Legal Counsel - Maternity Cover

About the role

We're hiring a Senior Legal Counsel on a 14-month fixed-term contract. This is a hands-on, commercially focussed role at the heart of how Codat does business. You'll lead technology contract negotiations with our UK, US and Canadian financial institution clients - leading redlines, protecting deal velocity and acting as a trusted GTM partner. Alongside commercial work, you will continue building out our AI-enabled legal infrastructure to transform how legal services are delivered at Codat. Responsibilities include: Commercial contracting and ownership: draft, review and negotiate SaaS agreements with financial institution clients across the UK, US and Canada. GTM partnership: embed with the Sales and Account Management team - join customer calls, work to quarter-end timelines, and help Account Executives and Account Managers close deals at pace. AI enablement: create, implement and manage AI solutions that scale the legal function and enable the business to self-serve routine requests. Product and partnership advice: Advise Product, Engineering and GTM on new products, features and partnerships - translating legal considerations into market-ready outcomes. BAU legal and compliance: Handle day-to-day legal queries across a range of topics (such as data protection and employment), in a practical, business-aligned way. What you'll bring to the team: Qualified solicitor (or equivalent) with at least 4 years' PQE, gained in private practice or in-house. Demonstrable hands-on experience negotiating enterprise SaaS terms/API agreements. Commercial instinct: you have worked in a sales-led environment, you understand the pipeline and you are comfortable advising on commercial strategy, not just legal risk. AI-native: you have designed, built and iterated on AI solutions (agents, automated review tools, intake systems) that allow the business to self-serve on routine work. Strong knowledge of data protection principles as they apply to a B2B SaaS context. Comfortable working autonomously at pace with minimal supervision. You are a clear, concise drafter who communicates in plain English and knows how to right-size advice.