Manager - Legal and Contracts

Kovai Limited; Coimbatore District; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Kovai Limited is seeking a Manager Legal & Contracts to serve as the primary legal point of contact across our various businesses. They will provide commercial legal advice, support legal operations, and manage diverse legal matters.

The ideal candidate will be a qualified lawyer with a minimum of 10 years' experience, particularly in technology, software, or SaaS sectors. The role emphasizes collaboration with cross-functional teams and requires strong negotiation and communication skills.

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with at least 10 years of post-qualification experience.
• Strong experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial agreements.
• Experience supporting technology, software, or SaaS businesses.

Responsibilities

• Act as primary legal point of contact across Kovai group.
• Partner with senior leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Draft and negotiate a range of commercial agreements.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Negotiation skills

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Problem-solving skills

Education

Qualified lawyer

Tools

Contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools

SpotDraft

Job description

Kovai.co is a global B2B SaaS product company building enterprise software from India for businesses worldwide. Over the years, we've grown rapidly and profitably, and today we're on track towards $30 million in annual revenue - with an even bigger journey ahead.

Trusted by customers across 100+ countries, including Fortune 500 enterprises and fast-scaling startups, we build products that solve complex, mission-critical problems at scale.

At the heart of Kovai.co is a tribe of thoughtful helpers - people passionate about empowering customers, uplifting colleagues, and continuously growing in our own journeys.

What we build:

• BizTalk360 : Our first product, built to help enterprises simplify and manage complex integration environments with confidence - trusted by Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, Pfizer, Vodafone, BBC, and NBCUniversal.
• Turbo360 : Our fast-growing Azure Cloud Management and FinOps platform, helping enterprises gain visibility, optimize cloud costs, and run smarter, more efficient cloud operations at scale.
• Document360 : Our flagship AI-powered knowledge management platform, helping teams create, manage, and deliver exceptional documentation experiences - trusted by companies like Puma, HP, VMware, McDonald's, and Virgin Group.

Three products > One culture of innovation, ownership, and customer obsession.

How we work:

We believe great work happens when talented people are trusted, empowered, and supported to do their best. At Kovai.co, our teams are collaborative, ownership-driven, and deeply invested in craftsmanship, continuous learning, and open communication - creating an environment where people grow together, contribute meaningfully, and build strong relationships alongside impactful outcomes.

At Kovai.co, AI isn't just a capability - it's our superpower. We embrace AI-first thinking to help our teams work smarter, solve problems creatively, and create greater impact for our customers and each other.

Position: Manager Legal & Contracts

Role Summary

The Legal Manager will serve as the primary legal point of contact across the Kovai group and its businesses, supporting a broad range of legal matters, including commercial contracting, employment, privacy and data protection, intellectual property, dispute resolution, regulatory compliance, corporate governance and legal operations.

The successful candidate will work closely with stakeholders across multiple business units, products and jurisdictions, including teams based in India and overseas, to provide practical and commercially focused legal advice, manage legal risk and facilitate business objectives. The role requires a solutions-oriented approach, strong communication skills and the ability to balance legal considerations with operational and commercial priorities.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary legal point of contact across the Kovai group and its product businesses, providing practical and commercially focused legal advice to stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions.
• Partner with senior leadership and cross-functional teams, including sales, customer success, product, engineering, finance and people teams, to support business objectives and manage legal risk.
• Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including customer, vendor, partner, reseller, consultancy, SaaS, subscription, licensing, data processing and confidentiality agreements.
• Advise on legal and commercial matters arising from customer, vendor, partner and strategic business relationships.
• Provide legal support on employment, privacy and data protection, information security, intellectual property, software licensing, artificial intelligence, regulatory compliance and other operational matters.
• Manage disputes, claims and pre-litigation matters, including engagement and management of external counsel where required.
• Support corporate governance, compliance, due diligence, third-party onboarding and risk management initiatives.
• Monitor and assess legal and regulatory developments relevant to the business and provide practical guidance on their impact.
• Develop and maintain legal templates, playbooks, policies, training materials and internal guidance documents.
• Deliver legal training and guidance to business stakeholders.
• Support legal operations initiatives, including contract lifecycle management, legal technology adoption and process improvement.
• Manage external legal service providers and support strategic business initiatives and other legal matters as required.

Qualifications and Experience

• Qualified lawyer with at least 10 years of post-qualification experience.
• Strong experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial and technology-related agreements.
• Experience supporting technology, software or SaaS businesses.
• Experience supporting international business operations and working with customers, vendors and partners across multiple jurisdictions.
• Working knowledge of employment law, privacy and data protection, intellectual property, regulatory compliance and dispute management.
• Experience managing external counsel and legal service providers.
• Ability to independently manage a diverse portfolio of legal matters and support senior business stakeholders.
• Experience with contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools is important and familiarity with SpotDraft would be ideal.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong commercial acumen and business judgement.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to translate complex legal issues into clear, practical and business-focused advice.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives and facilitate business outcomes.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with globally distributed teams across different jurisdictions, cultures and time zones.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills.
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities and operate effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Continuous improvement mindset with an interest in legal operations, process optimisation and legal technology.

We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to grow. We celebrate diverse perspectives and believe that great talent thrives in an environment built on fairness, belonging, and equal opportunity for all.