Senior Legal Counsel

About Marcura:

Marcura is a global leader in maritime technology and operations, supporting nearly one‑third of the world’s seaborne commodity trade. Our trusted platforms which span software, data intelligence and payments sit at the centre of digital transformation across the maritime industry.  We are now seeking a Company Secretary to join our high‑impact team and contribute to the success of one of the sector’s most forward‑looking organisations.

Purpose of Role

The Senior Legal Counsel is a senior, hands-on member of the Group Legal team, reporting to the Group General Counsel. The role provides business-focused legal support across Marcura's maritime technology and payments businesses, covering commercial contracting, M&A, financing and corporate matters, and the legal aspects of regulatory change, particularly in payments.

This is an execution-driven role for a lawyer who is comfortable running multiple matters at pace with limited supervision, combining strong drafting and negotiation skills with sound commercial judgement. The postholder will work directly with senior stakeholders, identify regulatory touchpoints in commercial and transactional work, and coordinate specialist and local counsel where needed.

This role covers a broad remit, and we know strong candidates will bring deeper experience in some areas than others. If you are excited by the role but do not tick every box, please apply. We would still like to hear from you.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead commercial contracting across the Group, drafting and negotiating master services agreements, customer and vendor contracts and strategic partnership agreements, and maintaining the related templates and playbooks.
• Run M&A transactions end-to-end, including due diligence, transaction documents, conditions precedent, closing and post-closing integration.
• Support financing and refinancing projects, including reviewing and negotiating facilities agreements, security packages and covenant terms, and managing CP and closing deliverables.
• Support corporate governance across Group entities, including preparing board papers and resolutions and keeping transaction records audit-ready.
• Advise senior stakeholders on a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, giving clear, risk-weighted advice aligned with commercial objectives.
• Work with Compliance to build regulatory requirements into commercial contracts (e.g. data security, audit, business continuity, subcontracting and termination), proportionate to the risk.
• Track regulatory change affecting the Group (payments, AML/CTF, sanctions, data and operational resilience) and turn it into practical guidance and playbook updates with minimal disruption to sales cycles.
• Manage pre-litigation disputes and claims, and instruct and supervise litigation counsel where needed.
• Instruct, manage and quality-control specialist and local counsel, delivering integrated, business-ready advice and keeping external spend under control.
• Drive improvements in legal operations, including templates, playbooks, contract management and the use of legal technology and automation.
• Support and mentor junior team members and deliver practical training to commercial teams

Qualifications and Education 

• Law degree (LLB, JD or equivalent), or a recognised conversion route into the legal profession. 
• Qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, or as a lawyer in an equivalent common law jurisdiction. 
• An LLM or other postgraduate qualification in corporate, commercial or finance law is desirable but not required. 

Work Experience 

• At least 5 years' post-qualification experience in corporate and commercial law, gained at a leading law firm and/or in-house within an international group. 

• Hands-on, end-to-end commercial contracting across a broad portfolio (enterprise customer agreements, vendor and SaaS agreements, data processing agreements, NDAs, statements of work and SLAs), including leading negotiations with senior counterparties and building templates and playbooks. 

• Running or coordinating buy-side and sell-side M&A from term sheet through signing, closing and post-closing integration. 

• Exposure to debt financing or refinancing transactions, including facilities agreements, security packages and conditions precedent processes. 

• Partnering with senior business functions (Sales, Finance and Treasury, Strategy, Tax, HR, Risk and the Executive team), translating legal risk into clear commercial choices. 

• Managing pre-litigation disputes, including issue-spotting, escalation and settlement strategy, and instructing litigation counsel where needed. 

• Reflecting regulatory requirements in commercial terms (e.g. operational resilience, service levels, data security, audit rights and termination for regulatory cause). 

• Desirable: exposure to payments and fintech regulation and adjacent regimes (e.g. PSD2 and the Payment Services Regulations, licensing and authorisation, AML/CTF, sanctions and data protection), including coordinating advice from specialist counsel. 

• Desirable: experience in maritime, shipping, logistics or B2B SaaS businesses. 

• Desirable: supervising or mentoring junior lawyers and delivering training to commercial teams. 

Skills and Knowledge 

• Excellent drafting and negotiation skills on complex commercial agreements. 

• Strong working knowledge of English company law and corporate governance, including board and shareholder processes. 

• Transactional skills across due diligence, SPA drafting, disclosure, conditions precedent and closing mechanics. 

• Working knowledge of facilities agreements, security packages, covenants and CP/CS processes. 

• Sound understanding of AML/CTF and sanctions considerations in contracting and M&A, and the ability to work with Compliance, Risk and external counsel on them. 

• Working knowledge of data protection and information security as they apply to payments and SaaS contracting (e.g. UK and EU GDPR, DPIAs and international transfers). 

• Desirable: understanding of payments regulation and its commercial impact (e.g. customer due diligence, safeguarding, outsourcing and operational resilience). 

• Comfortable with multi-jurisdictional issues and with instructing and managing local counsel. 

• Strong organisation and prioritisation, with the ability to run several workstreams to deadline. 

• Clear, concise communicator who gives practical advice to non-lawyers at all levels. 

• Confident user of legal technology and AI tools to improve speed and quality of output.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead commercial contracting across the Group, drafting and negotiating master services agreements, customer and vendor contracts and strategic partnership agreements, and maintaining the related templates and playbooks. 

• Run M&A transactions end-to-end, including due diligence, transaction documents, conditions precedent, closing and post-closing integration. 

• Support financing and refinancing projects, including reviewing and negotiating facilities agreements, security packages and covenant terms, and managing CP and closing deliverables. 

• Support corporate governance across Group entities, including preparing board papers and resolutions and keeping transaction records audit-ready. 

• Advise senior stakeholders on a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, giving clear, risk-weighted advice aligned with commercial objectives. 

• Work with Compliance to build regulatory requirements into commercial contracts (e.g. data security, audit, business continuity, subcontracting and termination), proportionate to the risk. 

• Track regulatory change affecting the Group (payments, AML/CTF, sanctions, data and operational resilience) and turn it into practical guidance and playbook updates with minimal disruption to sales cycles. 

• Manage pre-litigation disputes and claims, and instruct and supervise litigation counsel where needed. 

• Instruct, manage and quality-control specialist and local counsel, delivering integrated, business-ready advice and keeping external spend under control. 

• Drive improvements in legal operations, including templates, playbooks, contract management and the use of legal technology and automation. 

• Support and mentor junior team members and deliver practical training to commercial teams. 

Competitive Salary and Bonus: We reward your expertise and contributions.

Inclusive Onboarding Experience: Our onboarding program is designed to set you up for success right from day one.

Marcura Wellness Zone: We value your work-life balance and well-being.

Global Opportunities: Be part of an ambitious, expanding company with a local touch.

Diverse, Supportive Work Culture: We’re committed to inclusion, diversity, and a sense of belonging for all team members.