Senior Legal Counsel – North America

IDEMIA is the global leader in identity and security. Our mission is to create a safe and simple future where identity verification is indisputable, and only you can assert your identity. We are a distributed company leveraging the latest technologies to deliver world-class products in the private and public sectors of finance, telecom, identity, security, retail, sports entertainment, commercial, government, and IoT. We use a variety of technologies and approaches to deliver quality product and services to government agencies and technology companies. IDEMIA is a made up of a group of 14,000 diverse people from different nationalities, speaking over 20 different languages. Together, our solutions impact the everyday lives of citizens and nations. In this ever-changing world, protecting your identity is paramount. Join the team that is ensuring one person- one identity.

Position Overview: We are looking for an entrepreneurial and self-motivated Senior Legal Counsel to be responsible for litigation-related matters, provide strategic legal advice, and support sales or purchasing transactions as well as corporate activities for the IDEMIA Secure Transactions (IST) Division in North America. This role requires deep expertise in litigation, employment law, commercial contracting and intellectual property, especially within industries involving manufactured products, software licensing, and cloud-based digital services. The ideal candidate will be a tech savvy, business-oriented professional with exceptional project management skills, who thrives in a global, face-paced environment. Proficiency in French (written and spoken) is a plus.

Under the lead of the Chief Legal Officer for the IST Division and the Head of Contracts and Corporate Affairs for North America, the Senior Legal Counsel is a member of the global and agile IST Legal & Contracts team (around 30 Legal Counsels and Contract Managers all around the world), who contributes to achieving business goals while ensuring compliance and managing legal risks.

The mission of the Senior Legal Counsel is to provide qualified and efficient litigation and transactional support to the IST business in North America, and thereby protect IST and contribute to achieving IST targets, value creation and business growth, operational excellence, profitability and risk control, to protect investment in technology, know-how and marketing, to ensure handling of information of IDEMIA and others with the proper degree of care, and to support the IST Legal & Contracts team in securing compliance in operations with relevant local and international regulations in the field of data privacy, ethics and compliance or antitrust.

Key Responsibilities:

Litigation and Pre-Litigation Management

• Handle all aspects of litigation and pre-litigation, including investigations, strategy development, discovery, trial preparation, settlement negotiations, and responses to subpoenas, court orders, and warrants.
• Represent the company in legal proceedings, such as mediations, arbitrations, and court hearings, particularly in intellectual property-related cases (e.g., third-party infringement claims) or employment- or labor-related cases (e.g., harassment, discrimination, retaliation, whistleblowing, workers’ compensation, union dispute).
• Collaborate with external counsel and insurers, monitor progress, and manage legal costs.

Transactional Support

• Review, draft, negotiate, and process a wide variety of commercial agreements and bid documents with domestic or international customers, partners, and suppliers, including contracts for sale, resale, purchase, non-disclosure agreements, licenses, and cloud-based services.
• Provide guidance during contract performance, and notably analyze contract requirements and provisions as well as legal issues that might impact the business and implement remedial actions like claims and settlements.
• Secure proper leadership approval for critical legal, financial, and technical terms.

Corporate Activities

• Support the management of local insurance policies in liaison with local or global insurance brokers.
• Support the company’s corporate secretarial work, including preparation of powers of attorney and minutes of shareholder or board meetings.

Legal Advisory

• Advise senior leadership on litigation risks, strategies, and regulatory compliance, with a focus on antitrust, ethics, anti-corruption, and data privacy laws.
• Analyze and communicate potential regulatory impacts to the business and suggest corrective actions as needed.

Policy and Process Development

• Support the development and implementation of legal and contractual processes and guidelines.
• Conduct training sessions for internal teams on key legal, compliance, and contract-related topics.

Compliance Monitoring

• Stay informed about changes in laws and regulations, assess their impact, and assist in updating agreements, policies, and procedures to maintain compliance.
• Ensure consistent application of company governance and compliance frameworks.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the IST Legal & Contracts team and other internal stakeholders across regions to support seamless legal operations and knowledge sharing.

• 7-10 years of litigation and business transactional work experience in the ICT industry, gained in a corporate legal department of a multinational company, ideally combined with private practice experience at a top-tier U.S. law firm.
• Proven experience managing diverse claims and litigation, including employment and IP-related cases.
• Strong track record in negotiating and drafting agreements, including complex business transactions.
• Solid skills in intellectual property, employment, antitrust, anti-bribery and data privacy laws.
• Ability to analyze contracts, assess risks, and provide actionable insights.
• Business-oriented mindset with a solid understanding of basic financial reporting.

EDUCATION / CERTIFICATION

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited U.S. law school.
• Admitted to practice law and active and in good standing before at least one state’s bar association.

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES

• Self-driven, collaborative team player with experience to work for multinational corporate settings, Ability to prioritize and multi-task and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment,
• Efficient organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to demonstrate and follow through on deliverables
• Focus on how to get things done rather than how not to, bringing the attitude of an enabler rather than a block to business, with creative and business-focused problem-solving attitude that balances legal risk and business impact.
• A change agent who helps improving legal support to corporate or business teams, cross-collaboration with other departments, legal analysis of complex regulations, etc.
• Ability to effectively and persuasively communicate (in writing and verbally) legal and business issues with senior staff both inside and outside the IST Division,
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills with internal clients, suppliers, partners and/or customers, and
• Committed to continuous learning and professional growth.