Legal Counsel

Thought Machine's mission is bold-to properly and permanently rid the world's banks of legacy technology. To achieve this, we have developed the foundations of modern banking through core and payments technology that runs natively in the cloud. What we are attempting is hard, and it means we need great people working together to build great technology.

We have grown rapidly in the past few years - growing our team to more than 550 individuals across offices in London, New York, Singapore and Sydney. We have raised more than $500m in funding and are now valued at $2.7bn. Our investors include Molten Ventures, Eurazeo, Intesa Sanpaolo, Temasek, Nyca Partners, JPMorgan Chase Strategic Investments, Standard Chartered Ventures, and more.

• Our primary task is to negotiate deals for replacement or complementary core banking platforms with the world's largest financial services companies, challenger banks, strategic partners and fintechs. We are at the heart of the banks, and our products are at the core of a bank's operations. Our negotiations reflect these complexities.
• We prefer not to outsource any of our work unless necessary. We are hands-on and often called to take on business areas or issues outside of our prior experiences. We upskill our legal knowledge and have access to good resources to help us achieve this.
• We are relentless at driving better, faster deals and have an in-house legal design function focused on using technology and legal design techniques. We re-examine how we contract, engage, and make iterative improvements. We embrace self-reflection, analysis, and peer review so that data informs and supports improvement. We place no value in creating processes for processes' sake and strive to simplify.
• We do not take ourselves seriously but are serious about what we do. We do not take shortcuts.
• The London-based Legal team works from the office (in Bloomsbury, Central London) between three and five days per week, which aligns with the company's approach. We find this to be a far more effective and engaging work model than a mainly remote approach. We expect you will also follow this working pattern.

• Commercial lawyer with an emphasis on technology and licensing
• A candidate who has spent time in a TMT or Commercial function in private practice or equivalent focus in-house.
• Has hands-on experience in drafting and negotiating complex commercial deals, leading or taking a lead role in matters, and successfully managing projects through to completion.
• The key to success is collaborating and working closely with legal team members and stakeholders from different departments within the organisation and thriving in a fast-changing environment.
• Ownership: Take responsibility for managing matters to their conclusion rather than merely offering advice. We are a highly collaborative team, so you would have access to support and resources as needed.
• Clarity: Ability to communicate concisely and clearly, reflecting the company's preference for precision and brevity.
• Growth mindset: Embracing lifelong learning and actively seeking opportunities for self-improvement while contributing to colleagues' growth.
• Humility and kindness: Recognising the value of these traits in fostering positive relationships and professional development.
• Awareness: Demonstrating sound judgement in decision-making, knowing when to seek input from others.
• Creative: We do not rely upon playbooks or pre-baked solutions, but we do place value in a rich set of resources and have invested (and continue to invest) in our know-how. We value creativity in finding solutions.

• Ideally, you would be UK, New Zealand or Australian qualified.
• We are not fixed upon a PQE level. We believe the two-to-six-year experience bracket is optimal and will reflect the position offered. However, this is a guideline only; we welcome applications with different experience levels.
• Experience in the financial services industry would be preferable.
• Data protection experience is good to have but not essential to the role. We expect awareness of data privacy matters as part of the commercial and technology experience rather than this having been your focus.

• Highly competitive salary and options.
• Pension plan (match up to 7%).
• Life insurance - three times annual salary.
• Competitive maternity (six months fully paid) and paternity leave (four weeks fully paid).
• Shared parental leave (matched to our maternity leave for the same point in time).
• 25 days holiday and bank holidays.
• Private health insurance with Bupa for you and your family.
• Health cash plan (including dental and optical).
• Cycle-to-work scheme.
• Electric car scheme.
• Season ticket loan.
• Access to outstanding learning materials and courses.
• Sports and hobby clubs, subsidised by Thought Machine.
• All the latest tech you need.
• Start the day properly with fresh fruit and cereals.
• Huge range of healthy (and not-so-healthy) snacks, smoothies and drinks.
• A talented and experienced team as your colleagues.
• An environment where we encourage learning and progress.
• Two charity days a year.
• Weekly food pop-up.