Senior Legal Counsel, Procurement

Job description

ABOUT AIRWALLEX Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 250,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,300 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 27 offices around the globe. Valued at US$11 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. ABOUT THE TEAM The Legal, Risk & Compliance (LRC) team at Airwallex is a collaborative group of legal professionals and risk experts. We safeguard Airwallex’s operations, foster a culture of compliance and ethical conduct, and help the business navigate the global financial landscape with integrity. Within LRC, Corporate Legal owns a broad range of corporate and operational legal work, including: - Vendor and other non‑customer contracts - Marketing, referral, advertising and sponsorship agreements - NDAs and general contracting support - Real estate and insurance arrangements - Corporate governance, M&A, fundraising and intragroup structuring You’ll sit in Corporate Legal and be a key partner to Procurement, Finance, Marketing and other business teams, helping them move fast while managing risk across Airwallex’s global vendor and partnership landscape. WHAT YOU’LL DO As Senior Legal Counsel – Procurement, you will be the primary legal partner for global third‑party spend and non‑customer commercial relationships, with Singapore as a key contracting hub. You’ll own the end‑to‑end lifecycle of vendor, services and sponsorship contracts – from structuring and templates through negotiation, execution and ongoing advisory support – and help embed scalable, tech‑enabled contracting practices. Key responsibilities 1. Vendor and services contracts - Review, draft and negotiate a broad range of vendor and operational agreements, including: - Technology / SaaS, cloud and infrastructure - Professional services, outsourcing, consulting and BPO - Facilities, real estate and office‑services arrangements - Other operational / back‑office suppliers and tools - Ensure alignment with Airwallex’s risk appetite, insurance and information security requirements, Acceptable Use / ABC frameworks and global contracting policies 2. NDAs, templates and playbooks - Review, draft and negotiate NDAs and other standard‑form documents used by non‑commercial teams - Maintain and continuously improve practical templates, fallbacks and playbooks to enable self‑serve or light‑touch review for low‑risk engagements (e.g. using Ironclad and other CLM / LegalTech tooling, consistent with “Contacting Legal: Tools and Best Practices”) - Define clear guardrails and escalation triggers (e.g. unusual IP terms, data use, exclusivity, restricted industries) so Procurement and business teams know when Legal must step in 3. Core contract risk and commercial advice - Advise on key risk allocation and commercial terms in business contracts, including: - Limitation of liability and exclusions - Indemnities and insurance interplay - IP ownership, licensing and usage rights - Confidentiality and data / privacy terms (with escalation to Data & Privacy where needed) - Service levels, credits, KPIs and termination / remedies - Provide clear, pragmatic and time‑sensitive advice to Procurement, Finance, Marketing, Operations and other stakeholders on: - Contract strategy, vendor selection and RFPs - Day‑to‑day contract interpretation, amendments and change management - Issue escalation, dispute prevention and early‑stage resolution 4. Insurance and risk transfer - Review and negotiate insurance clauses and schedules in vendor, landlord and sponsorship contracts (e.g. PI, cyber, GL, property, D&O, event and other relevant policies) - Partner with Finance and Corporate Legal colleagues who own group insurance to: - Align contract language with actual coverage and limits - Support placement, renewal and evidence of coverage (COIs, endorsements) - Escalate material gaps, over‑commitments or unusual requirements 5. Advertising, sponsorship and sports partnerships - Lead or support negotiation and documentation of: - Advertising and marketing services agreements - Sponsorships and brand partnerships (including with sporting teams, events and leagues) - Other brand, media and co‑marketing collaborations - Identify and manage risks around: - Brand and IP usage, rights packages, territories and exclusivity - Deliverables, benefits, content approvals and measurement - Morality / reputation clauses, termination rights and MAC triggers - Compliance with Airwallex’s ABC / Anti‑Bribery & Corruption Policy, Global Acceptable Use Policy, card‑scheme restricted MCCs and local marketing rules (coordinating with Regulatory Legal, Risk and FCC as needed) 6. Global contracting hub and P2P alignment - Partner with Tax, Finance, Procurement and Corporate Legal to: - Implement and maintain consistent “procure‑to‑pay” (P2P) and contracting‑entity practices, including use of Airwallex (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. as a contracting hub where in scope. - Ensure vendor contracts are integrated into the LRC Procurement‑to‑Pay Quick Guide, PO processes and cost‑centre structures - Support use of Oracle, JIRA and Ironclad workflows for intake, approvals and execution 7. External counsel management - Instruct, coordinate and manage external counsel for: - Local‑law, specialist or high‑risk procurement, insurance or sponsorship matters - Complex cross‑border issues or disputes - Scope questions tightly, manage budgets and enforce Airwallex’s External Counsel Guidelines (including preference for approved firms and cost‑effective, business‑oriented advice) 8. LegalTech, AI and process improvement - Contribute to continuous improvement of vendor and NDA contracting through: - Template, clause library and playbook development - Automation and CLM workflows (e.g. Ironclad) and integration with LRC LegalOps - Safe, effective use of AI tools (e.g. first‑pass review, issue spotting, playbook checks) with appropriate confidentiality and human‑review guardrails - Run or support training for Procurement, Finance and Marketing on contracting best practices and when to involve Legal WHO YOU ARE Minimum qualifications - Qualified lawyer with a law degree and current right to practice in at least one common‑law jurisdiction - 8+ years’ post‑qualification experience in a top‑tier law firm and/or in‑house legal team, with a strong focus on commercial contracting and procurement - Significant experience reviewing, drafting and negotiating vendor and services contracts and NDAs, including technology / SaaS, professional services and other operational agreements - Demonstrated ability to advise on core contract risk topics (liability, indemnity, IP, confidentiality, privacy, information security and termination) and provide pragmatic, business‑oriented recommendations under time pressure - Experience advising internal business stakeholders on day‑to‑day contractual relationships, including issue escalation, contract interpretation and change management - Excellent written and spoken English, with strong drafting, negotiation and stakeholder‑management skills across functions and time zones Preferred qualifications - Experience supporting procurement, sourcing or vendor‑management functions in a high‑growth technology, fintech, payments or financial‑services organisation, ideally across multiple jurisdictions - Experience advising on insurance policies and insurance clauses in commercial contracts, including technology, operational and sponsorship contexts - Experience with advertising, marketing, sponsorship or sports‑partnership agreements (rights, brand / IP, reputation, ABC / AUP, card‑scheme and regulatory considerations) - Experience working closely with cross‑functional Legal, Risk & Compliance teams (Corporate Legal, Regulatory Legal, Regulatory Compliance, FCC, Data & Privacy, Risk, P2P / Finance) in a global organisation - Comfort with LegalTech / CLM and AI‑enabled workflows for contract generation, review and knowledge management APPLICANT SAFETY POLICY: FRAUD AND THIRD-PARTY RECRUITERS To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com http://airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com http://careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page. Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.