In-House Legal Counsel (Remote in Europe)
Level: L3 — Senior/L4 – Lead • Location: Remote in Europe (Netherlands preferred) • Reports to: CEO • Working Hours: Part-time contractor, with a view to full-time employee in the future
About UpScrolled
UpScrolled is an independent social media platform built on a simple idea: people should control what they see, say, and share online.
We exist because we were tired of social media that treats people like products. So we’re building the alternative: a platform where your data stays yours, your voice actually reaches your followers, and your feed belongs to you, not an algorithm.
We’re a small, fast-moving team with a big mission and a community of millions of UpScrollers who joined because they were done waiting for someone else to fix social media. We need people who care about that as much as we do. Come scroll differently with us.
About the Role
We’re hiring a lawyer to manage the day-to-day legal operations at UpScrolled — the contracts, compliance tracking, regulatory filings, and internal legal support that keep a fast-moving platform legally sound.
This is an execution role, not a strategy role. The CEO owns legal strategy, manages regulatory relationships, and leads on complex matters. Your job is to make sure the operational work gets done: accurately, quickly, and without becoming a bottleneck. If you’re coming out of a Big Law technology or regulatory practice and you’re ready to go in-house for the first time, this is the role.
What You'll Do
Contracts & Commercial
- Draft and review standard commercial agreements, NDAs, vendor contracts, and contractor agreements across all jurisdictions where UpScrolled operates
- Maintain the contract management system — renewal dates, obligations, and counterparty commitments tracked and current
Regulatory Operations
- Maintain the compliance calendar and track regulatory deadlines across, including but not limited to, the EU, UK, Australia, India, and the US
- Draft first responses to standard regulatory information requests under CEO direction and review
- Manage the legal workflow for content reporting
- Process and log law enforcement data requests, ensuring all requests are logged, assessed for legal validity, and responded to within required timelines
- Maintain GDPR records of processing activities, data subject request logs, and breach notification documentation
- Monitor new EU legislation — DSA, DMA, and adjacent regulatory developments — and produce clear written summaries of obligations and implications for CEO review
Policy & Internal Legal Support
- Advise product and engineering teams on standard legal questions
- Draft and maintain standard policy documents
- Support the Trust & Safety team with documentation of content moderation decisions and legal defensibility records, and advise on the legal boundaries of enforcement actions
- Research regulatory developments and produce written summaries for CEO review
- Maintain jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction employment compliance records — contract templates, statutory minimums, and working hours obligations
- Audit contractor and freelancer agreements for risk
- Support onboarding for new employees and contractors
Corporate Housekeeping
- Support KvK filings, corporate record maintenance, and board resolution documentation under CEO direction
- Maintain the investor data room — corporate records, regulatory correspondence, cap table documentation, and compliance frameworks kept current
- Support the legal preparation for fundraising rounds
- Track and log investor communications with legal significance
What Success Looks Like
- Contracts are drafted, reviewed, and filed without the CEO having to ask
- The compliance calendar has no surprises — deadlines are flagged well in advance and nothing slips
- Product and Engineering teams get clear, quick answers to standard legal questions
- The investor data room is always current and audit-ready
- Law enforcement requests are assessed, logged, and responded to within required timelines
- The CEO and outside counsel review your work rather than redoing it
What You Are
- 2–5 years of post-qualification experience in a technology, media, regulatory, or commercial practice, with Big Law experience preferred.
- Someone with experience in the categories of legal workstreams outlined in the previous section
- Admitted to the Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten
- Expert knowledge of GDPR, the Digital Services Act, and at least one other major digital regulatory framework
- Strong written English — clear, precise, and accessible to non-lawyers
- Able to work independently on routine matters without requiring daily supervision
- Comfortable in a fast-moving environment where legal cannot be a bottleneck
- Someone who manages a dozen open matters at once without losing track of any of them
Nice to Have
- Big Law background in a technology, TMT, or regulatory practice
- Experience with App Store or Google Play developer policy frameworks
- Familiarity with the Digital Markets Act and other EU platform regulations
- Dutch language skills
- Prior in-house experience at a technology company or digital platform
- Experience managing external counsel across multiple jurisdictions
- Exposure to employment law in the EU.
What You Are Not
- The head of legal — strategy, regulatory relationships, and complex matters sit with the CEO
- Someone who expects to be the most senior legal voice in any external engagement
- A generalist advisor — the scope of this role is defined and bounded
- Someone who needs a full team around them to be productive
- Someone who has only worked in environments where legal sets the pace
- Someone who treats regulatory relationships as purely transactional — the integrity of how we engage with authorities matters as much as the outcome
Compensation & Benefits
We believe in transparent compensation. Our salaries vary depending on work location. As a contractor, you can expect an hourly rate based on the annualized salaries listed below.
Netherlands, Ireland, UK, Germany: 76,000-90,000€/68,000-80,000GBP
Spain, Portugal, Poland: 53,000-62,000€
We hire in all European countries. If your location is not listed above, please still apply, and note your location. We will share salary information during the first interview.
Equal Opportunity
UpScrolled is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the people our product serves. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, or any other protected characteristic. If you need accommodations at any stage of the hiring process, please reach out — we will work with you.
Application Process
We will accept applications for this position until April 15, 2026.. Once the application period closes, we review the entire candidate pool before moving forward with interviews.
This role requires that you submit a statement of intent that includes a description of work experience as it applies to this position, your certifications and professional memberships, and your motivation for joining UpScrolled. Please note that your statement should be written completely by you, without the assistance of AI.
Our process typically looks like this: a 30-minute introductory call with People Operations, followed by at least two additional interviews with the team. We aim to respond to all applicants within 5 business days of the application window closing.
If you need any adjustments to our process, please let us know.
Work Authorization
Candidates must have the legal right to work in their stated location. UpScrolled does not currently offer visa sponsorship.