Head of Legal

Overview

The organization is seeking a Head of Legal to serve as the senior legal leader and to build and scale a legal function. This role covers the full scope of legal work, including commercial and vendor contracting, privacy and compliance, and corporate matters that support rapid growth. Responsibilities include negotiating key agreements, creating the first versions of legal playbooks and policies, and making judgment calls in an evolving AI-centric environment.

This position reports to the CFO and partners closely with Sales, Finance, Trust, Product, and People. You will lead the existing legal team, set priorities, and act as the primary escalation point for legal questions across the organization, engaging outside counsel when appropriate.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the legal team by setting priorities, coaching attorneys and legal operations staff, and determining when to hire, automate, or use outside counsel.
• Own the commercial contracting program, serving as the escalation point for complex or non-standard MSAs, DPAs, order forms, and partnership agreements, and partnering with Sales leadership on strategic and enterprise deals.
• Oversee the vendor contract program by establishing risk positions and approval thresholds that enable business owners to move quickly.
• Lead privacy and data protection legal work as it arises in contracts, product features, and customer security reviews, including GDPR, CCPA, and emerging state and international regimes.
• Advise on the legal and regulatory landscape for AI, including customer-facing AI terms, responsible use, IP and data rights, and evolving regulation, in collaboration with Product, Engineering, and Trust.
• Build and maintain legal infrastructure, including contract intake and CLM workflows, templates, negotiation playbooks, policies, and process documentation, using AI where it improves speed and consistency.
• Partner with Finance, Accounting, Trust, People, and other teams to provide practical, business-oriented guidance on day-to-day operational matters, including employment, IP, and compliance questions.
• Manage outside counsel relationships and the legal budget.
• Support corporate matters such as governance, equity administration, and financing or corporate development projects with the CEO and Finance.
• Report on legal risk, workload, and team performance to company leadership and escalate material issues early.

Requirements

• J.D. and active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 10+ years of experience at a law firm and/or in-house, with deep exposure to B2B SaaS commercial contracting across both customer and vendor relationships.
• Prior experience leading or managing attorneys or a legal function, or a clear track record of readiness to do so (e.g., as a senior counsel or director of legal).
• Strong working knowledge of privacy and data protection frameworks, including GDPR and CCPA, and how they apply to enterprise SaaS and AI products.
• Familiarity with legal issues specific to AI, such as model and data licensing, IP ownership, and emerging regulation.
• Sound judgment on risk, including the ability to identify what must be escalated versus what can be resolved and to explain tradeoffs to executives in plain language.
• Comfort with high-volume, fast-moving commercial work, with the ability to prioritize and execute independently.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to translate legal concepts for non-lawyer audiences.
• Genuine curiosity about AI tools and legal tech, and willingness to use them to improve efficiency.
• Impeccable ethical standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with contract management systems such as Ironclad or similar.
• Corporate governance, financing, or employment law experience.

Compensation & Benefits

• Not specified in the provided description.

Location

• Not specified in the provided description.