Cognizant JOB OPPORTUNITIES,POST:Legal Manager

PathLegal; Chennai District; Hybrid; INR 2,500,000 - 4,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India seeks a Manager – Legal to draft, review, and negotiate client contracts across Japan, India, and Australia, within the APJ Commercial Legal team. You will assess risks, ensure compliance, and provide strategic legal guidance from proposal to post-signature matters.

You will collaborate with business units and stakeholders, improve contracting frameworks, and manage issues with a view to protecting Cognizant's interests while enabling deal closure.

Qualifications

• Experience reviewing and negotiating IT services contracts end‑to‑end.
• Strong understanding of transactional nuances and risk mitigation.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts for APJ region (Japan, India, Australia).
• Collaborate with business units to develop contracting frameworks and templates.
• Advise on legal risks and work with stakeholders to resolve issues.
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect Cognizant's interests.

Skills

Contract negotiation

IT services contracts

English fluency

Risk management

Stakeholder coordination

Education

LLB

Job description

About Cognizant Corporate Cognizant Corporate is a global community united by a shared purpose: to make a meaningful impact. We are committed to excellence and driven by outcomes that matter. Collaboration is at the heart of how we work, and our forward-thinking mindset fuels continuous learning, innovation, and growth.

Post: Manager - Legal

Company: Cognizant

Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Education Qualification: LLB

Salary: 0

At Cognizant, careers transcend titles. We empower our people to think strategically, inspire others, and lead with purpose – always guided by our core values. Join us in shaping future of business.

About The Role

As a Manager – Legal, you will drive impactful contributions and focus on outcomes. You will be a key member of the APJ Commercial Legal team, collaborating with the Regional Lead Counsel, Australia, NZ and Japan, and the broader APJ Commercial Legal Team. This role will focus on client contracts for Japan, India and Australia. You'll draft and negotiate client contracts, ensure compliance, manage legal risks, and provide strategic legal advice - working with clients across industries and handling all deal phases, from proposal to post-signature matters.

As a team of self-starters, you can work with impact with our vibrant people and culture all while enjoying unmatched learning opportunities.

In This Role, You Will

• Take charge of drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts for Japan, India and other countries in our APJ region.
• Partnering with various business units and stakeholders in Cognizant and help them in creating contractual frameworks to support Cognizant business, including: template improvement and development; and coordinating with various input on contractual provisions pertaining to internal domains and incorporating them in the contract draft.
• Work alongside the business when commercial or delivery challenges arise, to protect our reputation and interests, and help achieve good resolutions.
• Analysing legal implications of various legal, commercial and operational risks in a contract and advising internal stakeholders of possible mitigations.
• Collaborate within the legal team to share knowledge, improve efficiency and continuously increase the added value of the legal function for the business.
• Understand, engage and help manage deal, provide sufficient advance warning to Cognizant senior management of risks.
• Help us achieve compliance with relevant laws and regulations, including AI regulations, data protection, and corporate governance, working alongside our specialist compliance teams. Your vigilance will keep us ahead of the curve.
• Embrace our vibrant culture by striving for excellence, focusing on meaningful outcomes, and collaborating effectively. Take ownership, build relationships, and focus on personal growth to drive business strategy and foster an inclusive culture, creating unmatched career opportunities and impactful work.

What You Must Have To Be Considered

• To be considered for the role, you must have extensive, demonstrated experience in reviewing and negotiating IT services contracts (including managed services, professional services, subcontracting, licensing, and PaaS/SaaS arrangement), gained at an organisation like Cognizant — a global IT services or technology company. We're looking for someone whose track record demonstrates they have done this before — a self-directed professional who takes the initiative and acts as the key point of contact on their deals — coordinating internal stakeholders, engaging directly with clients, and managing approvals and risk mitigation from end to end. You'll proactively manage issues and risks, give early warning where needed, drive deals to closure, and bring consistency, strong communication and clear expectation management to every matter
• Good understanding of transactional (commercial) nuances.
• Ability to assess risks and possible mitigations.
• Strong fluency in written and verbal communication in English.
• A strong sense of ownership, desire to create meaningful outcomes, and passion for work that serves a greater good for customers, communities, or global challenges.
• The embodiment of Cognizant’s Values of: Work as One, Dare to Innovate, Raise the Bar, Do The right Thing, & Own It

These will help you succeed

• Ability to work in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and take ownership of matters, while collaborating effectively as part of a team and working closely with internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated leadership and strong organisational skills.
• Ownership and accountability, acting as the point of contact for the resolution of issues and closure of deals.

Exceptional interpersonal skills to effectively communicate and coordinate complex issues with diverse levels of management and to collaborate with other team member.

Work model –

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 2-3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

We’re excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways.

About Cognizant

Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) is an AI Builder and technology services provider, bridging the gap between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization’s unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, drive tangible outcomes and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at cognizant.ai or @cognizant.