Legal Counsel

Reports to: Chief of Legal 

Duration: 18-month contract 

Based: London

Job purpose: To support the legal function in ensuring the organisation is legally compliant, with particular emphasis on drafting IP, commercial and philanthropic funding contracts, protection and maintenance of intellectual property rights, exercising strong commercial awareness, built on a foundation of thorough legal knowledge. 

The team:

This position sits within the Legal Team, which consists out of a paralegal, an Associate Legal Counsel, an Assistant Legal Counsel and led by the Chief of Legal working closely with several other teams within the organisation. This role is expected to provide support to junior members of the Legal Team. 

Principal accountabilities: 

General 

• Support the team to grow its identity and build strategic partnerships across the organisation through developing clear and efficient processes and SLA’s, supported by legal technology.  
• Support work towards Legal Team’s annual strategic objectives. 
• Support the Foundation’s strategic goal to increase funding by partnering with the Earned Revenue and Contributed Revenue Teams and other internal stakeholders. 
• Provide sound legal advice based on thorough research.  

Intellectual Property 

• Work with Legal Team colleagues and other internal stakeholders to maintain, manage and protect the Foundation’s global intellectual property (IP) rights, including monitoring for and addressing infringing activities, and maintenance of the Foundation’s IP portfolio. 
• Work to ensure that licences for commercial use of IFRS copyright material and trade marks are comprehensive and consistent for comparable licensee cohorts across the global market.  
• Instruct and liaise with external counsel, including budgeting and cost management. 
• Advise on contracts and provide legal advice regarding contract, corporate and IP law. 

Commercial Contracts and Mission Related Contracts  

• Negotiate and draft a wide variety of agreements as required by the organisation, including but not limited to IFRS Standards adoption agreements and MOUs in support of the Foundation’s mission. 
• Oversight and management of contracts lifecycle process.  
• Dispute resolution as required with third parties including suppliers/ licensees. 

Compliance and Governance 

• Assist Chief of Legal with activities relating to data protection, data management, regulatory compliance including sanctions, anti-trust matters, and information governance. 
• Provide legal support regarding corporate legal requirements. 

Qualifications & experience: 

• Minimum 8 years PQE UK qualified solicitor and/or qualified legal professional in either EU or US. 
• Strong knowledge of UK IP, contracts and commercial law; knowledge within EU, Asia Oceania region and/or US an advantage. 
• Demonstrable experience with copyright protection and actions against infringements. 
• Experience dealing with contentious and/or litigious casework. 
• Experience of drafting contracts and general contract correspondence. 
• Knowledge of regulatory issues desirable, including sanctions, competition law, and data protection. 
• Knowledge of employment law desirable. 
• Demonstrable evidence-based research skills; familiarity with Nexis Lexis, Lexis PLC and Westlaw desirable. 
• Work experience in a global multi-location set up desirable.  
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite. 
• Knowledge of legal operations desirable.  

Skills and attributes: 

• High level of attention to detail and strong English writing skills. 
• Ability to draft clearly and succinctly. 
• Excellent standard of oral English with ability to confidently and effectively participate in meetings and negotiations.  
• Ability to give and receive constructive feedback. 
• Ability to understand complex legal issues and provide practical advice in the context of business operations. 
• Strong team ethic; able to work effectively and collaboratively with individuals at all levels within the organisation.  
• Self-starter with ability to take ownership of projects/matters through excellent completion; 
• Problem solving skills, ability to find creative solutions and to ensure that any issues are dealt with in the best interests of the organisation. 
• High level of commercial awareness and an ability to see how matters fit in with the overall objectives and policies of the organisation;  
• Excellent planning and organisation skills including the ability to work well under pressure and effective prioritisation of workload.  
• Demonstrable evidence-based research skills, including familiarity with Westlaw, PLC, Lexis Nexis etc. 
• High level of proficiency with Microsoft Office suite, including Teams and Office 365 technologies.  
• Affinity with the public interest mission of the Foundation. 

Application closing date: 19th December 2025

Please note that while we have a closing date for this application, we reserve the right to interview candidates and potentially close the role early should we find a suitable candidate.

 

About us

At the IFRS Foundation, we believe better information leads to better decisions. We set financial reporting standards that enable companies to meet the evolving information needs of the global capital markets. United by our purpose to foster trust, growth and long-term financial stability in the global economy, we engage in challenging, meaningful work every day—across all our areas of expertise.

If you share our passion for this mission, we want to hear from you.

Diverse perspectives. International expertise.

Working for our global organisation offers many benefits, including:

• rewarding work that serves the public interest;
• engagement with diverse international experts;
• inclusive and collaborative teams;
• intellectually challenging projects;
• flexible working arrangements;
• numerous areas of specialisation; and
• opportunities for professional growth and development.

Diversity and inclusion are seen as key strengths of our organisation. These qualities are essential for us to engage with and meet the needs of our varied global stakeholders, and they are part of what makes the IFRS Foundation a great place to work.

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