The Opportunity

Reporting to the Deputy General Counsel, we currently have an opportunity for a Legal Counsel to join APNIC to provide general legal advice and support the important mission of APNIC as the regional internet registry for the Asia Pacific.

As a not-for-profit membership organisation, with important public-interest responsibilities across the Asia Pacific region, APNIC has growing needs for internal legal services to support legal risk management, contracts and agreements, corporate governance and public accountability.

What will a day look like for a Legal Counsel at APNIC?

No two days are the same when your work is to help maintain a global, open, stable, and secure Internet. As Legal Counsel, you will be working as part of a small but dynamic team providing legal advice on a diverse range of matters to support APNIC's mission and get the opportunity to:

• Provide legal advice to support APNIC's activities, including contract reviews, privacy compliance and data collection/governance, sanctions, dispute resolution, intellectual property, licensing, and general regulatory and compliance matters.
• Work with our Member Services team on difficult matters, including potential fraud issues.
• Work on cross jurisdictional matters to help APNIC understand and achieve its compliance obligations in providing important services across 56 economies in the Asia Pacific region.
• Support the community led policy development process that underpins Internet resource allocations in our region.
• Manage new and existing legal and compliance projects and initiatives, including through staff training, audits, and advice.
• Provide clear, accurate, and timely advice to APNIC's Executive team and the APNIC Executive Council (APNIC's Board).
• Support the APNIC Foundation, a registered charity supporting important work across the Asia Pacific region.
• Keep up to date with regional and global Internet governance issues and developments

You may even find yourself travelling overseas to an APNIC Conference to assist with elections, provide advice during a Board meeting, or taking the mic at the Members' Annual General Meeting to answer questions clearly and concisely with confidence.
The recruitment process will include two rounds of interviews and pre-employment checks (reference and police checks). The first round of interviews for the role will commence in early to mid August 2023.

About You

In order to be set up for success, on your first day we'll expect you to have:

• Professional Australian legal qualifications, with a minimum of 3+ years post-qualification experience (or 2+ years PQE with an established work history in a relevant corporate environment)
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with a focus on plain english drafting
• Highly developed stakeholder management skills
• Suitable experience within a well regarded law firm, or in corporate/in-house or similar organisational environment
• A level of motivation that encourages pride in the quality of your work, an ability to manage a widely varying workload, and adaptable to changing needs, multiple priorities and short deadlines
• An engaging communicator who can build trust and respect within a diverse and multicultural environment
• A keen learner and always willing to share knowledge and support with the legal team
• Ability to travel internationally to attend APNIC meetings and other events as they may arise from time to time.

We don't expect you to be an expert in everything and place a strong emphasis on learning and development. So whilst it would be nice if your background included the below, we'll support you to grow and learn them:

• Experience in IT-related legal work will be highly regarded
• Familiarity with the Internet and IT related technologies
• Ability to speak/read/write in an Asia Pacific language, and or work experience in Asia-Pacific professional environment.
• Work experience in a member-based or not-for-profit service organisation

We Offer

This role provides you with the opportunity to grow your skillset with access to leading learning tools and working within a modern multicultural environment. We also offer:

• A hybrid working environment (2-3 days WFH per week)
• The trust to take ownership of your role
• The space to invest in the knowledge and skills that are important to you
• A supportive work environment with access to a wide range of assistance programs and other benefits
• A respectful and inclusive culture where you'll work as part of and alongside highly talented, passionate and diverse teams working towards a common goal

The APNIC team comes from over 40 countries, speaking more than 25 languages, and all working to support APNIC's Members and the wider Internet community - so diversity and inclusivity are fundamental to who we are.

Who are we and what do we do?

As the Regional Internet Registry for the Asia Pacific, we work for the good of the Internet and the 4.7 billion people who use it across the globe.

We're an open, member-based Not-For-Profit and are responsible for distributing and managing Internet number resources (IP addresses and AS numbers) in 56 economies. These number resources are the building blocks for the Internet to operate and grow.
We also provide dedicated ongoing support to our 9,000+ members across Asia Pacific, and are invested in building essential technical skills in our region.

We deliver training and technical assistance in multiple formats. We also develop and support open forums for Internet policy development, produce insightful research, and offer grants and fellowships.

Why is this so important?

The people who created the Internet decided right from the start that it should be a public resource that is managed and shared in a fair way. Today, that's more important - and more challenging - than ever before.

Every day, we work to make it happen.

• By managing fair access to IP addresses…
• By delivering support and guidance to those who are using them…
• By leading and supporting open research, discussion and development across the globe…
• We enable and promote an Internet that is a global, open, stable and secure for all.

To submit your application, click Apply Now.