Senior Legal Counsel, EMEA

finastra; Greater London; Vor Ort; GBP 120.000 - 190.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

Finastra in London seeks a Senior Legal Counsel to lead the EMEA legal team and act as a regional legal leader, shaping high-value commercial decisions across the region.

You will partner with Sales, Finance, Product, and senior leadership to navigate complex technology agreements with major financial institutions, while strengthening Finastra’s London hub and governing processes.

Qualifikationen

• A law degree or equivalent legal qualification.
• Fluency in English, with clear written and spoken communication.
• Experience leading, managing, or developing legal professionals.
• Demonstrable experience negotiating complex enterprise software, SaaS, hosting, licensing or wider technology agreements.
• Strong software vendor-side experience in enterprise software/fintech/financial services tech.
• Commercial mindset and pragmatic, solution-focused approach to legal risk.
• Ability to make decisions, manage competing priorities, and operate autonomously in a fast-moving environment.
• Excellent stakeholder management, influencing, communication and negotiation skills.
• Ability to lead complex negotiations with clarity and credibility.
• Awareness of developments within IT, software and financial services industries.

Aufgaben

• Lead, develop, and manage a team of legal professionals across Europe.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex commercial and contractual matters.
• Negotiate strategic software, SaaS, hosting, licensing, services and technology agreements with enterprise customers.
• Partner with Sales, Finance, Product and senior leaders to balance commercial objectives with legal risk.
• Provide pragmatic legal guidance on high-value engagements with major financial institutions.
• Build trusted relationships across the business and influence key decisions.
• Drive consistency and best practice across legal processes.
• Ensure governance and approval processes are followed before commitments to customers.
• Monitor legal and regulatory developments affecting software vendors and financial services.

Jobbeschreibung

Who are we?

At Finastra, we’re a global leader in financial services software, dedicated to expanding access to financial services and shaping what’s next for the industry. Our technology powers mission-critical solutions across Lending, Payments and Universal Banking, supporting over 7,000 customers, including 80% of the world’s top 50 banks, in more than 110 countries.

Lead. Influence. Shape the future of fintech.

A high-impact opportunity to lead an EMEA legal team, influence strategic business decisions, and negotiate complex technology transactions with major financial institutions.

At Finastra, we are helping financial institutions unlock innovation and deliver the future of finance. Our technology supports financial institutions around the world as they transform how financial services are delivered.

We are looking for an exceptional Senior Legal Counsel to join our EMEA Legal team in a highly visible leadership role based in London. This is more than a legal advisory role. It is an opportunity to act as a regional legal leader, strengthen Finastra’s London legal hub, influence high-value commercial decisions, and help shape the legal capability supporting our European business.

Working closely with senior leaders and commercial teams, you will act as a trusted adviser, business partner and people leader, helping Finastra navigate complex opportunities while supporting sustainable growth across the region.

About the role

As Senior Legal Counsel, you will act as a key legal leader for EMEA, providing strategic guidance and negotiation of high-value customer engagements and leading a talented team of legal professionals.

You will operate at the heart of the business, partnering with Sales, Finance, Product and senior leadership while running negotiations with some of the world’s leading financial institutions. The role brings together people leadership, sophisticated commercial negotiation, stakeholder management, and confident, risk-based decision-making.

What you’ll do

• Lead, support, and develop a team of legal professionals across Europe.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex commercial and contractual matters.
• Negotiate strategic software, SaaS, hosting, licensing, services and wider technology agreements with enterprise customers.
• Partner with Sales, Finance, Product and senior leaders to balance commercial objectives with legal risk.
• Provide pragmatic legal guidance on high-value engagements with major financial institutions.
• Build trusted relationships across the business and influence key commercial decisions.
• Drive consistency, efficiency, and best practice across legal processes.
• Participate as one of a select number of approvers in the Finastra deal approval committee.
• Ensure internal governance and approval processes are followed before commitments are made to customers.
• Monitor relevant legal and regulatory developments affecting software vendors and financial services customers, supporting contractual updates where required.
• Lead the analysis and resolution of complex customer disputes, creating pragmatic solutions aligned to business and customer outcomes.
• Help strengthen Finastra’s legal presence in London and support matters across EMEA, including the Middle East where required.

What you’ll bring

We would like to hear from commercially minded lawyers who combine strong legal expertise with the confidence to operate as business leaders. You will bring:

• A law degree or equivalent legal qualification.
• Fluency in English, with the ability to communicate complex legal topics clearly in written and spoken form.
• Experience leading, managing, or developing legal professionals.
• Demonstrable experience negotiating complex enterprise software, SaaS, hosting, licensing or wider technology agreements.
• Strong software vendor-side experience, ideally within enterprise software, fintech, financial services technology or a comparable B2B technology environment.
• A strong commercial mindset and a pragmatic, solution-focused approach to legal risk.
• The confidence to make decisions, manage competing priorities, and operate autonomously in a fast-moving environment.
• Sound judgement, with the ability to identify when matters should be escalated while otherwise making accurate, risk‑based decisions independently.
• Excellent stakeholder management, influencing, communication, and negotiation skills.
• The ability to lead complex negotiations with clarity, credibility, and a clear understanding of both customer and internal stakeholder priorities.
• Awareness and interest in developments within the IT, software and financial services industries.

Additional experience

• Negotiating with large banks, financial institutions, or other complex enterprise customers.
• Working across multinational or EMEA business environments.
• Knowledge of DORA, GDPR, privacy and security practices in the context of software vendors.
• Supporting legal or commercial matters involving the Middle E