Overview
This Senior Counsel, Commercial Transactions role serves as a senior legal advisor supporting the organization’s commercial contracting function and strategic business initiatives.
Primary focus areas include customer-facing and strategic commercial transactions, with an emphasis on SaaS, software licensing, strategic partnership and go-to-market arrangements, cloud services, AI-enabled offerings, data processing, and other commercial arrangements.
The role also partners cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Partners, Customer Success, Strategy, Security, Finance, Procurement, and other business stakeholders to support growth, manage legal risk, develop scalable contracting processes, and advance strategic initiatives.
Responsibilities
- Lead customer, procurement, and strategic commercial negotiations and technology-related legal work by drafting, reviewing, and negotiating software, SaaS and hybrid, cloud services, AI-related offerings, and strategic partnership agreements.
- Collaborate with sales, finance, security, IT, and compliance teams to deliver on timelines, clarify expectations, and problem-solve, including managing stakeholder and customer communications.
- Serve as a trusted advisor by providing creative, strategic legal advice and business counsel on commercial, operational, and strategic legal issues; deliver timely, accurate responses while negotiating a challenging volume of contracts ranging from straightforward to complex.
- Engage with customers to ensure their needs are heard and addressed.
- Suggest and support process improvements, including new standard forms or variations to enhance efficiency and align with business and product requirements.
- Use AI legal technology tools effectively, identifying which tools work for specific purposes and adapting as new tools are introduced.
- Support strategic pricing initiatives, pricing governance projects, and commercial model optimization efforts in partnership with Finance, Global Business Operations, and other business stakeholders.
- Participate in internal approval workflows, prioritize contracts, and respond to questions from stakeholders and clients.
- Maintain strong working knowledge of AI tools (including legal technology tools), Microsoft O365, Salesforce, and Ironclad.
Requirements
- Eight (8) or more years of relevant experience in-house and/or at a law firm supporting technology transactions.
- Extensive experience negotiating SaaS, software, cloud services, professional services, data processing, strategic partnership, and enterprise commercial agreements.
- Experience supporting complex commercial contracting environments.
- Strong understanding of technology, including legal technology, cloud services, software licensing models, information security, privacy, intellectual property, and regulatory considerations.
- Experience supporting AI-enabled products and emerging technology issues.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Demonstrated intelligence, flexibility, creativity, diligence, resourcefulness, responsiveness, and strong communication skills.
- Required: Trained in and experience with contract negotiations, including commercial contracts, SaaS contracts, and related services and support agreements.
- Required: Experience with complex software, SaaS, and hybrid cloud agreements, master agreements, professional services agreements, and software development agreements.
- JD degree from an accredited law school and license to practice in the United States.
- Ability to research and analyze legal issues.
- Solid proficiency with AI tools, legal technology tools, MS Office, and legal research platforms and tools; familiarity with Salesforce, Ironclad, and Asana.
Preferred Qualifications
- Desirable but not required: Basic knowledge of data privacy laws and practices in a SaaS context involving the security and processing of customer data that may include personal information.
- Desirable but not required: Experience with government technology procurement contracting at state, federal, and local levels, including with regard to GSA, SEWP, and FAR; basic knowledge of FedRAMP and application to SaaS offerings and operations.
- Desirable but not required: Understanding of software development, computer technology, SaaS infrastructure and services, open-source communities, and intellectual property concepts and laws.
Minimum Qualifications
- Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
- Active bar membership in good standing.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Demonstrated intelligence, flexibility, creativity, diligence, responsiveness, and strong communications skills.
- Reasonable exposure to computer and software technology concepts.
- Solid proficiency with MS Office, Salesforce, and contract management software.
Compensation & Benefits
This position is eligible for total compensation including:
- Competitive base salary
- Annual performance bonus
- Long-term incentives
Expected salary range: $183,000 to $275,000.
Final offered salary will be based on factors including depth of experience, skill set, qualifications, and internal pay equity. Hiring at the top end of the range would not be typical, to allow for future meaningful salary growth in this position.
Location
Remote/Hybrid