General Counsel

Canonical Ltd.; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 150,000 - 340,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

40 days annual leave

Learning budget USD 2,000 per year

Bi-annual compensation review

Wellness program

Job summary

Canonical Ltd. is seeking a General Counsel to lead the global Legal and Compliance function. The role reports to the COO and can be remote in EMEA time zones with an option for office in London.

You will own governance, licensing, IP strategy, and commercial contracting for a fast‑growing tech company. You will advise the CEO/Board, manage cross‑regional teams, and ensure regulatory compliance across data protection, export controls, and AI regulation.

Qualifications

• Exceptional academic track record from high school and university.
• A degree in law and an active licence to practice in an EMEA or Americas jurisdiction.
• Substantial senior in‑house experience in a global technology or software business.

Responsibilities

• Lead the global Legal and Compliance function across EMEA and the Americas.
• Build and manage a distributed legal team with managers across regions/time zones.
• Set operating cadence for legal work, intake, priorities, and risk reporting.

Skills

Senior in-house experience

Software industry experience

Open source licensing

IP and trademark

Governance

Education

Law degree

Tools

Contract management systems

Job description

We are hiring aGeneral Counsel, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO). This role leads Canonical’s global Legal and Compliance function.

This is a unique opportunity for an exceptional and commercially-minded senior lawyer to lead the legal and compliance function of a profitable, fast-growing technology company that is privately held with the intention to list on a public exchange. We’re looking for someone with genuine fluency in the software industry and in open source dynamics, who can translate that insight into clear positions on licensing, commercial contracts and risk, and hands‑on execution.

Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, you will own Canonical's legal, regulatory and governance posture and lead a distributed team across EMEA and the Americas. Your primary challenge will be to continue building both the team and the architecture: a management layer across two regions, and the governance, contracting and controls a public company needs, in an environment that regularly does things the industry has not done before. You will work closely with our product and engineering teams on licensing and IP questions, with the security function on customer assurance, and you will advise the Board and its committees directly.

In our selection process, we prioritize intellect and judgement alongside depth of practice. We are looking for someone with a strong academic background, an active licence to practice, and demonstrable exposure to a multilayered global operational environment.

Location: This role will be based remotely in EMEA time zones, with an option to be office based in London, UK.

The role entails

• Leading the global Legal and Compliance function: setting it's structure, standards and priorities across EMEA and the Americas.
• Building and managing a management capability: hire and develop managers, set objectives, review performance against a clear bar, and address under-performance directly.
• Setting the operating cadence of the function: intake and prioritization of legal work, service expectations with internal clients, and reporting on workload and risk to the leadership team.
• Owning public‑market readiness on the legal side: corporate governance, group and entity structure, delegated authority, policies, disclosure controls and records, in partnership with Finance.
• Advising the CEO, COO, CFO and the Board, and supporting in Board and committee meetings.
• Owning the commercial contracting framework: standard templates, negotiating positions, and a deviation and escalation process that makes commitments visible before they are signed.
• Leading intellectual property and open source licensing strategy, including copyleft, trademark and the terms on which Ubuntu and our products are distributed.
• Owning the global compliance programme: data protection and privacy, export controls and trade compliance, anti‑bribery and corruption, competition and AI regulation.
• Managing litigation, disputes and regulatory engagement, together with the external counsel panel, its budget and its quality.
• Advising on M&A, partnerships, strategic alliances and financing as the company grows.

What we are looking for in you

• An exceptional academic track record from both high school and university.
• A degree in law, or equivalent, and an active licence to practice in an EMEA or Americas jurisdiction.
• Substantial senior in‑house experience in a global technology or software business.
• Proven experience leading a distributed legal team, including managing managers across regions and time zones.
• A track record of setting and holding a high performance bar: hiring well, developing people, and dealing with under performance directly rather than waiting it out.
• Experience building or restructuring an in‑house legal function, including deciding what is retained, delegated and sent to external counsel.
• Technology related experience of:
  • negotiating and owning commercial technology contracts, including enterprise software and subscriptions, channel and reseller agreements, hardware manufacturer agreements, cloud and services
  • advising on open source licensing, including permissive and copyleft licences, and familiarity with how open source communities operate.
• Experience of, or demonstrable readiness for, public company governance: listing preparation, board and committee support, disclosure and controls.
• Depth in at least two of: data protection and privacy, IP and trademark, export controls and trade, competition, or disputes.
• Confidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback, hold colleagues accountable, and share ideas without hesitation.
• Professional written and spoken English with excellent drafting and presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability.
• International travel two to four times a year for company events up to two weeks long.

Nice‑to‑have skills

• Experience taking a company through an IPO, or practicing as counsel inside a listed company.
• A technical or engineering background, or fluency in how software is built and shipped.
• Experience of a subscription or recurring‑revenue business model.
• Experience building or restructuring an in‑house legal function.
• A qualification in more than one jurisdiction.

What we offer colleagues

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually (and more often for graduates and associates) to ensure we recognize outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance‑driven annual bonus or commission. We provide all team members with additional benefits which reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally.

• Distributed work environment with twice‑yearly team sprints in person.
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year.
• Bi‑annual compensation review.
• Company recognition rewards.
• 40 days annual leave per annum, including public holidays and our All Company holiday periods.
• Maternity and paternity leave.
• Team Member Assistance Program & Wellness Platform.
• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues, with Priority Pass for lounge access.

About Canonical

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. Our platform, Ubuntu, is very widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. Our customers include the world's leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors. We are founder‑led, profitable, and growing.

Powered by worldwide distributed collaboration since our inception in 2004, we believe tech and business leadership can emerge anywhere. We have no central headquarters. Most of us work from home, but we are exceptionally disciplined about this. We have very high expectations of all colleagues, and are champions of excellence. Working here is a step into the future and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game.

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer

We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.