Legal Counsel

About SMART Photonics

SMART Photonics is the world’s leading pure-play foundry for Indium Phosphide (InP) photonic integrated circuits (PICs). We work with customers ranging from innovative scale-ups to global industry leaders, supporting them in bringing next-generation photonic technologies to market.

As our organization continues to grow in scale and complexity, we are strengthening our legal capability. We are looking for a business-oriented Legal Counsel who enjoys working close to the business and contributing directly to commercial success, operational excellence and technological innovation.

Role overview

In this role, you will be a trusted legal partner across the organization. You support commercial contracting, advise teams on legal and regulatory matters, and help ensure our agreements and processes enable the business to move forward with confidence and speed.

You work closely with colleagues in Sales, Product Management, Procurement, Operations, R&D and Leadership. You understand their objectives and help translate legal considerations into practical, workable solutions.

This position offers broad exposure across the business and the opportunity to further shape and develop the legal function as the company grows.

Key responsibilities

Commercial contracting and support (core focus)

• Draft, review and negotiate a wide range of agreements, including NDAs, joint development-, supplier- and manufacturing agreements.

• Provide hands-on support to commercial, technical and operational teams throughout the contract lifecycle.

• Partner with commercial teams to structure deals, assess risks and identify practical solutions. 

• Other responsibility

• Advise on contractual obligations, liabilities, warranties and indemnities and Translate legal risk into clear and actionable guidance for non-legal colleagues.

• Support Operations and Supply Chain in supplier negotiations and issue resolution.

• Work with internal and external IP specialists to safeguard intellectual property in all collaborations.

• Ensure agreements properly address ownership, licensing and background and foreground IP rights.

• Strengthen confidentiality and data protection practices in customer and partner interactions.

• Improve contract templates, playbooks and negotiation guidelines and contribute to the development of contract management processes and tools.

• Advise management and other teams on export controls, regulatory requirements, data protection, ESG and industry-specific obligations.

• Support tender participation, grant compliance and customer or partner due diligence processes.

• Master’s degree in Dutch Law, with a strong foundation in contract and commercial law.

• Approximately 5–10+ years of relevant experience, gained in-house and/or in private practice.

• Demonstrated experience working directly with business teams such as sales, procurement or R&D.

• Professional fluency in English and Dutch à Given the nature of this role and the need to be able to understand, translate complex laws and terminology into both English as well as Dutch, we only consider candidates who are fluent in both languages.

• Strong commercial awareness and the ability to balance legal risk with business priorities.

• Pragmatic, solution-oriented and business focused.

• Clear communicator who builds strong working relationships across functions

• Comfortable in a fast-growing, international scale-up environment.

• Proactive, structured and hands-on.

• Positive, engaged and motivated to make an impact.

Optional and a plus:

• Experience in a high-tech, semiconductor, photonics or R&D-driven manufacturing environment.

• Familiarity with IP licensing and R&D collaboration agreements.

• Knowledge of export control regulations and complex technical B2B contracts.

What we offer

• A meaningful role in a company shaping the global photonics industry.

• The opportunity to further develop and professionalise the legal function.

• A collaborative and ambitious environment where your contribution is visible and valued.

• Competitive salary and benefits, discussed during the introduction process.