Senior Commercial Counsel EU

Imagine yourself…

• Owning your ambition and fueling your career growth.
• Collaborating with a vibrant, inclusive, global team.
• Joining a company with a proven track record of success and an exciting future.
• Contributing to a brighter, more sustainable future.

It’s all possible with a role at Esko. Esko, a Veralto company, is a global provider of integrated software and hardware solutions that accelerate the go-to-market process of packaged goods. Our integrated platform and comprehensive tools empower retailers, pre-media and trade shops, manufacturers, and converters to manage best-in-class packaging design and print processes.

Innovation is built into the DNA of our business: every day, we challenge ourselves to be better by seeking out new ways to elevate our products, our processes, and our people.

We also know that innovation and ingenuity starts with prioritizing a diverse workforce and a deeply inclusive workplace. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply to our positions. 

We’re seeking a Senior Commercial Counsel to serve as a strategic legal partner for Esko, leading commercial contract negotiations and delivering practical legal guidance that enables global business growth. You will also support other Packaging and Color operating affiliates (TraceGains, GlobalVision, X-Rite Pantone) as needed. You’ll own end-to-end contract management, notably for complex software licensing and SaaS transactions, but also hardware related contracts as needed, advise cross-functional leaders on commercial and compliance matters, and help build a modern, scalable, technology-enabled legal function.

Beyond day-to-day legal work, this role is a chance to shape how legal operates: developing AI-enabled legal tools, building templates and playbooks, anticipating regulatory change, and growing a future nearshore team. You’ll work closely with business leadership, sales, finance, R&D, and the broader Veralto legal team in Europe and the United States.

Success means becoming a trusted advisor to business leaders, accelerating deal velocity while maintaining strong risk governance, and establishing efficient, scalable contract practices and legal tooling within 12–18 months.

This is a remote role based in France with occasional travel.

What you will do:

Commercial and contract work

• Lead negotiation of complex commercial agreements, including software licensing, SaaS services, OEM arrangements, R&D agreements, and inbound/outbound IP licensing, to support global business growth.
• Partner with business leadership and sales to develop and execute commercial contract strategies that align with organizational goals and minimize legal and business risk.
• Manage the end-to-end contract process for routine and complex transactions, balancing efficiency and risk management.
• Advise on global distributor management, including renewals and terminations of worldwide distributor and agent agreements (taking into account French and local mandatory rules), and provide practical guidance on dispute avoidance and resolution with customers and suppliers.
• Support legal work for other operating companies (TraceGains, GlobalVision, X-Rite Pantone) as business needs require.
• Provide backup coverage for Esko’s US-side legal work when needed, in coordination with US-qualified counsel as appropriate.

M&A

• Provide legal counsel on business model structuring and corporate matters, with clear, actionable guidance.
• Support M&A transactions as needed, contributing to due diligence and transaction documentation.
  

Legal innovation, AI, and process

• Contribute to the development and deployment of legal AI tools (notably with Microsoft Copilot and Claude, but also partnering with internal AI stakeholders to use the existing AI tools), including use-case identification, prompt and workflow design, testing, and responsible-use guidelines.
• Help build and maintain the legal department’s contract templates, negotiation guidelines, playbooks, and RACI/RACIS frameworks, so that legal can accelerate contract flow or focuses on high-value work, and business teams can self-serve on routine matters.
• Develop close relationships with R&D and product teams to understand the product roadmap early and anticipate the templates, terms, and risk positions that new products and innovations will require.
  

Regulatory anticipation and compliance

• Help build a regulatory watch capability across the legal department to anticipate regulatory developments worldwide, including cybersecurity, AI, data management, and data protection (e.g. in Europe, GDPR, NIS2, Data Act, EU AI Act), and translate them into practical guidance for the business and the product teams.
• Champion compliance by educating business leaders and sales/service teams on commercial law topics, including anti-corruption, EU and national competition rules, and compliant business practices.
  

Team building and cross-OpCo support

• Help lead the potential future recruitment of a nearshore legal resource (likely in Eastern Europe), and coach and develop this person with the aim of growing them into the head of a future Legal Center of Excellence (CoE) in the region.
• Collaborate with the broader Veralto legal team to share best practices, align legal approaches, and drive continuous improvement.
  

The essential requirements of the job

• Master’s degree in law (Master 2 or equivalent) from a French or EU institution.
• Qualified lawyer: admitted to a bar (e.g., French bar / CAPA, or equivalent in another jurisdiction). Current registration or active practice at a bar is not required.
• At least 8 years of experience in commercial law, with a strong focus on software licensing, SaaS agreements, and hosted services, gained in an international law firm, a multinational company, or both.
• Demonstrated track record of independently negotiating complex, high-value commercial agreements with large multinational counterparties, in English and under multiple governing laws.
• Experience with anti-corruption compliance programs and competition law, including third-party compliance frameworks (distributors, integrators, OEMs) and EU competition rules.
• Demonstrated interest in and hands-on experience with legal technology and AI tools, with the ability to turn that into practical processes for a legal team.
• Experience building or improving contract templates, playbooks, or other legal operations tools.
• Ability to translate complex legal concepts into clear, practical guidance for non-legal stakeholders at all levels, including technical teams such as R&D.
• Full professional fluency in English (written and spoken). Spanish would be a plus.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed, up to 20% of the time.
  

Preferred experience also includes:

• In-house experience in a technology, software, or SaaS company.
• Background in IT security, data privacy, AI regulation, or related frameworks (GDPR, NIS2, Data Act, EU AI Act).
• Experience managing, coaching, or mentoring junior lawyers, ideally in a nearshore or distributed team model, or setting up a legal CoE.
• Familiarity with US commercial law concepts or experience working alongside US legal teams.
• Experience supporting M&A transactions, including due diligence and documentation.
• Experience negotiating with large multinationals in consumer packaging, automotive, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, or electronics.
• If possible, proficiency in an additional language (German, Spanish, Dutch, or others).
  

Esko is proud to part of the Product Quality & Innovation segment of Veralto (NYSE: VLTO), a $5B global leader dedicated to ensuring access to clean water, safe food and medicine, and trusted essential goods. When you join Veralto’s vibrant global network of 17,000 associates, you join a unique culture and work environment where purpose meets possibility: where the work you do has an everyday impact on the resources and essentials we all rely on, and where you’ll have valuable opportunities to deepen your skillset, pursue your ambitions, and grow your career. Together, we’re Safeguarding the World’s Most Vital Resources™—and building rewarding careers along the way.

At Veralto, we value diversity and the existence of similarities and differences, both visible and not, found in our workforce, workplace and throughout the markets we serve. Our associates, customers and shareholders contribute unique and different perspectives as a result of these diverse attributes.

Unsolicited Assistance

We do not accept unsolicited assistance from any headhunters or recruitment firms for any of our job openings. All resumes or profiles submitted by search firms to any employee at any of the Veralto companies, in any form without a valid, signed search agreement in place for the specific position, approved by Talent Acquisition, will be deemed the sole property of Veralto and its companies. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Veralto and its companies because of the unsolicited referral.

About Us

Thank you for your interest. Please read our Applicant Data Privacy Notice carefully here.