Legal Counsel (In-House)

Location: UK-Remote #LI-Hybrid #LI-Remote

Sedna is at the forefront of revolutionising global trade, serving as the North Star for businesses navigating the complexities of international commerce. Our AI-powered platform is designed to make global trade more efficient, transparent, and sustainable. As we continue to grow and innovate, we are looking for exceptional talent to join our journey and contribute to our mission of transforming global trade.

While this is a sole General Counsel position, we want to be transparent that you won't be stepping into it alone. We have established retainer arrangements with specialist external law firms who are engaged for complex or high-value matters, meaning you'll have expert counsel to collaborate with on anything that warrants it. Our outgoing legal counsel is also remaining in an advisory capacity during the transition, providing continuity and a knowledgeable sounding board as you find your feet in the role. Beyond that, Sedna's senior leadership team carries a strong foundation of legal and commercial knowledge, so you'll be working alongside people who understand the landscape and can engage meaningfully with legal considerations at a strategic level. This is a full-time role reporting to the CFO. For someone earlier in their legal career who is ready to take on broader ownership and visibility, it offers an exceptional opportunity to grow into a senior in-house role with the right scaffolding around you.

Purpose

• Own day-to-day legal operations and the contract lifecycle
• Be the first line of legal support to the organisation, particularly the go-to-market and finance functions
• Coordinate external counsel across UK and other jurisdictions - managing scope, spend, and turnaround rather than duplicating their work

Core responsibilities

Commercial contracting

• Draft, review, and negotiate customer agreements: MSAs, order forms, DPAs, NDAs, SOWs, renewals, amendments
• Review inbound customer paper and run redline cycles to close
• Maintain the contract repositories; ensure executed contracts, key terms, and obligations are tracked follow company guidelines
• Own the legal playbook: standard positions, fallback clauses, escalation triggers

Sales enablement

• Legal point of contact for the GTM team
• Triage and turn around RFP/security/legal questionnaires within SLA, working with Security, Finance, and Product as needed
• Pre-clear known customer paper and common redlines ahead of quarter-end to compress deal times

Vendor and procurement

• Review inbound vendor contracts, DPAs, and renewals; flag auto-renewals and material commitments to Finance
• Maintain a vendor contract register

Corporate, compliance, governance

• Support board and shareholder administrative work: minutes, written resolutions, cap table, filings, coordinated with local counsel and company secretarial providers
• Own routine compliance tasks: GDPR/UK GDPR, DPIAs, data subject requests, sub-processor list maintenance, IP and trademark register
• Support employment matters (offers, contractor agreements, terminations) with external employment counsel where needed

M&A, financing, and corporate transactions (support role)

• Run diligence checklists, data rooms and disclosure schedules for buy-side acquisitions and lender processes
• Coordinate external counsel deliverables, manage closing logistics

Requirements

• Qualified solicitor (England & Wales), 1-3 years PQE; trained at a reputable commercial firm or strong in-house programme
• Direct experience reviewing and negotiating B2B SaaS commercial contracts (MSA / DPA / order form structure)
• Working knowledge of UK GDPR / data protection in a SaaS context
• Comfortable as the only lawyer in the room for routine matters; knows when to escalate to external counsel
• Highly organised, responsive, and used to operating against commercial deadlines
• Comfortable with contract management tooling (Juro or equivalent)

Nice to have

• Exposure to multi-jurisdictional groups (UK / Canada / EU)
• Experience supporting M&A or debt financing diligence
• Prior in-house secondment in a B2B SaaS or tech business
• Familiarity with maritime, commodities, or trading customers

What success looks like in the first 12 months

• Contract turnaround times reduced
• Administrative and compliance matters run on rails
• Single source of truth for executed contracts and key obligations
• External counsel spend reduced
• Deal flow improved while managing risks appropriately

Finally, culture is important to us, so we also look for candidates who share our values:

Stay ahead, stay agile

• We don’t just adapt-we anticipate change and act with confidence.
• Curiosity, data, and customer insights help us stay ahead of the curve.
• We embrace challenges as opportunities and remain resilient under pressure.
• By staying open to new ideas and ways of working, we lead the future.

Execute with focus

• We turn strategy into action, delivering measurable results that matter.
• Every initiative counts-discipline and ownership drive business impact.
• We make smart decisions with speed, balancing pace and precision.
• Clear priorities keep us focused on what moves the needle.

Work together, win together

• Collaboration is our superpower-we succeed as one team, internally and with customers.
• We co-create solutions, seek feedback, and build the future of the OS together.
• Strong relationships are built on trust, respect, and shared goals. 
• By aligning across teams and with customers, we unlock greater impact.

• Be part of a dynamic team driving innovation in the maritime industry
• Join a culture of innovation and openness where your ideas can make a real impact
• Work with technology that's transforming the maritime industry 
• Contribute to solutions that drive both profitability and sustainability in shipping 

The role reports to the CFO + Senior Leadership and is an integral part of our central operations team based in London.

Sedna is committed to maintaining a progressive, innovative workplace where every team member can thrive. We value diversity, sustainability, and continuous learning as we work together to shape the future of maritime technology.