- Company Name
- Zendesk
- Job Title
- Regional Counsel (North and South EMEA) (French speaker)
- Job Description
-
Job Title
Regional Counsel (North and South EMEA) – French speaker
Role Summary
Provide legal counsel, contract negotiation and compliance support across North and South EMEA regions for a fast‑growing SaaS organization. Act as the primary legal advisor for GTM teams, drafting and finalizing complex commercial agreements, ensuring alignment with corporate policies, and managing the legal implications of emerging AI and data‑protection regulations.
Expectations
- Deliver rapid, business‑oriented legal advice and draft agreements that balance risk with commercial objectives.
- Negotiate and close a high volume of SaaS, partner, and professional services contracts with EMEA customers.
- Stay current on AI, data‑privacy, and cyber‑security regulations (DORA, NIS2, EU Data Act, EU AI Act) and advise on their contractual impact.
- Collaborate closely with Sales, Finance, Revenue Operations, and Deal Desk to ensure contracts support revenue recognition and financial targets.
- Continually improve contract templates, playbooks, CLM workflows and enable GTM teams through training and process enhancements.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as the first point of contact for the GTM organization on legal matters, providing rapid, risk‑balanced advice.
- Negotiate, draft, and finalize SaaS, partner, and professional services agreements across diverse EMEA customers.
- Manage legal aspects of AI‑powered product deployment, including compliance with AI regulations.
- Partner with GTM management to align commercial contracts with corporate policies and revenue‑recognition standards.
- Recommend and implement enhancements to standard agreements, CLM tools, playbooks, and training materials.
- Support company initiatives, special projects, and cross‑regional collaboration within the commercial legal team.
Required Skills
- Extensive in‑house transactional law experience in B2B SaaS or high‑growth cloud tech.
- Proven ability to draft and negotiate complex commercial contracts and handle AI/technology regulatory implications.
- Strong knowledge of data‑protection and privacy law (GDPR, cross‑border transfers) and experience negotiating Data Processing Agreements.
- Fluency in written and oral French and English; additional European languages a plus.
- Technological fluency with LegalTech, CLM systems, Salesforce, DocuSign, and other business tools.
- Excellent business judgment, negotiation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to work autonomously in a fast‑paced, high‑velocity environment.
Required Education & Certifications
- Qualified lawyer in France and/or England & Wales (bar admission or equivalent).
- Bachelor’s degree in Law or equivalent.
- Recognised legal certifications are a plus.