Commercial Legal Counsel

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Canada, +1 more country.

📋 Description

• Provide daily commercial legal support as Tailscale expands.

• Take ownership of negotiations for enterprise customer, vendor, partner, marketplace, technology, data protection, and confidentiality agreements.

• Offer guidance to Sales and go-to-market teams on deal structures, contracting strategies, risks, and escalation procedures.

• Convert legal challenges into clear options and recommendations for prompt decision-making.

• Develop and enhance templates, playbooks, fallback positions, approval protocols, intake processes, and self-service tools.

• Collaborate with Security, Privacy, Product, and Engineering teams on customer commitments related to data, security, product functionality, integrations, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies.

• Work alongside Finance and Revenue Operations on pricing terms, revenue considerations, procurement, insurance, and other commercial issues.

• Assist in international transactions and liaise with external counsel when localized or specialized expertise is required.

• Recognize negotiation trends and utilize data to enhance cycle time, consistency, and the experiences of customers and internal teams.

• Contribute to other legal priorities as the company and legal department evolve.

• Report to the Head of Legal.

⛳️ Requirements

• Juris Doctor degree and active membership in at least one relevant bar or equivalent authorization to practice law.

• Significant experience advising technology companies on commercial transactions, including in-house experience or equivalent exposure to technology clients.

• Experience aiding a legal function, contracting program, or business process in scaling within a startup or high-growth environment.

• Strong judgment and the ability to differentiate significant business risks from issues that can be managed through practical safeguards.

• Proven track record of leading negotiations with sophisticated customers, partners, vendors, or counterparties.

• Clear and concise communication skills with the ability to build trust across Legal, Sales, Finance, Security, Product, and executive teams.

• Capacity to work independently, prioritize competing demands, and make progress amid incomplete information.

• A collaborative approach that fosters appropriate ownership and prevents Legal from becoming an unnecessary bottleneck.

• Experience in commercial work involving developer tools, cloud infrastructure, networking, cybersecurity, software as a service, or open-source products is a plus.

• Familiarity with enterprise sales, product-led growth, channel or technology partnerships, marketplaces, integrations, or application programming interfaces is advantageous.

• Understanding of privacy, data protection, security, artificial intelligence, intellectual property, or product counseling issues is beneficial.

• Experience supporting global customers or coordinating advice across various jurisdictions is a bonus.

• Familiarity with selecting or implementing contract lifecycle management tools, workflow automation, or commercial legal metrics is a plus.

• Experience mentoring colleagues or helping to define a growing commercial legal capability is advantageous.

🏝️ Benefits

• An inclusive, flexible environment where you can be your authentic self.

• Competitive total compensation package that includes a base salary and an equity incentive plan.

• Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period, covering health, vision, and dental for you and your family.

• Remote-first work environment.

• Both virtual and in-person social events.

• Corporate co-working program allowing access to WeWork or similar spaces.

• Employer-funded retirement contributions matching employee contributions dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum annual employer contribution equal to 0.75% of eligible compensation.

• Annual company retreat and team off-sites.

• $1500 USD annually allocated for professional development.

• Opportunities for mentorship, coaching, and internal promotions.

• Flexible paid time off program.

• Choice of company-owned laptop, either Mac or PC.

• Monthly reimbursement for home internet expenses.

• $500 USD allowance for workstation customization.

• Paid parental leave top-ups: 20 weeks for birthing parents and 16 weeks for non-birthing parents.