Overview
This role involves serving as Legal Director, Strategic Deals, owning strategic partnerships, commercial support for strategic product initiatives, and commercial support for M&A diligence and integration.
You will take a player-coach approach: personally run the organization’s most significant negotiations (from term sheet to signature), while also managing and developing a Senior Counsel and building this function from day one.
Responsibilities
- Strategic Partnerships: Draft, review, and negotiate complex partnership agreements, including OEM, technology licensing, and alliance arrangements.
- IP Licensing & Technology Rights: Negotiate IP ownership, license scope, data rights, and AI terms.
- Strategic Product Initiatives: Partner with Product and GTM leaders on the commercial model for new offerings and translate it into clear customer and partner terms.
- M&A Support: Lead commercial contract diligence on acquisition targets; identify material risks in customer, partner, and IP agreements; and drive post-close contract integration and assignment workstreams in partnership with Corporate Development.
- Deal Strategy & Risk Judgment: Advise executives on deal structure, negotiation strategy, and risk trade-offs; escalate the right issues at the right altitude with clear recommendations.
- Team Leadership: Manage, mentor, and develop a Senior Counsel; set priorities; review work; and build playbooks, templates, and processes to help the function scale.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Coordinate with commercial, product/IP/AI, privacy, security, and procurement legal teams to ensure consistent, organization-wide positions for strategic deals.
Requirements
- Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited U.S. law school or equivalent.
- Active license to practice law in a U.S. state.
- 12+ years of legal experience with a focus on technology transactions, ideally a combination of top-tier law firm and in-house experience at a technology company.
- Deep expertise in IP licensing and complex technology agreements, including OEM, strategic alliance, and SaaS.
- Fluency with AI tools and a track record of using them to work faster and smarter across drafting, contract review, diligence, and knowledge management.
- Proven experience leading high-value, high-visibility negotiations with large, sophisticated counterparties.
- Strong business judgment and commercial instinct to structure deals, advise on trade-offs, and provide clear recommendations to senior executives.
- Experience managing or mentoring attorneys, or demonstrated readiness to lead in a player-coach role.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues in plain business terms.
- Comfort with ambiguity, a fast pace, and competing high-priority matters.
- Cybersecurity and/or enterprise SaaS industry experience.
- AI and data licensing experience, including model, training data, and output rights, plus terms for agentic or autonomous AI products.
- Channel, OEM, and MSSP/service-provider program experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- M&A experience, particularly commercial diligence and post-close contract integration (plus, not required).
Compensation & Benefits
Base Salary Range: $206,250—$309,000 USD (U.S. role; base pay range varies by candidate location. If applicable, a different pay range may apply and will be provided during recruiting.)
Equity & Rewards
- Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
Time Off & Wellbeing
- Flexible time off
- Paid company holidays and paid sick time
- Gender-neutral parental leave
- Grandparent leave
Insurance & Financial Security
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- 401(k) retirement plan with company match
- Life and disability insurance
- Health and dependent care FSA
- Voluntary benefits (hospital, accident, critical illness)
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- ARAG pre-paid legal
- Nationwide pet insurance
- Cancer Care program
- Global business travel medical insurance
Work Perks & Flexibility
- Home office allowance
- Mobile phone reimbursement
Wellness & Lifestyle
- Wellness coach
- Wellness/gym reimbursement
- Fertility coverage
- Adoption & surrogacy reimbursement
Location
U.S. role (candidate location affects the base pay range). For locations where a different pay range applies, that range will be provided during the recruiting process.