Senior Legal Counsel – Technology, Procurement

Northern Trust

. Support the Procurement and Technology legal team’s efforts to accelerate Northern Trust’s responsible adoption of AI consistent with legal and regulatory requirements and client and supervisory expectations.

Posted 5/22/2026full-timeChicago • Illinois • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $160,100 - $272,300 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Cloud

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Support the Procurement and Technology legal team’s efforts to accelerate Northern Trust’s responsible adoption of AI consistent with legal and regulatory requirements and client and supervisory expectations.
Advise business units, technology engineers, product development teams and business unit legal teams in the development, negotiation and support of vended AI tools, client facing contracts involving technology products and concepts (e.g., SaaS; software licenses; data licenses; distributed ledger technology; federated single sign on);
Develop and update template contracts, playbooks, terms of use, and other terms and conditions related to technology initiatives and products (e.g., Northern Trust web portals and platforms, APIs, other software) for use by business units across the enterprise;
Collaborate with and provide legal support to other cross functional teams and SMEs (e.g., Data Privacy, Information Security, Risk, Compliance, Tax), including in other jurisdictions, as needed;
Advise and contribute to committees and working groups (e.g., IT Risk; Cloud governance; AI) focused on new technology initiatives at the bank;
Advise and lead negotiations around strategic transactions including complex license agreements, reseller agreements, and other corporate development arrangements;
Provide legal support for technology related corporate initiatives as requested and support other Legal Department team members;
Advise on legal and regulatory developments that impact Northern Trust’s procurement organization and technology initiatives and adapt template contracts and playbooks as needed.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Must possess a J.D. degree from an accredited law school and must meet attorney licensing requirements in the jurisdiction in which the position will be located, prior to and after commencing employment.
Minimum combined ten (10) years of experience at a nationally recognized law firm and/or in-house legal department advising clients in relevant areas;
Proven record of independently drafting, negotiating, and reviewing various types of technology contracts and agreements, including software licenses, distributed ledger technologies, managed services, and on-prem and SaaS license agreements, with an appreciation of the issues on both the vendor and client sides;
In-depth experience with the legal and regulatory aspects that can impact contract requirements, including familiarity with the impacts of placing data in the cloud. Financial Industry regulations preferred (e.g., FRB SR23-4, PRA SS2/21, GDPR, CCPA, DORA, EU AI Act);
Experience working for a regulated industry, financial industry preferred;
Ability to work cooperatively with all levels of the organization and provide legal advice and counsel on a wide range of technology-related matters;
Ability to conduct in-depth legal analysis and provide practical, solutions-oriented advice;
Excellent oral and written communication skills;
Ability to manage relationships with business partners, clients, and outside counsel;
Current knowledge of applicable existing and upcoming regulations impacting the banking industry highly desired.

Benefits

Comp & perks

retirement benefits (401k and pension)
health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability)
paid time off
parental and caregiver leave
life & accident insurance
discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

J.D. degreedrafting contractsnegotiating contractsreviewing contractstechnology contractssoftware licensesdistributed ledger technologymanaged servicesSaaS agreementslegal analysis

Soft Skills

cooperative worklegal advicesolutions-orientedoral communicationwritten communicationrelationship management

Certifications

attorney licensing