Director of Legal

Seqera exists to advance science for everyone through software

We provide software for scientists solving today's most complex and important challenges from pioneering innovative therapeutics to unveiling the secrets of our universe. The journey began a decade ago with Nextflow - open software that helps over 100,000 global scientists analyze and process data, with more power and flexibility than ever before.

Today, Seqera consolidates fragmented data and diverse computing resources into a unified platform. Our modern biotech stack is trusted by over 150 leading life sciences organizations. Empowered with modern software engineering, organizations conduct science faster, on larger datasets, and with more confidence. Seqera accelerates discoveries in an open world.

Would you like to be a part of a company with a bigger purpose and make it successful with your own ideas? If yes, keep reading!

About the role

We are looking for a Director of Legal to join our G&A leadership team reporting to the VP of Finance. You will be responsible for leading all company legal matters, from commercial to corporate legal aspects. You will liaise and manage the relationship with our external legal advisors, ensuring compliance with laws and regulations in our various jurisdictions. This is a newly created role and an opportunity to shape the legal function at Seqera.

What You'll Do

1. Contract management: you will oversee customer contract negotiations and ensure that local laws are complied with. You must collaborate cross-functionally with sales, customer success and finance.
2. Corporate governance: you will ensure compliance with laws and regulations in all our jurisdictions, including in Spain and the USA, where most of our operations take place. You will assist in corporate governance matters, including board and shareholder meetings.
3. Legal policies and processes: you will set up the legal function for success, implementing new policies and processes, ensuring the company's risks are covered, including GDPR best practices. You will support all other company functions with legal matters including but not limited to assisting the procurement function with vendor contract reviews, providing guidance to the people team with new and/or existing locations, etc.
4. Employment law: ensure compliance with local laws for all employment-related matters (contracts, special clauses, terminations, option plans, local registrations, etc.). You will work closely with our people team.
5. Equity management: You will be the gatekeeper for all our stock or share option plans. You will be the owner of the option management tool, Ledgy. You will be responsible for providing an updated capitalization table whenever required, monitoring the company pool with the people and finance teams and providing best in class documentation for stock or share option plans.
6. Corporate structure: You will review our current legal structure and how to optimize it for the future, e.g., ensuring minimal tax and legal risks.
7. Litigation and Dispute Management: You will handle all legal disputes, including product liability claims and contractual disputes. You will work closely with external partners to represent the company's interests.
8. Intellectual Property: You will ensure that the company's IP is protected and will collaborate with external IP advisors whenever necessary.
9. Insurance: You will manage the contracts with our insurance brokers, including E&O and Cyber security insurances.

About you

1. Master's degree in law (or equivalent)
2. Minimum 5 years of experience in a similar role
3. Previous experience in a law firm
4. Agile mindset, ability to work in a fast-paced environment and make decisions quickly
5. Experience working in a startup environment

Location: Barcelona or London

Nice to have:

1. Experience building the legal function from scratch
2. Experience in a SaaS or software company
3. Experience in life sciences, biotech or healthcare

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Seqera, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role and your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

What will you find working at Seqera?

1. International working environment with more than 25 nationalities.
2. Passionate & talented team.
3. Team retreats and bonding activities.
4. A culture where your opinion is valued and your decisions have a real impact on the industry.
5. Excitement of a fast-growing startup in a constantly changing environment.
6. Time off: holidays under the local legislation + 3 days given by Seqera in December of 2024, and the national/public holidays according to your location.
7. Equity
8. Private health insurance
9. Home office allowance (valued over 1,000 USD)
10. Subscription to Oliva, Mental Health App
11. Learning and development budget per year (1,000 USD)
12. Other specific benefits according to your location

You should know

Seqera is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. However you identify or whatever your journey to this point, we welcome all candidates to apply for the position that inspires them. Come join us and help us build a global company that everyone is proud to be part of.

As we scale, we constantly improve our in-office and WFH environments and learn to help everyone have the best setup for our company's success and your personal development while always keeping the human touch in every aspect of our lives.

By learning from and with each other, we ensure our ability to drive innovation and make better decisions toward our mission. Most importantly, our culture provides a genuinely fun, inclusive, and challenging environment that will allow you to grow while making a huge difference in human health and beyond.