Team size: 15

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

Building a high-quality, global legal team in a cost cutting environment. I work for a fast-growing tech company where standards are high and cutting costs has become a priority for us to meet profitability targets. It has been a challenge finding great talent within different jurisdictions across the globe, growing the team to respond to business needs whilst needing to save money.

Do you have an example of a time when you have come up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works that did not result in a large expense?

Together with my general counsel, we recently built out a career ladder framework for the legal team. The aim of this is to provide greater transparency around the skills, experience, and capabilities required at different levels in order to set expectations around promotions, prioritise internal career growth, and provide a framework for capability building. We linked this to a capability framework, identifying the various capabilities required to be an excellent in-house lawyer and outlining a set of values for the legal function.

What would you say are the unique qualities required to be successful as an in-house lawyer in your industry?

In the tech industry, everything moves very fast and the landscape changes quickly, so adaptability is key. The tech industry is also full of people willing to take risks to grow their business, so I would add that being able to quantify, calibrate and communicate risk in a way your business understands is crucial.