Senior Counsel, Commercial
About the role
We are seeking a commercially minded Senior Legal Counsel to join our growing legal team and support the company's global sales organization. This is a highly collaborative role that requires strong partnership with Sales and other business stakeholders, providing pragmatic legal advice while ensuring that legal, regulatory and commercial risks are appropriately identified, assessed and managed.
Responsibilities
- Build trusted relationships with Sales, Deal Desk, Revenue Operations and other business stakeholders to support customer and channel transactions.
- Lead the review, drafting and negotiation of a wide range of commercial agreements, including SaaS, BaaS, software, professional services, channel (including aggregator, reseller and GSI relationships) and NDAs.
- Provide practical, commercially focused legal advice to Sales and business stakeholders, supporting negotiations through clear, pragmatic guidance while identifying, communicating and managing material legal, regulatory, privacy and commercial risks, and advising on compliance requirements, data protection obligations and internal approval processes.
- Develop practical and defensible solutions to complex contractual and commercial issues, applying sound judgement to balance risk, identify appropriate mitigations and determine when escalation is required.
- Anticipate potential contractual, legal or operational issues and take proactive steps to address them efficiently and reduce the risk of disputes or delays.
- Support the development and continuous improvement of contract templates, negotiation playbooks and legal processes, and develop and deliver training and awareness programs to promote best practices and understanding of legal risks, contracting principles and company processes.
- Collaborate effectively with colleagues across the Legal department and contribute to a positive, high-performing team culture.
Requirements
Qualified lawyer with significant (10-15+ years) post-qualification experience gained in a leading law firm and/or in-house legal department but including significant in-house experience.
Strong commercial contracts background, ideally within a software, SaaS, cloud technology or broader technology company.
Excellent drafting, contract review and negotiation skills.
Extensive experience negotiating complex customer and partner agreements.
Demonstrated ability to advise business stakeholders in a practical, succinct and commercially focused manner.
Experience supporting sales organizations and working closely with commercial stakeholders in a fast-moving environment.
Experience advising on privacy and data protection issues arising in commercial technology transactions, including customer contracting requirements relating to the processing, transfer, storage and protection of data.
Qualifications
Law degree from an accredited institution.
Admitted to practice law in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
Passionate about helping the business succeed.
Skills
- Strong commercial judgement and ability to assess risk proportionately. Comfortable challenging assumptions and driving constructive discussions to achieve the best outcome for the business.
- Proactive, self-motivated and willing to take ownership of complex matters from start to finish.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage a high volume of matters and conflicting priorities.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to explain complex legal concepts, articulate recommendations and options, and deliver practical advice that is accessible to a wide range of stakeholders.
- Sound judgement and the confidence to make risk-based decisions in situations where there may not be a clear precedent or established playbook.