Senior Corporate Counsel, Commercial | Hybrid | Reston, VA

Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with approximately 3,000 customers across 50 countries, serving more than 21 million students. The AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for all students, faculty, and staff. Ellucian’s solutions span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, retention, workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement.

About the role

Ellucian is seeking a business-minded, collaborative, and self-motivated Senior Corporate Counsel to provide legal support across a broad range of commercial contracts and related matters. In this role, you will review, draft, and negotiate complex customer and commercial agreements and serve as a trusted legal partner to Ellucian business teams. You will work closely with Sales, Product, Information Security, Engineering, Finance, Operations, and other stakeholders to provide practical legal guidance, help navigate contractual and regulatory issues, and support the successful completion of commercial transactions.

Responsibilities

• Draft, structure, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of complex commercial agreements, including SaaS subscription and cloud services agreements, SOWs, license agreements, Data Privacy/Processing addenda (DPAs), AI addenda, non-disclosure agreements, and vendor/supplier agreements.
• Lead end-to-end negotiations for high-value, strategic transactions, balancing legal risk with business objectives to close impactful deals.
• Advise on corporate, intellectual property, governance, and compliance matters.
• Provide guidance on complex regulatory issues affecting global SaaS providers, including data privacy, AI governance, and information security.
• Support compliance with GDPR, CCPA, EU AI Act, FERPA, state privacy, and other applicable statutes and regulations.
• Continuously improve contracting and legal operations functions, including updating contract templates, playbooks, policies, and other materials to ensure regional/global consistency.
• Use AI tooling to innovate with respect to legal operations, contract governance, and operating procedures and policies.
• Collaborate on the design and configuration of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) workflows, including contract intake, template generation, review and negotiation, approval routing, signature, contract storage, and post-execution processes.
• Develop and maintain a strong knowledge of the product and services portfolio.
• Uphold the company’s ethical standards and demonstrate sound professional judgment in all legal and business matters.
• Leverage CLM data, reporting, and analytics to measure contract cycle times, identify bottlenecks, monitor adoption and compliance, and recommend process improvements.
• Identify opportunities to expand the use of CLM and related legal technology, including automation and AI-enabled capabilities, to improve efficiency, consistency, visibility, and the delivery of legal services.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• 7+ years of legal experience, including in-house experience in commercial contracting, licensing, IP, privacy, and data governance matters.
• Extensive experience working in close collaboration with Sales teams in a high-volume deal/sales environment.
• Experience working cross-functionally across Sales, Product, InfoSec, Engineering, Finance, and Operations teams.
• Exceptional business judgment and the ability to balance legal risk with strategic objectives.
• A collaborative, solutions-oriented mindset that builds trust and drives alignment across stakeholders.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation, and communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex legal concepts for non-legal audiences.
• Adaptability, resilience, and a commitment to continuous improvement in a dynamic, global environment.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health coverage: medical, dental, and vision
• Flexible time off
• Thrive Flex Lifestyle Account (LSA) that allows you to contribute towards your health, financial, or learning interests
• 401k with match & BrightPlan – to help you save for the future
• Parental Leave
• 5 charitable days to support the community
• Telemedicine
• Wellness programs, including Headspace Care (mental health), Wellbeats (virtual fitness classes), RethinkCare & Wellthy (caregiver support)
• Diversity and inclusion programs with access to internal employee resource groups
• Employee referral bonuses

Professional Development

• Education Assistance Program
• Professional development opportunities
• LinkedIn Learning