Legal Counsel

Zanders

Legal Counsel providing in-house legal advice for Zanders global operations and commercial contracting. Ensures effective legal support across jurisdictions in a Private Equity backed environment.

Posted 6/19/2026part-timeUtrecht • 🇳🇱 NetherlandsMid-LevelSeniorWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Act as the primary in-house legal advisor for Zanders across its international operations.
Advise on, draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including client contracts, supplier agreements, NDAs, data processing agreements and other business-critical legal documents.
Support the business in identifying legal deviations, negotiation points and risk areas in commercial documentation, including in an environment where first-level document analysis is increasingly supported by AI-enabled tooling.
Take ownership of legal operations, including templates, clause libraries, playbooks, approval flows and contract process improvement.
Advise on privacy and data protection matters, including contractual safeguards, internal governance and legal questions relating to data use and processing.
Support the business on AI-related legal topics, including supplier terms, data use, governance and responsible adoption.
Maintain corporate legal housekeeping for the group and support internal legal governance.
Review and update internal policies, procedures and legal documentation in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders.
Proactively coordinate legal priorities, timelines and stakeholder expectations across multiple topics and jurisdictions in a structured and outcome-focused way.
Manage and coordinate the insurance portfolio from a legal and contractual perspective.
Act as the main point of contact for external legal counsel in jurisdictions where local advice is needed.
Provide practical legal guidance and training to colleagues where useful.

Requirements

What you’ll need

A master’s degree in law.
6 to 12 years of relevant legal experience, gained in private practice and/or in-house.
Strong experience in commercial contracting.
Solid knowledge of privacy and data protection.
The ability to work independently and confidently as a standalone legal professional in an international business.
Experience in managing and instructing external legal counsels across multiple jurisdictions.
A pragmatic, solution-oriented and commercially minded approach.
A structured and proactive way of working, with strong prioritization skills and the ability to manage competing demands, anticipate bottlenecks and deliver consistently.
Strong stakeholder management skills and the confidence to work with senior business leaders.
A structured way of working, with strong prioritisation skills and attention to detail.
Genuine interest in legal technology and AI, and the motivation to improve legal delivery through smarter, more scalable processes.
Excellent command of English; Dutch is strongly preferred. Additional languages are a plus.

Benefits

Comp & perks

A hybrid work environment, which promotes a healthy work-life balance
Allowance to set up your home office in an ergonomically responsible way and internet allowance
A public transport travel card with unlimited use in The Netherlands.
Participation in the Zanders bonus scheme
A future-proof pension scheme
29 paid holiday days
A laptop and an iPhone
An entrepreneurial culture that values personal development, with ample room for own initiatives
Expertise in your chosen field, building skills rapidly alongside diverse clients and consultants
A truly collegial environment with enthusiastic and helpful colleagues, fostering career excellence in Treasury, Risk or Technology
An international and fun working environment
Cultural night events, annual Zanders's trip to a (surprise) location in Europe and many more exciting experiences to come

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

commercial agreementsclient contractssupplier agreementsNDAsdata processing agreementsprivacy and data protectionlegal documentationcontract process improvementlegal guidancelegal training

Soft Skills

independent workstakeholder managementsolution-oriented approachstructured workingprioritization skillsattention to detailproactive coordinationconfidence in legal mattersability to manage competing demandscommunication with senior leaders

Certifications

master’s degree in law