Principal Legal Counsel

Why UKG:

At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That’s what we do.

We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you’ll get flexibility that’s real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters—and so do you.

About the role

UKG is seeking an experienced Principal Legal Counsel to support its South Europe business (with strong focus on France, Spain, but also working with Italy and Portugal). This is a senior, hands-on in-house role with primary responsibility for advising on commercial transactions involving enterprise and smaller commercial customers, as well as strategic partners and vendors.

The successful candidate will be a trusted business partner to Senior management and the Sales organization, able to lead complex, multi-jurisdictional negotiations while providing practical advice across a broad range of legal and regulatory matters. The role is particularly suited to a lawyer with substantial experience in technology, cloud or SaaS transactions and a strong working knowledge of French and Spanish law.

Key responsibilities

• Advise UKG’s South Europe senior leadership team on significant commercial, operational, regulatory and strategic legal matters.

• Lead the drafting, review and negotiation of complex commercial agreements, including:

• SaaS, cloud services and software licensing agreements;

• enterprise customer agreements;

• data processing and technology services agreements;

• strategic partnership, reseller, distribution and alliance agreements; and

• vendor and procurement contracts.

• Support the Sales organization from opportunity assessment through contract execution, balancing commercial objectives with legal, regulatory and risk considerations.

• Serve as the primary legal advisor for complex and high-value customer negotiations in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal as well as other relevant European markets.

• Create, improve and maintain UKG’s commercial agreement templates, playbooks, fallback positions and contracting processes.

• Deliver practical legal training and guidance to Sales, Finance, Procurement, Security, Privacy, Compliance and other cross-functional stakeholders.

• Partner with the Privacy and Compliance Legal teams on data protection, cybersecurity, AI and other technology-related regulatory matters affecting the region.

• Provide legal guidance on corporate, regulatory and other business matters as appropriate.

• Support the management of disputes, pre-litigation matters, litigation and external counsel.

• Identify legal and commercial risks early, recommend pragmatic solutions and elevate matters appropriately.

• Help improve the efficiency, consistency and scalability of UKG’s contracting and legal support model across South Europe.

Required qualifications and experience

• At least 8 years of post-qualification legal experience, gained in a leading law firm, technology company, cloud/SaaS business or a combination of these.

• Qualified and in good standing to practice law in a relevant European jurisdiction, with substantial professional experience advising on French and Spanish law.

• Demonstrable experience negotiating and drafting sophisticated technology and commercial agreements, particularly SaaS, cloud services, software licensing and technology-related customer contracts.

• Proven experience handling complex and multi-jurisdictional transactions involving enterprise customers and/or strategic business partners.

• Fluent written and spoken English, French and Spanish.

• Broad legal capability beyond commercial contracting, including meaningful experience or working knowledge of data privacy, corporate matters, employment/labor law, regulatory issues and disputes.

• Experience working directly with senior business leaders and advising stakeholders across Sales and other commercial functions.

• Experience in an international, fast-paced business environment, preferably within the technology or SaaS sector.

Skills and personal attributes

• Commercially astute, practical and solutions-oriented, with the judgment to protect UKG while enabling the business to move forward.

• Comfortable acting as the lead le