Lead Counsel, Commercial & Compliance

Overview

A growing technology company is seeking a Lead Counsel, Commercial & Compliance to join their Legal team. This role involves leading complex enterprise commercial negotiations and scaling global compliance and governance programs. Initially an individual contributor position, it offers significant cross-functional influence and a clear path toward people management as the legal function expands.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex global commercial negotiations with enterprise customers, strategic partners, vendors, and channel partners.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of agreements including Master Services Agreements, Data Processing Agreements, procurement and vendor agreements, and partner and reseller agreements.
• Serve as legal advisor on strategic commercial transactions involving security, privacy, compliance, product, and operational risk considerations.
• Partner cross-functionally to drive efficient deal execution while managing legal and business risk.
• Develop scalable contracting playbooks, templates, fallback positions, approval processes, and other resources to support a fast-growing global sales organization.
• Design, implement, operationalize, and mature global compliance and governance programs.
• Advise internal stakeholders on evolving legal and regulatory obligations across multiple jurisdictions.
• Collaborate on compliance initiatives related to data privacy and protection, AI governance, vendor and third-party risk management, and regulatory and enterprise customer requirements.
• Assist with internal governance frameworks, policy management, risk assessment processes, and customer-facing compliance needs.
• Advise on contractual, operational, and regulatory implications of new products, features, and technologies.
• Support global compliance aspects of operating in new jurisdictions, including employment-related considerations.
• Build scalable legal and compliance processes, templates, training materials, internal guidance, and self-service resources.
• Operate as a practical, business-oriented partner to bring structure to ambiguous issues and help the business move quickly while managing risk.

Requirements

• J.D. degree and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• 7+ years of relevant legal experience, including significant in-house and/or law firm experience supporting technology companies.
• Experience supporting global legal, compliance, privacy, and/or governance initiatives.
• Strong understanding of SaaS business models and enterprise customer expectations.
• Ability to balance legal risk with practical business considerations in a fast-moving environment.
• Ability to operate independently while managing multiple priorities simultaneously.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting high-growth or late-stage private technology companies.
• Familiarity with security and compliance frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, or similar regulatory or customer assurance frameworks.
• Experience with AI governance or emerging technology regulation.
• Employment law experience, particularly in global or multi-jurisdictional environments.

Compensation & Benefits

• Target annual compensation: $230,000 to $250,000 salary plus equity.

Location & Eligibility

• Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S.
• Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.