Legal Counsel

FLAG; Greater London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a legal professional with a strong background in telecoms to join their dynamic team. This role offers the chance to work autonomously while negotiating and drafting key agreements for global services. The ideal candidate will thrive in a fast-paced environment, engaging with internal stakeholders and external clients. With a focus on regulatory compliance and data protection, this position is perfect for someone eager to make a significant impact in an innovative legal team. If you are ready to take your career to the next level, this opportunity is for you.

Qualifications

• 2-3+ years PQE with experience at a top-tier law firm.
• Knowledge of telecoms, privacy, and regulatory compliance is essential.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate and draft master services agreements for global sales.
• Support sales and procurement activities related to cable network systems.

Skills

Regulatory compliance

Negotiation skills

Attention to detail

Telecoms experience

Data protection knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Law

Job description

FLAG is one of the world’s largest privately owned subsea cable networks, and we are redefining global connectivity. Our high-speed, scalable and secure infrastructure moves data faster and further – powering the growth of the internet and AI through our partners and customers around the globe. Wherever business happens, FLAG keeps you connected. For more information about FLAG, please visit flagtel.com.

The FLAG legal team also provides legal support to FLAG’s sister business, GCX.

GCX Managed Services delivers secure, global network solutions that seamlessly connects users and devices to core business applications. Our customised solutions are designed to meet the unique needs of organisations worldwide, powered by our AI-driven global network. We provide simple, secure, and scalable solutions for mid to large enterprises, trusted by some of the world’s most recognized brands.

Role Summary

The successful candidate will ideally have:

• 2/3+ years PQE
• Experience/training at a top tier law firm
• Some in-house experience
• Telecoms experience, failing which an engineering or manufacturing-related industry of some kind (energy, oil and gas, infrastructure etc.)
• Working knowledge of privacy, data protection (including GDPR) and data security issues
• Regulatory compliance, ideally in relation to telecoms

The candidate must demonstrate initiative and close attention to detail. A key attribute for any applicant is the ability to swiftly assimilate a detailed knowledge of the network & products; and then apply this in the performance of the role.

The role provides the opportunity for significant autonomy, and we're looking for someone who, once given the basics of the business, relishes the opportunity to develop his or her own practice and work largely unsupervised.

The role would suit a candidate who has an outgoing personality and is happy to deal directly, and build a strong working relationship with, both internal stakeholders and external customers and suppliers.

Our UK office is located in Chiswick, London. Our senior management team (including our GC)is based in our UK office, as is most of our legal team.

Duties and Responsibilities

A key element of the role is negotiation and drafting of master services and similar agreements for the sale of services and of right of use capacity and dark fibre, literally across the world.

The workload is heavily geared to documenting sales agreements. Due to the size and nature of some of our customers, we often need to work with the customers’ standard terms as well as (or instead of) our own – so the ability to review and draft bespoke documentation efficiently is essential.

Cable network systems

GCX owns and operates its own cable network systems. The legal team supports all the sales and procurement activity relating to those systems, including landing party agreements, sales of capacity and services, real estate issues and property leases, negotiations with foreign telecoms operators to use their facilities and networks, and liaison with telecoms regulators for cable-related permits.

Network & Procurement

• Agreements concerning the construction and/or upgrade of the subsea network, and its underlying maintenance.
• Agreements to buy in right of use capacity and/or spectrum from other cable operators.
• Agreements to buy in leased services, hardware and software to extend our network.
• General commercial agreements of a varied nature to support offices and network premises across the world.

Managed services

GCX provides tailored network solutions worldwide with over 140 nodes, delivering WAN, SD-WAN, Internet, security and cloud voice services for mid to large tier enterprises. The legal team supports all the sales and procurement activity relating to such managed services, including the buying and selling of circuits, software, colocation space and hardware.

The disputes element of the role encompasses a range of interesting work, including the following:

• Commercial disputes involving non-paying customers or relating to network incidents.

Regulatory compliance

As a global telecoms provider, GCX has various licenses and regulatory compliance requirements across the world, including in relation to its cable network systems. The legal team helps to maintain these licences, and ensures new services are provided in compliance with local regulatory obligations.

As a full service in-house legal team, we deal with a broad range of issues, including:

• NDAs
• HR issues, including management of litigation
• Corporate matters, including corporate finance transactions

Qualification & Experience

Educational / Academic Qualification

Bachelor’s Degree in Law

Professional Certifications / Additional Qualification

Technical/Functional Skills:

• Experience in telecoms industry a plus.
• Regulatory compliance, ideally telecoms licensing/compliance and data protection a plus.
• Comfortable communicating both written and verbally with senior management, customers and vendors

Seniority level

• Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Legal
• Industries
• Telecommunications