Global General Counsel — Remote, Open Source & IP Leader

Inclusively Remote; United States; Remote; USD 250,000 - 400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

40 days annual leave

Learning budget USD 2,000 per year

Parental leave

Job summary

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. Our platform, Ubuntu, is widely used in cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. We are privately held, profitable, and growing.

We seek a General Counsel to lead the global Legal and Compliance function, reporting to the COO, partnering with product, engineering and security, and advising the Board. Active licensure and senior in-house experience in tech are essential.

Qualifications

• Senior in-house experience in a global technology or software business.
• Proven experience leading a distributed legal team across regions.
• Track record of setting and maintaining high performance standards in a legal function.
• Expertise in open source licensing, IP protection, and licensing strategy.
• Experience with public-company governance, disclosure controls, and board support.
• Strong written and spoken English with exceptional drafting and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead Canonical’s global Legal and Compliance function across EMEA and the Americas.
• Advise the CEO, COO, CFO and Board on legal, regulatory, and governance matters.
• Develop and manage commercial contracting policy, templates, and risk controls.
• Oversee data protection, privacy, export controls, anti-bribery, competition and AI regulation.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, security, and external counsel on licensing and IP questions.

Skills

In-house experience

Leadership

Open source licensing

IP licensing

Regulatory governance

English drafting

Education

Law degree

Licensed attorney

Job description

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. Our platform, Ubuntu, is widely used in cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. We are privately held, profitable, and growing.

We seek a General Counsel to lead the global Legal and Compliance function, reporting to the COO, partnering with product, engineering and security, and advising the Board. Active licensure and senior in-house experience in tech are essential.