Commercial Counsel

Overview

A technology company specializing in AI-driven marketing and growth platforms is seeking a Commercial Counsel to join their legal team. This role focuses on complex SaaS, data, and AI-related commercial agreements and supports go-to-market teams. The position reports to the Head of Commercial Legal and involves drafting and negotiating customer-facing contracts as well as vendor and partnership agreements. This is a growth role designed to strengthen the legal team.

The ideal candidate is experienced in commercial negotiations, comfortable managing deals from intake through signature in a fast-paced environment, and able to balance legal correctness with commercial practicality. The role is based on Eastern Standard Time.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate mid-market and enterprise customer agreements for SaaS offerings, including Master Subscription Agreements (MSAs), End-User Service Agreements (ESAs), Data Processing Addendums (DPAs), AI addenda, Statements of Work (SOWs), and Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs).
• Partner daily with Sales, Revenue Operations, and Customer Success teams to structure deals, assess risk, and facilitate transactions while maintaining key contractual positions on indemnity, liability limitations, data use, security, and intellectual property.
• Review and negotiate both company and customer contract documents, including third-party MSAs, DPAs, security exhibits, partner agreements, and procurement forms.
• Collaborate with Security, Privacy, and Compliance teams to respond to security, privacy, and compliance questionnaires and RFPs, ensuring accuracy and consistency.
• Utilize and improve contract workflows and playbooks within internal tools, including experimenting with AI tools to enhance efficiency.
• Update templates and policies across the commercial contract stack in response to evolving laws, customer expectations, and product changes, particularly regarding AI, data residency, and privacy-by-design.
• Provide advice on non-commercial legal issues intersecting with deals, such as marketing use rights, open-source and IP matters, sanctions/export controls, and compliance representations, escalating as necessary.
• Contribute to the maturation of legal operations, including metrics tracking, documentation, and process improvements.

Requirements

• 4–6+ years of post-JD experience, with significant focus on commercial transactions for SaaS or technology companies, preferably in-house.
• Proven expertise drafting and negotiating SaaS/MSAs, enterprise cloud agreements, DPAs, security annexes, SOWs, and NDAs, with experience handling both provider and customer contract forms.
• Working knowledge of major data protection frameworks such as GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and related privacy and security standards, with experience applying them in contracts and questionnaires.
• Familiarity and comfort with AI/ML and data-intensive SaaS product issues, including data usage rights, model training, analytics, and emerging AI regulations.
• Ability to independently manage a busy deal pipeline from intake to signature, including setting expectations, prioritizing, and escalating appropriately.
• Skill in balancing legal risk with commercial objectives, proposing creative solutions, and communicating tradeoffs clearly to non-legal stakeholders.
• Experience working within and improving structured workflows using tools like Ironclad, Salesforce, and collaboration platforms, with strong record-keeping and data hygiene.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of building trust quickly with cross-functional teams and providing clear, candid advice under pressure.
• Juris Doctor (J.D.) or foreign equivalent and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar; eligibility to practice in New York is preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior in-house experience at a high-growth B2B SaaS, data, or AI company, especially with products related to marketing, analytics, or advertising.
• Experience supporting enterprise and strategic accounts with complex information security, privacy, and procurement requirements, particularly in regulated industries like financial services or retail.
• Familiarity with security and compliance frameworks such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001 and their impact on contract negotiations and customer questionnaires.
• Comfort with legal technology and AI tools for contract review, playbook application, or knowledge management, and a willingness to experiment to improve legal function efficiency.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $150,000 to $180,000 per year, location independent following a remote-first policy.
• Equity compensation through ISO options, including early exercise and a 10-year post-termination exercise window.

Location

• Remote position requiring availability aligned with Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Additional Information

• The organization participates in E-Verify to confirm work authorization for new employees as required by law.