Legal & Compliance Counsel – APAC

Applike Group; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Applike Group in Singapore is seeking its first APAC-based in-house lawyer to shape the region's legal and compliance presence from the ground up. Based in our Singapore office, you will join the international Legal team, reporting directly to our General Counsel in Hamburg.

You’ll take ownership of day-to-day legal and compliance matters across the region, with autonomy to impact and an experienced GC partner for guidance. This is an opportunity to build, own, and grow.

Qualifications

• Ability to draft, review and negotiate commercial agreements across APAC.
• Strong understanding of data privacy laws in APAC and GDPR exposure.
• Experience with advertising, consumer protection or marketing law is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for APAC legal matters, partnering with the GC and APAC teams.
• Draft, review and negotiate commercial agreements using group templates and playbooks.
• Support negotiations from redline to signature, balancing commercial objectives with legal risks.
• Advise on APAC data protection laws, DPAs, cross-border transfers, and GDPR interactions.
• Advise on advertising and consumer protection laws relevant to adtech and apps.
• Support regional disputes and regulatory inquiries, coordinating with local counsel.
• Contribute to the global Legal team and other headquarters-led matters.

Skills

Contracting

Negotiation

APAC Data privacy

Compliance knowledge

Communication

Education

Law degree

Job description

Job Profile:

As applike group's first legal hire in APAC, you'll have the opportunity to shape our legal and compliance presence across the region from the ground up. Based in our Singapore office, you'll join our international Legal team, reporting directly to our General Counsel in Hamburg. You'll take ownership of day-to-day legal and compliance matters across the region, with the autonomy to make an impact and an experienced General Counsel as your partner for guidance, strategic sparring, and complex legal decisions. You'll also collaborate closely with European colleagues on shared standards, legal templates, and cross-border transactions.

This is an opportunity to build, own, and grow. You'll gain broad exposure across JPAC and GCN, working directly with senior commercial leaders while helping shape how legal and compliance operate across APAC. If you're ready to take on real responsibility, work closely with an experienced in-house mentor, and grow your career in an international fast-paced business, this is your chance to make the role your own.

What you will do

Legal (80%)

• Act as the first point of contact for APAC legal matters, partnering with the General Counsel, our evolving Global Legal team and adouc's APAC commercial teams.
• Independently draft, review and negotiate commercial agreements using group templates and playbooks, covering advertising, publishing, SDK, licensing, partnerships, reselling, services, vendors and NDAs.
• Support negotiations from redline to signature, balancing commercial objectives with legal risks and escalating non-standard or high-risk issues early.
• Advise on APAC data protection laws, including Singapore's PDPA, Japan's APPI, South Korea's PIPA, India's DPDP Act, Australia's Privacy Act and China's PIPL. Draft and negotiate DPAs, support cross-border data transfers, and assess how local requirements interact with GDPR.
• Advise on advertising and consumer protection laws relevant to adtech and mobile apps, including advertising standards, disclosure requirements, rewards and incentive mechanics, and app store and platform policies.
• Support the General Counsel on regional disputes, pre-litigation matters and regulatory inquiries, coordinating with local counsel where needed. Monitor legal and regulatory developments across APAC and translate them into practical business guidance.
• Contribute to the global Legal team and support other headquarters-led legal matters as needed.

Compliance (20%)

• Help roll out and adapt the group's compliance framework for APAC, including our code of conduct, policies and procedures, in line with local requirements.
• Advise on day-to-day questions on anti-bribery and corruption (e.g. Singapore's Prevention of Corruption Act), sanctions and export controls.
• Run risk-based due diligence and KYC checks on partners, resellers and vendors in the region.
• Deliver compliance training across APAC, act as the regional point of contact for compliance matters, and support investigations and whistleblowing cases with the General Counsel.
• Support group-wide compliance initiatives, e.g. AI governance or compliance risk assessments.

Who you are

• You're a qualified lawyer admitted in Singapore or another common law jurisdiction, with around 3-6 years of law firm and/or in-house experience, ideally in tech, adtech, mobile apps or SaaS. Singapore qualification is a plus.
• Strong commercial contracting and negotiation skills, with experience managing agreements with counterparties.
• Working knowledge of APAC data protection laws, with a willingness to deepen expertise; GDPR exposure is a plus. Familiarity with compliance matters such as anti-bribery, sanctions and third-party due diligence is advantageous.
• Good understanding of IP, particularly software licensing, trademarks and open source. Exposure to advertising, consumer protection or marketing law is a plus.
• Manage matters independently while valuing senior guidance and collaborating with a lean, international team across time zones.
• Provide pragmatic, business-oriented legal advice and communicate complex issues clearly to non-lawyers.
• Take initiative, keep stakeholders informed, and adapt to shifting priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• You have excellent written and spoken English. Mandarin, Japanese, Korean or another regional language is a plus.

Our mission is to create an inspiring work environment for amazing people to achieve extraordinary things. Be part of it!

We welcome applications from people who will contribute to the diversity of our company.