General Counsel

Summary

Join Prolific as their General Counsel and lead the in-house Legal team, overseeing Legal, Risk, and Compliance. You will be a key member of the Leadership Team, building relationships with the executive team and supporting Prolific's growth while ensuring compliance and risk management. Responsibilities include defining and executing a legal and compliance roadmap, managing and developing the Legal & Information Security team, ensuring data protection compliance, owning the enterprise risk framework, leading the legal aspects of the information security program, managing corporate governance, leading legal workstreams on fundraising and M&A activity, supporting the employee share option scheme, managing commercial contracts, managing the legal budget, improving Legal's partnership with the business, and championing legal tech adoption. The ideal candidate will have 10+ years of PQE, experience in a fast-paced startup or scale-up environment, strong strategic thinking skills, and excellent communication skills. Prolific offers a competitive salary, benefits, and remote work opportunities.

Requirements

• You’re an experienced legal leader with 10 years + PQE, ideally including time in a fast-paced startup or scale-up environment as General Counsel
• You think strategically and deliver clear, actionable legal advice that aligns with business goals
• Commercially minded and pragmatic, you know how to apply the right legal lens without losing sight of the bigger picture
• You thrive in fast-moving environments, juggling multiple priorities with speed and precision
• You're proactive in gathering information across the business and can drive multiple workstreams to high-quality outcomes—fast
• You’re a strong communicator who simplifies complex legal concepts, builds trust across teams, and collaborates effectively to shape and influence decisions

Responsibilities

• Lead Prolific’s in-house Legal team, overseeing Legal, Risk and Compliance
• Make a real impact, ensuring the delivery of sound, commercially-focused legal and compliance advice across all areas of the business
• Be part of the Leadership Team at Prolific, building strong relationships with our Exco, and supporting Prolific’s growth, whilst ensuring the business remains compliant and manages risk
• Define and execute a forward-looking legal and compliance roadmap aligned with Prolific’s growth objectives
• Act as a strategic advisor to leadership and a key voice on the exec team, delivering proactive, commercially-focused legal and compliance guidance
• Lead and develop our internal Legal team of 4
• Ensure Prolific stays ahead of continuously evolving regulations
• Anticipate legal and regulatory shifts, advising the business on implications and action
• Lead the development and maintenance of scalable compliance frameworks and policies
• Ensure Prolific remains compliant with data protection laws and regulations, with particular focus on the UK, EU and US
• Ensure the delivery of timely, commercially-focused advice and guidance in supporting multiple data initiatives
• Own our enterprise risk framework, including the risk management process
• Collaborate closely with the business to, supporting risk assessments, mitigation strategies, and reporting
• Lead the legal and compliance aspects of Prolific’s information security programme, including ISO 27001 and SOC2 standards
• Maintain Prolific's information security certifications
• Closely collaborate with the tech team to ensure robust information and cyber security
• Manage corporate governance, including board and shareholders approvals, company records and filings, investor ESG requests, and secretarial duties
• Lead legal workstreams on fundraising and M&A activity
• Act as a trusted partner to the finance and exec teams on strategic transactions
• Support the finance team with Prolific’s share option scheme
• Own the full lifecycle of commercial contracts—drafting, negotiating, and advising at pace
• Support teams across the business with pragmatic, business-first legal input
• Manage customer and other agreements and implement scalable contracting processes
• Lead updates and negotiations of customer-facing terms in close partnership with sales
• Ensure our terms remain market-aligned, clear, and compliant
• Manage the legal budget with a sharp focus on ROI
• Build strong, efficient relationships with external firms to maximize value and expertise
• Continuously improve how Legal partners with the business—accelerating decision-making and simplifying legal processes
• Build scalable internal workflows and playbooks
• Champion legal tech adoption, including AI-powered tools, to streamline legal operations and enable faster, smarter support at scale

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with US law

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Benefits
• Remote working