Senior Legal Counsel (AI/IP)

Location: Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; candidates must live within commuting distance of the Milton Park office and attend in person three days per week. The office is expected to relocate to Oxford city centre in late 2027 or early 2028.

Company

hirify.global and Taylor & Francis operate in academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge, and events, producing scholarly content and connecting customers globally.

What you will do

• Provide legal support to the Corporate division and build effective relationships with senior leadership and business stakeholders.
• Identify and manage projects addressing legal risk, represent the business at relevant external events and industry initiatives, and contribute to management meetings.
• Advise on complex intellectual property and copyright matters, particularly AI-related licensing and legal developments involving AI and copyright.
• Draft, negotiate, and advise on customer, publishing, author/editor, distribution, agency, supplier, IT, and technology contracts.
• Advise on pre- and post-publication content issues and disputes involving copyright, defamation, and privacy; lead third-party dispute resolution and instruct external counsel when needed.
• Collaborate with lawyers in the UK, US, and Singapore to manage legal risk consistently across the global business.

Requirements

• Qualified lawyer with around six or more years of post-qualification experience; PQE is a guide, and applicants with other levels may apply.
• Experience building effective working relationships with senior commercial stakeholders in a business.
• Strong understanding of intellectual property and copyright law, with demonstrable experience advising on complex copyright and licensing issues and developing pragmatic solutions, ideally in a content industry.
• Demonstrable experience managing and resolving legal disputes to an effective solution.
• Strong commercial judgment, with the ability to balance business needs and legal risk and provide constructive, pragmatic, and workable solutions.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly to non-legal audiences.
• Ability to take ownership, work independently, lead issues and projects, and prioritise effectively.

Nice to have

• Experience advising on copyright issues in an AI context.
• Professional qualification in intellectual property.
• Experience instructing external counsel and managing external legal costs.
• In-house experience and/or experience in the publishing industry.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible hybrid working with support for working from home or remotely when not working in an office or with customers and partners.
• Work-life balance, supportive collaboration, and an inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives.
• 25 days of annual leave, a birthday day off, three discretionary holiday-season days, and four paid volunteering days annually.
• Private medical insurance, employee assistance and wellbeing support, pension scheme, life assurance, and optical and medical care.
• Share Match plan providing two free shares for each purchased share.

Hiring process

• Applications close on Friday 27 November 2026.
• Applicants may contact recruitment@tandf.co.uk to request reasonable adjustments or support during the recruitment process.