Senior Legal Counsel; Technology

About Northern Trust

Southern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award‑winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889. North Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world's most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Senior Legal Counsel (Technology)/Banking Practice Group

As a member of Northern Trust's Legal Department, this attorney will provide high‑quality legal advice and counsel to senior management and business partners in a manner consistent with our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. The ideal candidate will be an attorney with broad experience in technology matters for a global financial organization, including general commercial contract negotiations, SaaS and licensing contracts, client‑facing technology tools and products, cloud and on‑prem technologies, distributed ledger technology, and artificial intelligence.

The candidate will support business partners across the enterprise on a wide range of legal issues, including technology licensing, new product development, and the applicable regulatory landscape that applies to financial institutions operating across multiple geographies.

• Advise business units, technology engineers, product development teams and business unit legal teams in the development, negotiation and support of client‑facing contracts involving technology products and concepts (e.g., SaaS; software licenses; data licenses; distributed ledger technology; federated single sign‑on).
• Develop and update template contracts, playbooks, terms of use, and other terms and conditions related to technology initiatives and products (e.g., Northern Trust web portals and platforms, APIs, other software) for use by business units across the enterprise.
• Collaborate with other cross‑functional teams and SMEs (e.g., Data Privacy, Information Security, Risk, Compliance, Tax), including in other jurisdictions, as needed.
• Advise and contribute to committees and working groups (e.g., IT Risk; Cloud governance; AI) focused on new technology initiatives at the bank.
• Advise and lead negotiations around strategic transactions including complex license agreements, reseller agreements, and other corporate development arrangements.
• Provide legal support for technology‑related corporate initiatives as requested and support other Legal Department and Banking Practice Group team members.
• Stay current on legal and regulatory developments that impact the banking sector, and adapt template contracts as needed.

• JD from an accredited law school; and must have a valid license to practice law in Illinois.
• Minimum combined ten (10) years of experience at a nationally recognized law firm and/or in‑house legal department advising clients in relevant areas.
• Proven record of independently drafting, negotiating, and reviewing various types of technology contracts and agreements, including software licenses, distributed ledger technologies, managed services, and on‑prem and SaaS license agreements, with an appreciation of the issues on both the vendor and client sides.
• In‑depth experience with the legal and regulatory aspects that can impact contract requirements, including familiarity with the impacts of placing data in the cloud. Financial industry regulations preferred (e.g., FRB SR13‑19, PRA SS2/21, GDPR, CCPA, DORA, EU AI Act).
• Experience working for a regulated industry, financial industry preferred.
• Ability to work cooperatively with all levels of the organization and provide legal advice and counsel on a wide range of technology‑related matters.
• Ability to conduct in‑depth legal analysis and provide practical, solutions‑oriented advice.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to manage relationships with business partners, clients, and…