VP, Managing Group Legal Counsel

Why this role matters:

In recent years Vonage has embarked on an ambitious and exciting growth strategy which has led to a significant transformation of the business and most recently, it led to the acquisition by global Telco powerhouse Ericsson.  

In late September 2023, together with Deutsche Telekom, Vonage announced a world-first in the commercialization of network APIs.  This is a key milestone achievement in the launch of Vonage’s new Global Network Platform (GNP) business services group.   GNP is focused on bringing to market software development that aggregates and integrates advanced network capabilities from Communication Service Providers such as Mobile Network operators into APIs that can be used with the  Vonage Communications Platform (VCP) to create advanced network APIs and services

This role - VP, Managing Group legal Counsel (GNP) will lead the newly formed regionally focused GNP legal team and will be responsible for all GNP legal support activities. 

Your role will report into Vonage’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO),  have direct reporting responsibility into the GNP Executive Leadership Team (ELT), and will be a member of the Legal Leadership team (LLT).  

You will be responsible for managing and coordinating all GNP legal support as needed including support from the broader Vonage legal team (eg Data Privacy, regulatory etc), Ericsson legal, Outside Counsel and / or legal contractor resources. 

You will ensure that the Company obtains the maximum commercial advantage from its business relationships while minimizing/managing risk exposure.

1. Legal and Business experience

You will: 

• Be an exceptional legal leader and manager of high performance legal teams. 
• be an exceptional negotiator and possess the deep legal technical skills and experience needed to directly support strategic GNP commercial engagements and drive the desired outcomes within the parameters of Vonage’s risk tolerances.
• have the gravitas required to support interactions with the wider Vonage executive team and the soft skills required to successfully support and mentor the wider commercial legal team
• Be experienced working with an international client base including UK, EU & APAC
• Have deep experience of supporting new business engagements, negotiating technical commercial agreements and supporting post contract legal activities with mobile network operators and other carrier providers
• Have extensive experience negotiating agreements based on counterparty paper
• Have held senior legal leadership position(s) in house and be comfortable navigating complex organizations to drive successful contracting outcomes for Vonage to command and retain its  leading  position in a newly created market
• Be experienced in supporting new product development - being able to identify potential checkpoints and exposures related to areas such as IP, Data Privacy, and Regulatory, as applicable to new product development and launch.
• Possess an understanding of and ability to navigate the telecoms regulatory landscape.
• Display a  blend of gravitas and firm but personable communications style needed to successfully support a target driven international sales /business team.
• Thrive in high pressure dynamic sales environment

You will also be experienced in developing new template agreements and negotiating bespoke business agreements; you will thrive in an environment where you are creating a robust foundation for optimizing legal support. 

You will help with optimizing legal engagement processes for the group - working closely with Vonage Legal Operations to drive adoption of technology solutions and ensure an engagement process capable of scale.

You will be ensuring that the Company obtains the maximum commercial advantage from its business relationships while minimizing/managing risk exposure. 

IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE YOU, CONTINUE READING BELOW…

• Minimum of 8 years of post qualification experience qualified to practice in the UK or in the US
• Prior experience working within a fast paced, dynamic, monthly / quarterly driven company

•       Excellent attention to detail
•       Excellent verbal and written communication skills
•       Strong team player and self-motivating. Track record of employing diplomacy and gravitas to drive consensus and results

• Proactive and self motivated; track record of challenging and improving on the status quo

• You will have proven experience of successfully building and leading a global team of legal professionals 
• You will possess a high level of integrity and be committed to the highest ethical standards.

What is in it for you:

In addition to providing exciting work, career advancement opportunities, and a collaborative work environment, Vonage provides competitive pay and benefits including unlimited discretionary time off and tuition reimbursement.

Note: The purpose of this profile is to provide a general summary of essential responsibilities for the position and is not meant as an exhaustive list. Assignments may differ for individuals within the same role based on business conditions, departmental need or geographic location.

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