Senior Legal Counsel

About us

Founded in 2015 in Athens, Greece, Welcome redefines the way people travel by going above and beyond the commoditized transfer service and being the first company to deliver a complete, personalised, in-destination travel experience. From the moment a traveler arrives at a new destination, until their return journey home, Welcome accommodates all their travel needs, including transfers, sightseeing trips, and local information, in the easiest, friendliest, and most personalised way possible. Welcome's drivers are experts in the area and share their local know-how to make travellers feel at home wherever they are. The company has also introduced contactless rides, thorough cleaning protocols, and protective equipment to make every journey safe.

Being a travel tech startup, Welcome continues to grow and scale its operations and is quickly becoming a global category leader for in-destination travel services.

• One of the highest-rated global transportation companies with a rating of 4.9/5 stars.
• Expanded from 200 destinations last year to 350, achieving our ambitious 2024 growth target.
• Over 4,000 travel partners including 2,500 hotels, numerous vacation rentals, and travel agents, adding 50+ new ones every month.
• Over 2.5 million happy travellers every year.

⭐️ If you want to dive deeper into the awesomeness of Welcome's culture, on this link  to check our TikTok account.⭐️

The Team

We are a group of vibrant, diverse people who love travelling and never settle on quality. Each one of us didn’t join Welcome by chance and believes deeply in what Welcome is trying to achieve, so we work relentlessly to make that happen. We challenge common logic, focus on design, put simplicity and usability first, and create memorable experiences. We keep learning and exploring better ways to serve our community and grow personally and professionally in our respective fields. We stay humble along the way, with a “pay it forward” mentality, but with big and bold goals.

We are looking for a Senior Legal Counsel who will drive compliance country by country working hand in hand with local law firms across our priority markets. While the Head of Legal & Compliance retains overall responsibility for legal strategy, regulatory positioning and compliance governance, this role takes the lead on corporate and regulatory compliance actions, third-party correspondence and IP management, as well as on negotiating our commercial agreements, with employment law advisory covered as needed.

This is a role for a confident, commercially minded lawyer: comfortable running several workstreams at once, taking a firm position where our interests require it, and acting as our primary point of contact in external legal matters.

Responsibilities

Multi-Jurisdictional Corporate & Regulatory Compliance

• Own and maintain the company's country compliance mapping
• Lead local corporate & compliance implementation in top-priority markets, coordinating with local counsel and internal stakeholders as required.
• Manage external local law firms engaged for corporate & compliance actions in major markets; brief, instruct, and oversee their work.

Regulatory & Third-Party Correspondence

• Handle and respond to notices, inquiries, and correspondence received from regulators across all jurisdictions; assess the nature and urgency of each matter and develop an appropriate response strategy.
• Manage incoming claims, complaints, and formal demands from third parties; assess merit, engage in negotiations, and seek early resolution wherever possible.
• Coordinate with external counsel for matters requiring local legal representation or formal legal proceedings.
• Maintain a register of active external matters and provide regular status updates to the Head of Legal & Compliance.

IP Management

• Build and maintain the IP (including software, trademark and domain name) portfolio: ensure all key brand names and domains are registered in the company's name across key markets.
• Identify and monitor copycat and infringing operators; prepare and issue cease-and-desist and takedown notices.

Commercial Contracting

• Review, draft, and negotiate complex and non-standard commercial agreements including supply, partnership, B2B, and platform agreements, across all business verticals.
• Lead the development and ongoing improvement of standard contract templates and terms, ensuring they are legally robust, commercially balanced, and operationally practical.
• Provide playbook guidance to enable faster, lower-risk commercial negotiations across the business.

Employment Matters 

• Provide advisory support on employment law issues across applicable jurisdictions, including coordinating with external counsels as appropriate.

Requirements

• Experience: 5+ years of legal experience, ideally combining private practice with in-house exposure in an international business environment.

• Education: Bachelor's Degree in Law and qualification to practice in an EU jurisdiction; an LL.M. in Commercial or International Business Law is considered a plus.
• Multi-Jurisdictional Compliance: Demonstrated experience navigating corporate and regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions, including instructing and managing external local counsel.
• Commercial Contracting: Proven ability to draft, review and negotiate complex, non-standard commercial agreements, and to build templates and playbooks that scale.
• External & Contentious Matters: Experience handling regulatory inquiries, third-party claims, or formal demands, with sound judgment on when to negotiate, escalate, or hold a position.
• Business Acumen: Strong grounding in corporate law with a strategic approach to balancing legal risk and business growth.
• Communication: Top-level English proficiency, both written and oral, with the ability to represent the company firmly in external negotiations and to simplify complex legal concepts for diverse audiences.
• Digital Native: Proficient in web and digital technologies; comfortable working in a fast-paced tech environment.
• Mindset: Self-starter with strong ownership, uncompromising attention to detail, and the ability to run several workstreams in parallel without losing track of deadlines.

Benefits

• Vibrant and fresh work environment
• Flexible work-from-home policy
• The tools you need to perform your daily tasks successfully
• L&D personal budget
• Private Insurance Plan
• +4 extra PTO days annually
• The unique opportunity to join “the next big thing” at ground level