Senior Legal Counsel (USA) - Sand Tech Holdings Limited

Do you want to join a band of legal rock stars? Are you an entrepreneurial, curious, passionate, and self-driven legal rockstar? Does the sound of joining a team of high-performing hippies and innovative problem solvers excite you? Are you ready to contribute to a global mission to build Africa while supporting our fast growing group of companies on three continents (Africa, Europe, North America)? Are you dynamic, adaptable, and able to work in a fast-paced and fully remote environment? If this sounds like you read on…

Well, this might be the job for you!

ABOUT US

Sand Technologies is a global leader in digital transformation, empowering leading organisations and governments worldwide to achieve their digital aspirations. 

We offer a comprehensive suite of services, including enterprise AI solutions, data science, software engineering, and IoT, delivered from our centres in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. 

Our training programmes, in partnership with organisations like the Mastercard Foundation, Amazon Web Services, Holberton, and ALX cultivate the next generation of agile digital leaders.

Through recent strategic acquisitions, Sand Technologies has further strengthened its capabilities in advanced analytics and intelligent software development, enhancing our ability to solve our clients' most pressing challenges across telecom, utilities, healthcare, and insurance industries. 

We believe in harnessing technology to deliver real impact and value, helping organisations bridge the gap between their current reality and digital future.

ABOUT THE TEAM

LëCöR stands for Legal, Compliance & Risk and is the legal arm of Sand Tech Holdings Limited (the holding company of Sand Technologies and The FutureList). Our mission is simple: "Protect and defend the company". and our strategy is to create world-class CATs and TRAPs to control RATs!

Yes, you heard it right. This means we do 3 things for our customers (our internal or external stakeholders):

1. We create Contracts, give Advice, and close Transactions (CATS), 
2. We deliver Training, conduct Regulatory Assessments, and manage Policies (TRAPS) 
3. And we do all these things to keep Risk At Tolerance (RATS). 

As Lecorians, we challenge each other with complex tasks and let innovation and creativity run their course. You will own projects and work streams and rotate through management roles. We strongly emphasize systems and processes to optimize efficiency; we value fun, freedom, and feedback, and we prioritize simplicity!

Not convinced yet? Here are a few more reasons to join our team!

1. Join a band of legal rockstars: We are entrepreneurial, curious, passionate, and self-driven global rockstars, and if you are too, we'd love to see you on stage! 
2. From Garage Band to Coachella: Are you ready to rock!? This is a unique opportunity to break your own boundaries and upscale yourself in a forward-thinking and disruptive band. 
3. The world is your stage: You know how you perform best. Rock from home, your favourite coffee shop, the top of a mountain, or a remote island, we encourage you to find your happy place! 
4. Master of your time: Time is precious - make it count. Work at your own time, whether you're a morning person or a night owl!
5. An innovative Band Leader: You'll report directly to the Group General Counsel. You can read his leadership manifesto here! 

Pretty cool, right!? If you are excited about these "unorthodox" concepts, you are in the right place…

ABOUT THE ROLE

We seek a dynamic legal professional to provide critical support for Sand's operations in the US. This position is initially freelance, with the opportunity to transition into a long-term leadership role. 

Key Responsibilities

• Contract Management: Oversee and facilitate the review, draft, and closure of customer contracts, including MSAs (Master Service Agreements) and scope of works.
• Vendor Relations: Manage new vendor registrations, ensuring compliance with all legal requirements and appropriate and timely handling of commercial claims and disputes.
• Commercial Negotiation: Support client-facing colleagues and representatives with legal, negotiation, and procurement-related advice on commercial matters
• Risk Assessment: Conduct risk assessments to ensure all legal aspects are covered when engaging with clients and vendors.
• Legal Compliance: Ensure Sand complies with relevant US regulations across all client interactions and business dealings.
• Practice Development: Provide advice and/or develop new approaches and standards to scale the Legal practice and our system of records for decision-making and workflow handling.

In the long term, this position may open an opportunity to become the Associate General Counsel in the US, work closely with the Sand team, and support the business as it grows and expands its operations.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): 

We are a data-driven band. We collect data to track how well we perform individually and as a band. Some of the most important things we track to ensure we hit our goals are: 

1. CSAT (customer satisfaction score - how much do our internal customers love us?)
2. OTD (on-time delivery - are we shipping those CATs and TRAPs on time?)
3. AHT (average handle time -how long did it take to get those CATs and TRAPs ready?).
4. FRR (feedback response rate - are we getting enough feedback from our fans/customers?)
5. FCR (First Contact Resolution, are we solving problems in one hit?)

Requirements

• Authorization to practice law in the US. Preference for candidates with NY, California, Delaware or Texas bar.
• 8 to 12 years PQE experience. Preference for candidatesworking for a boutique law firm, startup or tech consulting.
• Proven experience in the US:
  • negotiating commercial agreements (MSA, SOW, NDA, MOU, etc) with large and sophisticated customers. 
  • managing IP portfolios and disputes (.
  • Overseeing compliance requirements
  • Preference for candidates with experience supporting companies in the technology and AI space
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple legal tasks for internal and externalconsumersglobally.
• Project Management experience in closing cross-border transactions. Preference for candidates with experience in M&A
• G-Suite: proficient in G-Suite tools such as Google Sheets, Slides, and Docs. We don't work on Microsoft Office (sorry!). Preference for candidates with experience using CLMs (like Ironclad, PandaDocs, Concord, or Juro) 

Sand Mindsets

• Our Boss is the Client: relentlessly serve customers, both internal and external. Everything we do is always focused on delighting our customers!
• Surf Like Yvon: act with integrity and transparency for the greater good and impact.
• Get Stuff Done: move quickly and prioritize speed over perfection.
• Raise the Bar: strive for excellence, set the standard for the team, and continuously aim to get better and do better.
• Do Hard Things: think big, chase the impossible, leave your mark, and bring a go-getter mentality to every dealings.

LeCoR Mindsets

• Eat That Frog: is a metaphor for tackling your most challenging task—but also the one that can have the greatest positive impact 
• KISS: Keep it super simple (the days of "shall", "herewith" and "thereunder" are over