experienced corporate counsel to join the in-house legal team in London, supporting the EMEA region. The role focuses on preparing and negotiating contract documentation, including software licensing, SaaS, and IT agreements for financial institutions and corporates.

You will provide legal advice across commercial contracts, information technology matters, data security and regulatory issues, while collaborating with business units and sales teams in a fast-moving environment.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified as a lawyer with an undergraduate qualification from a leading university.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in the practice of law in a high-quality environment.
• Strong professional ethics with a commitment to excellence.
• Knowledge of drafting commercial contracts including SaaS agreements, data processing agreements, and related terms.
• Strong analytical and advisory skills for complex legal questions.
• Strong communication skills with stakeholders, outside counsel and clients.
• Strong negotiation and deal-making skills balancing company goals with client needs.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients and colleagues.
• Good time-management and ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously.
• Comfort with technology and legal tech tools.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate software and information technology agreements including SaaS and professional services for FIS products and services.
• Perform legal research and analysis on commercial contract and IT law issues, including software licensing, data security and privacy.
• Support sales teams and business colleagues on legal issues related to FIS products and services.
• Counsel business colleagues in client relationships, including contract dispute matters.

Skills

Negotiation

Contract drafting

Analytical thinking

Communication

Time management

Education

Law degree

Job description

Type Of Hire

Experienced (relevant combo of work and education)

Position Type

Full time

Type Of Hire

Experienced (relevant combo of work and education)

Are you curious, motivated, and forward-thinking? At FIS you’ll have the opportunity to work on some of the most challenging and relevant issues in financial services and technology. Our talented people empower us, and we believe in being part of a team that is open, collaborative, entrepreneurial, passionate and above all fun.

About The Team

The FIS legal team is comprised of more than 200 lawyers and other legal professionals worldwide who enjoy being an advisor to and partner with our businesses to help the company achieve its goals. We work collaboratively with each other and with our business colleagues to solve problems in an effective and pragmatic manner. We view our role as one of supporting our business leaders in a variety of legal matters, and we strive to assist our businesses in meeting their objectives with sound, reasonable and well-considered corporate counsel.

What You Will Be Doing

This is an exciting opportunity to join the FIS legal team as a corporate counsel for the EMEA region supporting FIS’ financial technology business in that region. FIS’ business in EMEA continues to experience rapid growth in supplying technology solutions that cover the myriad of requirements sought by banks, financial institutions and corporates in the region. You will be at the forefront of that continued expansion, operating from our strategic location in London. This is a broad based in-house commercial legal role, with responsibility across the spectrum of internal legal advice, to all aspects of the business, but with a particular focus upon preparing and negotiating contract documentation with commercial clients of the company, principally for the Banking and Payments division of FIS. You will provide legal advice and counsel to business units within the company on a wide variety of issues that arise in the context of commercial contracts and information technology in areas that include software licensing, data security, privacy and regulatory matters.

You Will Also

• review, prepare and negotiate a wide range of software and information technology agreements including software/SaaS agreements (including related to the public cloud), professional services contracts and other outsourcing and information services agreements for FIS’ products and services provided to financial institutions and other business entities
• perform legal research and analysis on commercial contract and information technology law issues, as well as software licensing, AI, data security and privacy, technology development and commercial services
• support sales teams and business colleagues on legal issues relating to FIS products and services
• counsel business colleagues in connection with client relationships, including commercial contract dispute matters

What You Bring

• You must be fully qualified as a lawyer with an undergraduate qualification to a good degree standard from a leading university
• You must have a minimum of 5 years’ experience (this is a guide only and candidates with more or less experience will be considered) in the practice of law in a high-quality law firm or in-house environment, and possess a solid understanding of corporate and commercial contract issues
• You must have strong professional ethics with a commitment to excellence
• You should ideally possess knowledge of and experience with the principles involved in drafting commercial contracts including SaaS agreements, data processing agreements, DORA terms (ideal but not essential) and partnership agreements
• You must have strong analytical and advisory skills, including the ability to review and evaluate multi-faceted issues and counsel business colleagues on complex legal questions relating to various business matters. You must possess the ability to use creative problem-solving skills to resolve issues in a pragmatic and sound manner
• You must have strong communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with business stakeholders, outside legal counsel, and internal and external clients. This includes strong writing skills and the ability to draft contracts, dispute resolution documentation and other legal communications
• You must have strong negotiation and deal-making skills, including the ability to balance the company’s goals and the client’s needs, as well as the ability to deal with multiple parties with competing interests
• You must possess the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, colleagues and opposing counsel, and be able to work collaboratively with other team members, both within the FIS legal team and in other groups.
• You must have good time-management skills and the ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously
• You must be comfortable with technology and the use of technology tools in performing your daily work responsibilities

Added Bonus If You Have

• Experience in the financial technology industry, or in working closely with financial institutions on their technology matters

What We Offer You

• The opportunity to join a great team of collaborative, dedicated and fun individuals who look forward to working together as a team to accomplish our goals
• A multifaceted and challenging legal career with a high degree of responsibility
• A broad spectrum of legal experiences with a thriving corporation in an innovative, ever-changing industry
• A modern work environment
• A competitive salary and a range of benefits designed to support your wellbeing
• The chance to work on some of the most challenging, relevant legal issues in financial services and information technology

Privacy Statement

FIS is committed to protecting the privacy and security of all personal information that we process in order to provide services to our clients. For specific information on how FIS protects personal information online, please see the Online Privacy Notice.

Sourcing Model

Recruitment at FIS works primarily on a direct sourcing model; a relatively small portion of our hiring is through recruitment agencies. FIS does not accept resumes from recruitment agencies which are not on the preferred supplier list and is not responsible for any related fees for resumes submitted to job postings, our employees, or any other part of our company.