Listed on Orbital Diplomat 20 Jul 2026
Note: this position is advertised in French. French proficiency at negotiation level is mandatory. Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), serving as one of Europe's leading prime contractors for satellite systems across telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, dual-use (civil/military) missions, constellations, flexible payload satellites, altimetry, meteorology, and optical instrumentation. The Cannes site is the company's primary hub for satellite system design, satellite platform assembly, integration and testing, and in-orbit operations. This Head of Legal and Contracts position leads and manages the Cannes legal and contracts team of five people, reporting to and working in coordination with the Director of Legal and Contracts for Thales Alenia Space France. The postholder represents the Legal and Contracts Directorate within the Cannes establishment, coordinates with the company-wide legal network, and contributes to the Group's compliance programme implementation in liaison with the Compliance Officer. Beyond team leadership and compliance, the role covers a broad operational scope across both export and institutional markets for Thales Alenia Space France's two business lines — encompassing contract negotiation, drafting, and management for major satellite programmes with government, institutional, and commercial clients at national and international level. This is a senior in-house legal leadership role at the heart of European satellite prime contracting.
Master's degree (Bac+5) in Law or equivalent Confirmed experience as a legal and contracts team manager within the legal department of an international company Demonstrated leadership and team development capabilities including workload allocation and file management Excellent English at negotiation level (mandatory) French at native or near-native level (mandatory for daily operations) Additional languages an asset, particularly Italian or Spanish Experience with export and institutional markets in the aerospace or defence sector strongly valued