Commercial & IP Legal Counsel (m/w/d)

SUSE Legal has a best-in-class legal team, partnering effectively with the business and further positioning for growth. In this role, you will work as part of a team of lawyers and contract negotiators around the globe to provide efficient and high-quality legal support to the SUSE business, including sales, product and engineering.

We're looking for a Legal Counsel to join our commercial legal team, with a primary focus on the DACH region. This is a dynamic, varied and rewarding role where you'll handle a broad range of commercial agreements as well as contributing to policy and advice on product development. Uniquely, approximately 20-30% of your time will be dedicated to open source software licensing work. You will act as the primary internal contact in relation to open source license compliance, and helping develop and maintain SUSE's software licence review processes.

You will also act as a pivotal legal partner within the DACH market, working in close collaboration with and reporting into the Country Counsel Germany. While you will benefit from her mentorship and strategic guidance, you will be the primary driver of your work product—taking full ownership of fact-gathering and cultivating influential relationships directly with our business stakeholders and customers alike. This is not a "back-office" role; you will be on the front lines, translating complex legal frameworks into actionable business strategies.

Your day-to-day responsibilities will include:

• Drafting, marking up, negotiating and advising on a broad spectrum of commercial agreements involving our customers, suppliers and strategic partners;

• Supporting and executing legal team strategy initiatives to streamline global operations;

• Reviewing software packages for license compliance before release, ensuring our processes remain robust and aligned with industry standards;

• Translating complex engineering requirements into precise legal terms and, conversely, explain how legal concepts (like copyleft or derivative works) impact specific coding and product decisions;

• Monitoring the legal and regulatory landscape of open source software, including emerging cybersecurity requirements, and proactively defining SUSE’s approach and policies to open source license compliance; 

• Advising on SUSE’s strategic positioning within the open source community, including supporting SUSE’s thought leadership and activism on licensing issues in the open source community;

• Developing and delivering training to the business and supporting functions covering matters such as contract processes, the meaning of various contractual provisions, negotiation skills, open source compliance and group policies. 

About You

• A qualified lawyer with around 1-5 years' post-qualification experience. German qualification is preferred, but other jurisdictions will be considered. In-house experience is a plus but not essential.

• Fluent in both German and English.

• Familiarity with commercial contracts and/or IP licenses. Familiarity with open source licensing is desirable, including how different licence types affect product strategy and risk.

• A desire to learn about the software supply chain and cybersecurity regulations.

• You are passionate about the philosophy of open source and are excited by the prospect of championing digital sovereignty.

• You don't need to be a developer, but you are willing to build a solid understanding of the open source software development lifecycle and to get comfortable navigating environments like GitHub or GitLab. 

• Prior experience in a technology or software company is desirable, but more importantly, you are someone who wants to "get under the skin" of engineering workflows to understand what our engineers need and how that impacts our compliance.

• Excellent drafting, research, and negotiation skills, with solid IP and commercial contracting knowledge.

• The ability to manage multiple priorities, work under pressure, and meet tight deadlines.

• A proactive, detail-oriented approach with the confidence to work independently and take initiative.

• Strong collaboration skills and a good sense of humour - we value team players who can work across departments and jurisdictions.

• A business-focused mindset with the ability to explain complex legal and technical matters in clear, accessible language.

Location:

The role is remote but, depending on location, may include some days in our offices in Nuremberg, Dusseldorf or Amsterdam. 

Additionally, you might on occasion be required to travel to other offices, either in London or in other jurisdictions for meetings.