General Counsel

Please attach your CV accompanied by a motivation letter describing how your experience matches the job description. Of special relevance are your experience as general counsel of a reputable technology firm, your U.S.-based/international/multijurisdictional experience, and examples of complex commercial negotiations you led on behalf of the firms you represented.

General Description

Your mission as General Commercial Counsel (Americas) is to successfully support the growth and protection of Smartmatic’s business interests in the region. While you will be responsible for all legal aspects of Smartmatic’s business operation in the Americas (including US, Canada and Latin America), your job will be very strongly focused on commercial legal aspects of Smartmatic’s business. You will lead commercial contracting and negotiations with customers and business partners. You will also lead corporate strategic and tactical legal initiatives, providing senior management with effective advice on the company’s business strategies and their implementation, while managing the regional legal function and overseeing the work of both internal and outside counsel.

It is a very hands-on function. You can expect to work closely with key members of the executive team (at regional and global level), particularly with the sales teams. You will be directly involved in complex business transactions in negotiating critical contracts. You will manage and knowledgeably lead your own legal team to address key issues and build foundations to achieve our business objectives. You will also contribute and advise across multiple areas of company. You will be required to be an innovative leader driving for results.

Responsibilities

Contracting and negotiation: The most important part of your job will be in preparing, reviewing and most importantly taking on a leading role in negotiating and closing commercial contracts with public sector customers and enterprise business partners for very large, complex IT-led projects. Also advising top management on how we can pursue complex projects and still protect the company’s business interests. Other contracting may involve service agreements, non-disclosure agreements, license agreements, terms and conditions of sale, joint venture, commercial representation, etc.

Compliance: Assisting the senior management team in developing and implementing legal compliance measures including policies, procedures, training programs and other tools to ensure employee compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Managing and Overseeing: All legal operations in the region (litigation/disputes, transactions, IP/licensing, regulatory/compliance, governance, etc.), liaising with external counsel; liaising with operational teams; and supporting other areas requiring legal support as required (employment, property, M&A, etc.).

Qualifications

The ideal candidate:

Smart, hands-on and ambitious;

Strong experience as a general commercial counsel for a renowned technology organization and/or legal practice, as well as broad legal knowledge and experience at a senior level.

Has led legal aspects of commercial contracting in a company, and thrives when leading commercial negotiations.

Has held multi-jurisdictional responsibility, including in the US and multiple countries in Latin America.

Has worked comfortably in high tech environments, and led and overcome significant legal challenges surrounding IP, patents and products at the very highest level. Solid knowledge of technology defensibility and protection is very desirable.

Native English speaker with Spanish as a strong second language; French and/or Portuguese very desirable.

Big plus: Experience liaising with Capitol Hill, DHS, CFIUS and other Washington DC institutions in the U.S.

About Smartmatic

Smartmatic was founded on the simple idea that technology can help ensure the integrity of elections. Established in Florida in the wake of the 2000 election, Smartmatic focused on building the most secure, accessible and easy-to-use election technologies designed to safeguard the process from start to finish. Today, Smartmatic is the world’s largest, most advanced and innovative elections technology company.

From Chicago to Manila. From Salt Lake City to Brussels. And from Buenos Aires to London – since 2003 Smartmatic has successfully designed and implemented secure voting technologies for election commissions on five continents in 25 countries. We’ve recorded and tabulated more than 4.6 billion votes with zero security breaches.

Committed to innovation, Smartmatic invests substantial resources in three R&D centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. We have deployed the world’s most technologically advanced and highly trusted internet voting solution. By using cutting-edge technologies like blockchain to enable online voting, Smartmatic envisions a not-too-distant future that eliminates vulnerable absentee paper ballots and ensures that military personnel, diplomats, business people and others can vote securely and seamlessly from anywhere in the world.

In addition to election technologies, Smartmatic also provides solutions for governments, including identity management and air quality management systems.