Legal counsel

About the Role

Arcot Group is hiring a Senior Legal Counsel to lead the complete legal function for a fast-growing, multi-country technology group. This is the senior-most legal role in the organization and will report directly to the CEO.

The role will cover intellectual property, trademarks, patents, commercial contracts, corporate compliance, employment law, partnership structuring, dispute resolution, data protection, governance, and CEO advisory across entities in India, UAE, and the USA.

This is not a narrow specialist role. We are looking for a commercially minded legal leader who can work across multiple legal areas, make practical judgment calls, support fast business decisions, and build a legal function that enables growth while managing risk. The role will be supported by a Junior Legal Counsel / Paralegal, but legal strategy, final review, deal structuring, and senior advisory will sit with this position.

Key Responsibilities

Intellectual Property & Brand Protection

• Manage the Group’s IP portfolio across multiple brands, software products, and jurisdictions.
• Conduct trademark audits and manage trademark filings, renewals, registers, and enforcement across India, UAE, and the USA.
• Identify patentable software / AI innovations and work with engineering and product teams to document them in patent-ready format.
• File or manage patent applications through external patent counsel.
• Establish an invention disclosure process for technology teams.
• Monitor and act on IP infringement, brand misuse, and trademark conflicts.
• Clear new brand names before launch and support defensive domain registrations.
• Ensure employee and contractor agreements include strong IP assignment clauses.
• Advise teams on open-source license compliance.

Commercial Contracts

• Own the full contract lifecycle for client, vendor, partnership, employment, contractor, software, and inter-company agreements.
• Draft, review, and negotiate NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, vendor agreements, software license agreements, partnership agreements, employment agreements, contractor agreements, and inter-company service agreements.
• Review all inbound contracts before signature.
• Create and maintain standardized contract templates and a clause library for common negotiation points.
• Maintain a contract register with renewal, expiry, auto-renewal, and termination notice tracking.
• Ensure inter-company transactions are documented on arm’s length terms for compliance and tax purposes.
• Support fast turnaround on standard and complex agreements while protecting business interests.

Multi-Jurisdiction Compliance

• Manage legal compliance across Group entities in India, UAE, and the USA.
• Support India compliance including Companies Act, ROC filings, board resolutions, GST/TDS legal coordination, Professional Tax, ESIC/PF, and Shops & Establishment requirements.
• Support UAE compliance including trade license renewals, visa quotas, establishment card, beneficial ownership, economic substance regulations, AML requirements, and free zone obligations.
• Support USA compliance including annual reports, franchise tax, registered agent coordination, and state-level requirements.
• Build and maintain a master compliance calendar across all entities.
• Advise leadership on entity structures, jurisdiction selection, and legal implications for new ventures.

Employment & Contractor Law

• Standardize employment and contractor agreements for India, UAE, and USA.
• Advise HR and leadership on contractor classification risk, restrictive covenants, confidentiality, non-compete / non-solicit clauses, and jurisdiction-specific enforceability.
• Support disciplinary matters, employee grievances, terminations, settlement agreements, and HR policy reviews.
• Review employee handbooks and internal policies for legal compliance.

Partnerships, Investments & Venture Structuring

• Draft and negotiate partnership agreements, shareholder agreements, joint venture agreements, operating agreements, and related documentation.
• Structure technology credit investments and document equity consideration with defensible valuations.
• Support due diligence for investments, acquisitions, partnerships, and new ventures.
• Advise on equity structures, vesting, anti-dilution, drag-along, tag-along, exits, and partner obligations.
• Support fundraising and investor documentation where required.

Dispute Resolution

• Act as the first legal responder for client claims, vendor disputes, employee grievances, partnership issues, unpaid invoices, and regulatory matters.
• Assess severity, legal exposure, financial impact, and likelihood of escalation.
• Manage pre-litigation resolution through negotiation, mediation, and settlement.
• Engage and manage external litigation counsel where court representation is required.
• Conduct post-dispute analysis to prevent recurrence.

Data Protection & Privacy

• Support compliance with India’s DPDP Act, UAE data protection laws, and relevant US state privacy laws.
• Draft and maintain privacy policies for websites, products, and applications.
• Draft and negotiate data processing agreements with clients and vendors.
• Create and maintain data breach response protocols.
• Provide privacy guidance for candidate data, student data, healthcare-adjacent data, entertainment talent data, and other business-specific data categories.

Governance, Policy & CEO Advisory

• Manage board meetings, minutes, resolutions, signing authority documentation, and corporate governance records.
• Draft and maintain policies including anti-corruption, whistleblower, conflict of interest, related party transaction, and document retention policies.
• Prepare legal updates for the CEO covering IP status, contracts, compliance, employment matters, disputes, risk register updates, and emerging legal concerns.
• Maintain a legal risk register with severity ratings and mitigation plans.
• Build legal FAQs, process guides, and a knowledge base for internal teams.
• Establish and manage external counsel relationships in India, UAE, and USA.

Team Management

• Manage and develop a Junior Legal Counsel / Paralegal.
• Delegate research, drafting, filing, and administrative tasks.
• Review junior work before it is shared with stakeholders or filed.
• Set priorities, manage workload, and develop the junior team member’s legal judgment and drafting skills.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• LLB or equivalent law degree from a recognized Indian university.
• Enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of India.
• 8–15 years of post-qualification experience across corporate, commercial, and intellectual property law.
• Strong experience in contracts, corporate compliance, IP protection, employment law, and deal structuring.
• Trademark registration and prosecution experience in India.
• Working knowledge of patent processes, either through direct filing or managing external patent counsel.
• Strong understanding of Indian corporate law, Indian IP laws, and Indian employment law.
• Experience working across multiple jurisdictions or multi-entity corporate structures.
• Ability to provide practical, commercially focused legal advice.
• Excellent English drafting, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage a junior legal resource effectively.

Preferred Qualifications

• LLM in Corporate Law, IP Law, Commercial Law, or related field.
• In-house experience at a technology company or multi-product business.
• Registration as a Patent Agent with the Indian Patent Office.
• Technical background in computer science, engineering, software, or related discipline.
• Exposure to UAE and/or US legal systems.
• Familiarity with UAE free zone regulations.
• Experience with software patents, AI / ML-related IP, data protection, M&A, investments, fundraising, or open-source compliance.

Ideal Candidate

The right candidate will be someone who can operate independently across the full legal spectrum, work directly with the CEO and leadership team, and balance legal risk with commercial urgency. They should be proactive, fast, practical, detail-oriented, and comfortable being the senior-most legal person in the organization.

This person should be able to move from trademark filings to contract negotiations, employment issues, partnership structures, privacy questions, and governance matters without needing constant direction. They should know when to push back, when to find a safe path forward, and how to communicate legal advice in a clear, business-friendly manner.

What We Offer

• Senior-most legal role in a high-growth, multi-country technology group.
• Direct reporting to the CEO.
• Ownership of the complete legal function across IP, contracts, compliance, employment, partnerships, disputes, privacy, and governance.
• International exposure across India, UAE, and USA.
• Opportunity to work on software, AI, and technology-led business models.
• Exposure to multiple portfolio companies, brands, and ventures.
• Support from a Junior Legal Counsel / Paralegal.
• Competitive compensation aligned with Mumbai market benchmarks.