VP Legal

Pactum is seeking a Vice President of Legal to lead our global legal function as we scale from growth stage to maturity. You'll be responsible for establishing world-class legal processes, managing complex international operations, and serving as a trusted advisor to the leadership team and Board. The ideal candidate combines deep SaaS legal expertise in a tech scale-up environment selling to large global enterprises, with the ability to lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing international team, enabling Pactum to expand globally while effectively managing risk.

Responsibilities

• Serve as chief legal advisor to the executive team and Board, providing strategic counsel on all legal, regulatory, and governance matters.
• Own and scale the legal function by establishing processes, hiring and managing outside counsel, and building an internal legal team across multiple regions.
• Design and implement scalable global legal frameworks that ensure consistency, efficiency, and compliance across all jurisdictions where Pactum operates.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to a distributed legal team and foster collaboration across time zones and cultures.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial contracts including enterprise SaaS agreements, partnership deals, vendor agreements, and procurement contracts.
• Lead on corporate governance including Board support, equity and stock option matters, subsidiary management, and compliance with investor obligations.
• Oversee regulatory compliance and risk management including data privacy (GDPR, CCPA), information security, and cross-border regulatory requirements.
• Support fundraising, M&A, and IPO readiness activities including due diligence, securities law compliance, and capital market transactions.
• Protect and manage the company's intellectual property portfolio including patents, trademarks, and open-source software compliance.
• Advise on employment law issues in partnership with the People Lead and HR team including policies, executive compensation, and employee agreements.
• Partner closely with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Finance to enable business growth while managing legal risk.
• Act as a business enabler by balancing risk and agility in a fast-paced, international SaaS environment.

Requirements

• 15+ years of legal experience, including time at a top law firm and in-house at a growth-stage SaaS or technology company.
• Directly led legal function during a scale-up's hyper growth phase.
• Have hands-on experience in IPO readiness - either successfully taken a tech scale-up public or have extensively prepared for an IPO, with deep involvement in every aspect of the process.
• Have personally managed the complex legal, governance, compliance, and operational challenges that come with scaling at hyper growth level and preparing for entry into the public markets.
• Deep expertise in SaaS commercial contracting and negotiation with large enterprise customers.
• First-hand experience leading legal through a hyper-growth SaaS journey, including in establishing scalable legal frameworks and processes. Demonstrated success in leading and developing international teams across multiple jurisdictions for a global SaaS business.
• Strong knowledge of data privacy, information security, and regulatory compliance relevant to SaaS businesses operating globally.
• Experience managing corporate governance, financings, and M&A transactions.
• Strong experience managing and protecting a company's intellectual property portfolio, including trademarks, patents and software-related assets, with a strong understanding of open-source compliance and licensing.
• Strong track record scaling a legal function including managing outside counsel and in-house teams.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to align legal strategy with company goals and act as a thought partner to executives.
• Excellent judgment, pragmatism, and communication skills with the ability to explain complex legal issues in business terms.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth, international environment with the ability to adapt quickly and drive solutions.
• Licensed to practice law in the United States or an EU jurisdiction.
• Be located in Eastern Time Zone or in the UK.