Legal Counsel - Central Europe

Our mission and customers

We are creating the freedom for SMEs to succeed by delivering Europe’s leading finance workspace with banking at its core, augmented by financial tools. We are proud to be rated 4.8 on Trustpilot, based on 55,000+ reviews. Our culture puts customer satisfaction at the core of what we do.

Our journey

Founded in 2017 by Alexandre and Steve, Qonto has grown to 1,600+ Qontoers serving over 600,000+ customers across 8 European countries. We have been profitable since 2023, and we are just getting started.

Our beliefs

We hire for skills and potential. With 80+ nationalities, 45% women, of which 56% of women in our leadership team, diversity isn’t a program; it’s who we are. We’ve built a discrimination‑free hiring process because the best teams are built on merit.

AI at Qonto

AI is deeply embedded in how we work. Every Qontoer gets unlimited access to the best AI tools. We want people who experiment without waiting for permission, push AI beyond the obvious, know when to trust it, and when to question it.

Job Description

Legal Counsel – Central Europe, based in the Netherlands.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of the Netherlands legal scope: act as the primary local legal point of contact, ensuring timely and high‑quality support for local teams.
• Support the German and Austrian markets in partnership with our Senior Legal Expert, handling strategic legal topics and ensuring business continuity.
• Handle commercial and product topics: draft, review, negotiate a broad range of commercial contracts, ensure legal compliance of new local products and manage local disputes and corporate formalities.
• Provide pragmatic legal guidance: deliver clear analyses for local future developments and unblock business initiatives safely.
• Manage disputes: handle pre‑litigation and litigation matters when relevant to protect Qonto’s interests.

What you can expect

• A highly transversal scope: exposure to multiple fast‑growing markets and diverse legal topics rather than being siloed into a single specialty.
• Autonomy with senior support: take ownership of your region while working day‑to‑day with a highly experienced senior peer.
• Cross‑functional collaboration: partner closely with diverse local stakeholders, including Financial Crime, Operations and Partnerships teams.
• Continuous improvement: accelerate growth using structured tools inspired by Lean management, immersing in the Qonto Way culture of continuous learning.

About your future manager

Sergej, legal counsel expert, will guide your day‑to‑day work. Your manager will be Ghislain, Head of Legal – Litigation, Commercial & International.

Profile of Ghislain

• International background: studied law in France and Germany, began his career as a litigator at top‑tier international law firms such as Hogan Lovells and Signature Litigation.
• Tenure at Qonto: joined in 2021, growing through various leadership roles to his current position.
• Expertise: deep understanding of Qonto’s legal framework and business operations; fluent in French, German and English; strong negotiation skills, strategic vision and robust international perspective.
• Leadership values: collaboration, clear communication, strong drive for problem‑solving.

About you

• Experience: at least 2 years as a generalist in‑house legal counsel, ideally within a tech/scale‑up environment or a broader corporate setting.
• Commercial expertise: strong experience negotiating commercial contracts and handling local corporate formalities; exposure to banking or payments law is a plus.
• Languages: professional proficiency in Dutch (min. C2 level) and English (min. C1 level); fluent German is a big plus.
• Problem‑solver: provide pragmatic, actionable legal advice in a fast‑moving environment.
• Autonomy & prioritisation: manage multiple inbound requests from local stakeholders, communicate clearly and escalated when necessary.

At Qonto we understand that true diversity isn’t just about ticking boxes on a hiring checklist. Apply regardless of the boxes you tick – we may have the missing piece of the puzzle we’ve been searching for.

Our hiring process lasts 20 working days. More information on our candidate journey is available through the internal portal.

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