General Counsel - VC backed startup (Berlin)

AI overview

Architect the legal foundation of Integral, a fast-growing services group, ensuring compliance and supporting international expansion and M&A activities across Europe.

Cherry Ventures is supporting our portfolio with this hire

 

General Counsel (m/f/d)

Full-time | Berlin

 

About Us

Integral was founded in 2024 by Lukas Zörner and Anil Can Baykal to redefine how accounting, taxation, and payroll work for SMEs in Europe, starting with Germany. We are building the leading AI-native accounting, tax, and payroll services group for European SMEs, combining technology with human expertise to create a scalable services business.

In 2024, we acquired Cleverlohn, a leading digital payroll and HR provider in Germany, to accelerate our mission of transforming financial operations for SMEs. Integral is backed by General Catalyst, Cherry Ventures, Puzzle Ventures, and leading European entrepreneurs.

 

Mission

We are seeking an experienced General Counsel to join Integral as we scale across Europe. In this pivotal role, you will architect the legal foundation of a fast-growing services group, navigating complex international corporate structures, ensuring compliance, and supporting expansion and M&A. You will work closely with our founders and CFO to help build a generational European company.

Your Focus

  • Strategic Legal Partnership: Act as a senior sparring partner to the founders and leadership team, providing hands-on, strategic legal guidance on key initiatives.

  • International Corporate Structure: Own, manage, and continuously improve our international corporate structure to ensure compliance and operational efficiency.

  • M&A and Fundraising: Lead legal workstreams for M&A transactions and fundraising rounds, including due diligence and transaction documentation.

  • Contracts & Commercial: Drive negotiations with external parties and enhance our contract and commercial frameworks.

  • Stakeholder Management: Manage external law firms and service providers to ensure effective collaboration and compliance.

About You

  • Qualifications: German Second State Exam (Zweites Staatsexamen) and ideally admission to the German bar, including Syndikusrechtsanwalt qualification.

  • Corporate Law Experience: 3+ years of legal experience in a fast-paced environment, ideally focused on international corporate law and holding structures.

  • Finance & M&A Expertise: Experience supporting M&A and finance-related transactions.

  • Communication Skills: Fluent in German and English (written and spoken); strong negotiation skills and the ability to translate complex legal matters into actionable business advice.

  • Hands-on Operator: Comfortable in ambiguity; able to build legal frameworks from scratch and execute with a practical, solutions-oriented mindset.

Our Offer

  • Direct Impact: Play a central role in building a generational company transforming accounting, taxation, and payroll for millions of European SMEs.

  • Modern Work Environment: Work from our beautiful Berlin office in Prenzlauer Berg with flexible, outcome-focused working arrangements.

  • Growth Opportunity: Join at an early stage with EUR 6.3m in pre-seed backing from top-tier investors including General Catalyst, Cherry Ventures, and Puzzle Ventures.

  • AI-First Culture: Work at the frontier of AI innovation in professional services and help shape industry-defining solutions.

Interested?

 

If you are motivated and want to join us—even if you don’t meet every requirement—we encourage you to apply.

We welcome applicants of any background. Integral is committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, political opinion, or marital status.

 


 

Cherry Ventures is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status.

Cherry Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm led by a team of entrepreneurs with experience building fast-scaling companies such as Zalando and Spotify. The firm backs Europe's brightest and most daring founders, usually as their first institutional investor, and supports them in everything from their go-to-market strategy and the scaling of their businesses. Cherry Ventures has previously invested in the seed stage of over 75 companies across Europe, including FlixBus, Flink, Auto1 Group, Infarm, Rows, Forto, and SellerX. Cherry Ventures is based in Berlin and invests across Europe with a local presence in London and Stockholm.

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