Managing Counsel, Commercial - Partnerships

Key Responsibilities

• Strategize, draft, and negotiate complex partnership agreements, including embedded services, channel/reseller agreements, and referral programs.
• Partner closely with Partnerships, Sales, Finance and other cross-functional teams to structure and review partnership agreements that align with business objectives while mitigating legal and operational risks.
• Develop and improve templates, playbooks, processes and other knowledge resources around partnership deals.
• When bandwidth permitting, serve as an additional legal point of contact for EMEA sales, collaborating with existing regional counsel to review, redline, and negotiate commercial agreements.
• Provide legal training and guidance to Partnership and other GTM stakeholders to empower them with the tools and knowledge necessary to navigate complex commercial issues effectively.
• Bring a solutions-focused mindset to every negotiation, minimizing roadblocks and resolving issues without unnecessary escalation.

Practicals

• You'll report to: Director, Legal - Commercial
• Team: Legal - Commercial (Direct Sales & Partnerships)
• Location: For this position we welcome everyone to apply, but we will prioritise applications from EMEA time zones, with AMER East Coast time zone as secondary preference
• Start date: As soon as possible
• Application process: Interview with recruiter, Interview with hiring manager, Written exercise, Interview with legal team and stakeholders, Bar Raiser Interview, Reference check, Prior employment verification check

What This Job Can Offer You

• This is an exciting time to join Remote and make a personal difference in the global HR-tech space as Managing Counsel - Partnerships.
• We are looking for a seasoned and business-oriented commercial lawyer who is interested in helping with our team's mission, namely: to deliver pragmatic and innovative legal solutions for Remote's products and stakeholders while protecting Remote from unacceptable risk.
• This role is a senior individual contributor role with no managerial responsibilities. It will be part of the Employment, Product and Commercial Legal sub-team.
• As an independent senior lawyer, you will primarily support our global partnership deals, including embedded, resell, and other channel arrangements.
• Additionally, you will provide critical support for the EMEA sales team, tag-teaming with the existing EMEA sales and DP counsel to ensure seamless regional coverage.

What You Bring

• Partnership and embedded/reseller/channel agreement experience is a requirement, as you will lead the structuring and negotiating of strategic, embedded and channel partnerships.
• Expertise in supporting commercial transactions, particularly enterprise-level SaaS agreements and global sales support.
• Prior HR Tech industry experience or familiarity with bespoke HR services agreements is beneficial, though not required.
• Solid commercial drafting skills are critical for this role, with the ability to craft clear, precise, and enforceable partnership frameworks that protect Remote's interests while facilitating scaling through partners.
• Strong negotiation skills with the ability to develop creative, practical solutions for complex commercial and business challenges.
• Sharp commercial instincts and strategic thinking, with a focus on driving business success while effectively navigating legal complexities.
• You are commercially minded and comfortable letting go of immaterial points in contract negotiations to keep deals moving forward efficiently.
• Strong working knowledge of data protection laws, especially GDPR, is essential for managing partnership data flows. Prior background in U.S. data protection laws is also a plus.
• Proven ability to excel in a fast-paced environment, maintaining responsiveness and adaptability under pressure (you can take the heat and keep moving forward).
• Strong capacity to work independently while collaborating effectively with Partnerships, Finance, Product and other functional teams—you're confident in your expertise but always open to learning, and you prioritize team success over personal ego.
• You know when to be flexible and when to push back firmly on unreasonable requests, always acting as a strategic business partner rather than a bottleneck.
• A healthy dose of humor and humility that makes you a joy to work with.
• Demonstrates strong automation and AI capabilities and AI fluency.

Benefits

• Our full benefits & perks are explained in our handbook at remote.com/r/benefits.
• As a global company, each country works differently, but some benefits/perks are for all Remoters: work from anywhere, flexible paid time off, flexible working hours (we are async), 16 weeks paid parental leave, mental health support services, stock options, learning budget, home office budget & IT equipment, budget for local in-person social events or co-working spaces.