Legal Counsel
About GitGuardian
GitGuardian is a global cybersecurity scale-up based in Paris, New York City, Boston.
Among our early investors are the co‑founder of GitHub, Scott Chacon, and Solomon Hykes, Docker's co‑founder. American and European top‑tier VC firms have also invested in GitGuardian.
About Your Team And Your Mission
At GitGuardian, the Legal team acts as a strategic business partner, not just a support function. We provide advice across all areas of the business—including commercial contracts, data privacy, and regulatory compliance—to fuel our international expansion.
You will join and report to Anne‑Sophie, the Legal Manager, and work hand‑in‑hand with the Finance Department. We are a core team that ensures GitGuardian's growth is built on solid legal and financial foundations and bridges our France and US offices.
This is a front‑line, strategic, 360° legal partner role for all GitGuardian teams. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast‑growing tech environment, enjoys getting hands‑on with our product, and has a natural appetite for project management, contract management, and daily compliance.
Your Main Responsibilities Will Be
- Strategic Business Partnering & Negotiation – Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements (MSAs, NDAs, Evaluation Agreements). Goal: shorten the sales cycle and build trust with demanding clients.
- IP & Growth Enabler – Provide actionable advice on Intellectual Property matters; bridge the gap between complex legal requirements and fast‑paced business goals. Goal: safeguard our competitive advantage and intellectual capital.
- Data Protection monitoring – Implementation and monitoring of privacy action plans (including but not limited to GDPR, EU Data Act, etc.). Goal: turn compliance into a competitive asset and a mark of reliability.
- Legal Ops & AI‑Driven Scalability – Improve our legal process and template database. You help design and master our AI agents, leveraging them for first‑level redlining, regulatory monitoring, and research. Goal: make the legal function invisible yet omnipresent through automation.
- Culture & Risk Awareness – Build awareness sessions and translate complex regulatory changes into clear, "plain English" memos for the executive team. Goal: promote a "law‑aware" culture where everyone identifies risks early.
About You
If you think you match at least 70% of these criteria, please apply!
Here are the essential qualifications:
- Full professional proficiency in French and English
- Legal Master degree (Master’s in Business Law, IP, Compliance, or equivalent); compliance certifications are also an asset
- 3‑5 years of experience in a fast‑paced environment as an in‑house legal department or in a law‑firm
- Solid experience in contract negotiations, and experience from working within consulting, tech, or professional IT services is an advantage
- Experience in data privacy projects
- Pragmatic and business‑oriented approach to legal advice, with a commercial mind and ability to balance legal risk with business needs
- Proactive, attention to detail and strong organizational skills
- Zero‑error attention to detail combined with the ability to distill complex legal findings into clear, actionable, and executive‑ready communication
Additional strengths (not required):
- Legal Operations mindset: interest in optimizing legal processes, implementing technology solutions, and improving operational efficiency within the legal function
- Project Management capabilities: proven ability to plan, coordinate, and execute legal projects from initiation to completion, including stakeholder management and timeline adherence
Interview Process
- In‑depth interview with your future manager (Legal Manager)
- Practical case study – prepared at home (~1.5 h) and presented to the Legal Manager and Finance Director
- Final interview with the CEO
- References check – we will call contacts you provide at the end of the process
All interviews will assess:
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Professional experience and skills
- Motivation and alignment with company values
- Understanding of the legal counsel role and its challenges
- Culture fit with the team, self‑awareness and ability to articulate career goals, readiness for the practical assessment
- Legal analysis and problem‑solving, practical application of legal knowledge, quality of legal reasoning under time constraints and spontaneity, presentation and communication skills, business acumen and pragmatic approach, responsiveness to questions and ability to defend recommendations
Diversity and Inclusion
At GitGuardian, we are committed to building a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce. We will ask for your gender on the application page to help us understand the diversity of our applicant pool and to track our progress in attracting and hiring a diverse workforce. The information is optional and will not be disclosed to the hiring manager or the interview team and will not be considered in the hiring process. We appreciate your willingness to share this with us so that we can continue to improve our diversity and inclusion efforts.
Benefits
- Package that includes BSPCE
- Lunch voucher (Swile, 12€ at 50%)
- Sponsored Wellpass (gymlib)
- Non‑charged health insurance for children (Sidecare / Generali)
- Up to €300 to improve your home office set‑up
- Yearly holiday allowance