Associate Legal Counsel (Telecom, AI Compute, Tech)

Global Legal & Regulatory Affairs team operates as an agile, strategic partner to empower China Mobile (Fortune 100) to go global. We are seeking an ambitious, tech-forward Associate Legal Counsel to join our team at Hong Kong Headquarter. In this role, you will take ownership of high-impact commercial transactions, steer cross-border regulatory navigation, advise on cutting-edge AI and cloud infrastructure initiatives, and deploy AI-empowered legal workflows and frameworks. As part of our commitment to talent growth and cross-border leadership, this lawyer may have the chance to rotate and work in one of our regional offices across our key international hubs, gaining invaluable on-the-ground commercial, regulatory, and operational exposure. We are happy to arrange and sponsor work visas for a suitable candidate.

Even if you feel you might not fit all of the criteria below, we still encourage you to reach out and drop us a note or send in your resume. We value intellectual curiosity, learning agility, commercial instinct, and team culture just as much as formal checkmarks. If you are passionate about technology, AI, and cross-border digital infrastructure, we would love to hear from you.

Key responsibilities

1. Strategic Commercial Transactions & Contracting

• High-Impact Deal Structuring and contract review: Draft, review, negotiate, and close a broad range of cross-border commercial agreements, including cloud computing services, data center services, AI services, software licensing, telecommunications, technology solutions, and partner channel arrangements.
• Full Contract Lifecycle Management: Oversee the end-to-end contracting process from initial drafting, risk assessment, and escalation through deal execution, compliance monitoring, renewal, and amendment.
• Customer & Vendor Engagements: Serve as lead legal counsel on strategic sales transactions, cross-border partner collaborations, and critical vendor procurements across multinational enterprise and public-sector engagements.

2. Multi-Jurisdictional Regulatory Navigation & Compliance

• Market Entry: Partner closely with and empower regional legal counsel across international jurisdictions to navigate new market entry, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) clearances, and acquire and maintain essential operating licences.
• International Trade Controls & Sanctions: Counsel commercial and procurement teams on cross-border trade compliance, dual-compliance frameworks, export controls and economic sanctions.
• Data Governance & Cybersecurity: Advise on international data privacy (e.g., GDPR, PDPO, PIPL), cross-border data transfer mechanisms, data sovereignty, critical information infrastructure protection, and cybersecurity compliance.
• Regulatory Horizon Scanning: Monitor legislative developments in emerging technology—including regional and international AI governance frameworks, safety standards, and algorithmic transparency requirements—and translate statutory shifts into actionable operational risk matrices.

3. AI Workflow & Legal Operations

• AI-Enabled Legal Delivery: Pioneer the adoption of generative AI tools and legal tech to automate routine review cycles, optimize legal research, and streamline workflow handoffs.
• Knowledge Architecture & Structured Repositories: Build and curate machine-readable contract playbooks, fallback clauses, and institutional legal knowledge to power retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and automated internal self-service tools.
• External Counsel Selection & Panel Management: Identify, evaluate, onboard, and manage external legal advisors and specialised counsel across diverse international jurisdictions, optimising legal spend to ensure maximum commercial value and cost efficiency.
• Cross-Border Collaboration: Work closely with the leadership team and cross-functional stakeholders at Hong Kong Headquarters and regional offices across our key international hubs.
• Pre-Litigation & Dispute Management: Support corporate risk management by advising on contract disputes, pre-litigation claims, and subcontracting or performance defaults in commercial relationships.

Qualifications & Requirements

Basic Qualifications

• Legal Qualification: Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), Juris Doctor (J.D.), or equivalent degree from a recognized institution.
• Bar Admission: Qualified lawyer admitted to practice in Hong Kong, another common-law jurisdiction (e.g., UK, Singapore, Australia), or the United States (Chinese qualified lawyers (PRC Bar / Legal Professional Qualification Certificate) will also be considered, particularly those with solid cross-border transactional, TMT, or cloud/ICT experience)
• Experience: Minimum of 2 to 7 years of post-qualification experience (PQE) gained at a reputable law firm and/or MNCs (experienced practitioners over 10 years will be considered for Legal Counsel)
• Language Proficiency: Excellent written and spoken fluency in both English and Chinese (Mandarin) to effectively negotiate cross-border agreements and advise international stakeholders. Cantonese proficiency is optional.

Preferred Qualifications & Competencies

• Tech & Cloud Sector Background: In-house experience at a major hyper-scaler, cloud computing provider, AI platform, or top-tier tech enterprise is highly preferred.
• Industry & Technical Familiarity: Working familiarity with cloud infrastructure (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS), data centers, AI computing models, intellectual property licensing, IT architecture and telecommunications.
• Multi-Jurisdictional Regulatory Navigation Expertise: Demonstrated experience navigating complex multi-jurisdictional regulatory environments, including international trade compliance/export controls, cross-border data transfer compliance, telecom / AI licensing, and emerging AI safety regulations.
• Commercial Mindset: Demonstrated ability to balance legal risk management with commercial acceleration, providing sound business judgment in fast-paced or ambiguous environments.
• Soft Skills: Exceptional organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills; proven capability to build trusted relationships across diverse cultures, seniority levels, and cross-functional teams