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Join to apply for the Legal Counsel role at Silverfin
Silverfin is a cutting-edge cloud software solution built by accountants, for accountants.
Founded in 2013, Silverfin was created to solve the frustrations of manual, error-prone processes in analysing financial data and compliance. From day one, we’ve been a cloud-first platform with an open API architecture, leveraging structured data to transform how accountants work.
Our mission is simple: to enhance and support the accountancy profession through AI and automation, ensuring accountants remain relevant and respected in the future of finance.
In 2023, Silverfin became part of the Visma Group, joining one of Europe’s leading providers of cloud software. This partnership strengthens our ability to innovate and expand our impact within the accountancy industry.
Today, Silverfin is trusted by over 1000 firms across 16 countries. Our clients include all of the Big 4 accounting firms, as well as leading global networks like BDO, PKF, Baker Tilly, Grant Thornton, and Moore.
Headquartered in Ghent, with offices in London, Luxembourg, Mont-Saint-Guibert, and Gouda (NL), we’re a team of over 180 people - including a diverse remote engineering team working across multiple time zones - all working together to drive innovation in accounting.
How would you support our success?
Your role
As our in-house legal counsel, you are responsible for advising on a wide range of legal topics, for providing legal advice in an international, scaling company and for coordinating work with external legal experts.
This is a unique and exciting opportunity to work with the leadership and key stakeholders across Silverfin, throughout our scale-up journey.
You’ll be taking over from our current counsel, and will be reporting to our COO. You will be working a lot with department leaders, and both internal & external stakeholders across offices and teams.
What would you do to drive our success?
Your responsibilities
Commercial & Technology Transactions
This area focuses on driving revenue and managing the commercial relationships
* Partner on Commercial Negotiations: Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements alongside our go-to-market teams, with a primary focus on complex B2B SaaS agreements, strategic partnerships, and enterprise customer contracts on a global scale
* Legal Operations: Own, maintain, and continuously iterate on our library of commercial templates (e.g., contracts, terms and conditions, policies etc.) to ensure they align with our evolving go-to-market strategy and drive efficiency
* Supplier Agreements: Review, negotiate, and manage agreements with key suppliers and technology vendors, ensuring favourable terms and mitigating risk related to data security, service levels, and IP
This is about protecting the company's most valuable assets: its technology, its data, and its intellectual property
* Own Data Privacy & Compliance: In close partnership with the Information Security Officer, take a leading role in shaping the company's global data privacy program. This includes maintaining our privacy policies, ensuring compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other applicable legislation, and managing our data processing agreements (DPAs)
* Manage the IP Portfolio: Develop and execute the company's intellectual property strategy. Own the trademark policy and manage the registration and enforcement of trademarks in line with international expansion. Advise on copyright, patents, and the protection of trade secrets
* Provide Product & Engineering Counsel: Develop an understanding of our technology stack and product architecture to advise on its legal implications. Guide teams on topics such as Service Level Agreements (SLAs), open-source software (OSS) licensing and compliance, and embedding "Privacy by Design" principles into the product development lifecycle
* Oversee Risk & Compliance Frameworks: Play a leading role in managing legal risk and compliance across the organization, including advising on the legal aspects of certifications like ISO 27001
Corporate Governance & Strategic Projects
This pillar ensures the company is structured for growth and operates in a legally sound manner across all jurisdictions
* Manage Corporate Structure: Work alongside Finance to manage our legal entities worldwide, including their incorporation, ongoing maintenance, and liquidation as required. This includes managing intra-group agreements to ensure proper governance and operational efficiency
* Support Strategic Transactions: Provide key legal support on ad hoc corporate transactions, such as joint ventures or partnerships
* Uphold Corporate Governance: Implement, maintain, and refine corporate governance policies and procedures across all subsidiaries, ensuring compliance with local laws and best practices
Employment & People Operations
This involves partnering with the People team to foster a compliant and positive work environment
* Advise on Employment Law: Serve as the legal point of contact for the People team on a range of employment matters, including hiring, performance management, and terminations
* Advise on Key Employment Documents: Work alongside the People team to maintain employment contract templates, separation agreements, etc., ensuring they contain robust IP assignment and confidentiality clauses
* Develop and Implement Policies: Assist in creating and updating employee handbooks and internal policies, including those related to IT security, code of conduct, and acceptable use
General Legal Advisory
* Act as a Proactive Business Partner: Keep the leadership team and the wider business informed of relevant legal and regulatory evolutions across commercial, IT, IP, and privacy law. Translate complex legal topics into actionable business advice
What would success look like?
Your performance & accountability
* Your performance in this role will be measured by your ability to integrate legal strategy with business objectives, fostering a culture of proactive risk management and enabling sustainable growth
* The Legal function is seen as a strategic enabler, not a blocker. You ensure legal guidance aligns with the company's vision, effectively contributing to commercial goals while protecting the business and embodying company values
* You empower teams across the business with clear, pragmatic legal advice and scalable tools (e.g. templates), enabling them to operate with speed and confidence
* The company recognises Legal's strategic value. The function is accountable for delivering strong commercial outcomes, such as increased contract velocity and effective risk mitigation, making you a go-to partner for key initiatives
* The Legal function's approach is internationally minded, providing reliable support across all regions. You build legal processes that scale with the business, eliminating bottlenecks and ensuring compliance as the company expands
* The Legal function is perceived as a leader in innovation and efficiency. You actively seek to improve processes, potentially through the use of legal technology or broader AI, to deliver faster, more effective legal services
* Decision-makers trust they have access to high-quality legal and risk analysis to drive better commercial and strategic decisions. You translate complex legal requirements into clear business implications
* The company’s corporate governance processes are robust and well-managed
* You are a champion of the company culture and values, operating with integrity and building trust across the organisation
* The company's risk posture is well understood and managed. You provide clear, insightful, and actionable reporting on key legal risks and opportunities
* Legal literacy improves across the organisation. Key leaders and teams understand the core legal principles that affect their work, from data privacy to contract negotiation
* You build strong collaborative relationships with key stakeholders across all departments, fostering a culture where legal advice is sought early and often
What will support your success?
Experience and Qualifications
Having built relevant experience in earlier roles & organisations, you can rely on:
* A degree in law. Any additional training in the field of ICT, IP, privacy law, corporate law or commerce is a plus
* 2-5 years of experience in a law firm and/or in-house legal advisory/counsel role. Any relevant experience in a commercial/ICT service area or other relevant business is a plus
* Excellent interpersonal skills – able to build relationships across a diverse set of stakeholders, characters and cultures
* Excellent language skills both in Dutch and English. French is a plus
* Clear & effective communication skills – able to state opposing or unpopular views in a short, clear and independent way
* A service mindset is part of your DNA
* Mix your expertise with a strong hands-on mindset that fits our culture
* Problem-solving skills, the ability to identify to-the-point solutions
Skills and knowledge
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
* Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams
* Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring timely and successful delivery
* Ability to adapt to changing market conditions and drive operational innovation
* Experience in organisational efforts across multiple countries and offices
Attitude and personality-related traits
* Proactive and results-oriented mindset.
* Team-oriented, with a focus on fostering a collaborative and inclusive culture
* Optimistic, calm, persistent and resilient in the approach to work
* Ability to diagnose problems quickly and foresee potential issues
* Creative thinker with the ability to innovate and drive change
* Resilient and adaptable to a fast-paced, dynamic environment
* Effective in building and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders
Seniority level
* Seniority level
Mid-Senior level
Employment type
* Employment type
Full-time
Job function
* Job function
Legal
* Industries
Accounting and Software Development
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