Head of Legal

Buildkite; Sydney; Remote; AUD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote first culture

Competitive compensation

Professional growth opportunities

Collaborative team environment

Job summary

A leading software company in Sydney is looking for a Head of Legal to manage legal affairs and provide strategic guidance across the business. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience, excellent negotiation skills in technology contracts, and the ability to oversee corporate governance. This full-time role offers a competitive salary and remote-first culture.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience including in-house experience at a tech or SaaS company.
• Strong background in commercial, corporate, regulatory, data privacy, and employment law.
• Experience negotiating complex SaaS and technology agreements.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the sole in-house legal counsel for commercial and corporate matters.
• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts including SaaS deals.
• Support executive team in corporate governance and strategic initiatives.

Skills

Legal risk management

Contract negotiation

Regulatory compliance

Clear communication

Education

Qualified lawyer in Australia

Job description

Join to apply for the Head of Legal role at Buildkite

Join to apply for the Head of Legal role at Buildkite

We’re building tools that help the best software teams stay happy and productive. We’ve reimagined how CI/CD should work, creating a platform that’s fast, reliable, secure, and built to scale with the needs of high-growth, demanding tech companies like Reddit, Spotify, Shopify, Uber, Pinterest, Culture Amp, and Canva.

Job Overview

We are looking for a Head of Legal to help undertake, oversee and manage the legal affairs of Buildkite. You will be working with our Chief Financial Officer and serve as a member of the senior leadership team, providing strategic legal advice and guidance across the business.

This is a hands on role that spans corporate governance, contract negotiation and drafting for both customers and suppliers, and overall risk management. As you grow, you'll be regarded as expert in all things legal within the SaaS and technology space.

As our Head of Legal, you will be responsible for Buildkite's end-to-end legal function. You will operate as a generalist with a strong technology element, handling a wide range of legal matters while helping shape our commercial, governance, risk, and compliance practices. You’ll work across both Australia and the US, partnering closely with the executive team to support go-to-market functions and help the business scale safely and sustainably.

What You'll Do

• Serve as the company's sole in-house legal counsel across commercial, corporate, privacy, IP and employment matters.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial contracts, including SaaS and enterprise deals.
• Partner with Sales, Customer Success, and Finance to review and negotiate customer contracts, draft terms and related documents, streamline contracting processes, and help unlock revenue.
• Collaborate with the Risk and Security teams to provide legal guidance on cutting-edge issues, including AI, data privacy, and security ensuring compliance with GDPR, CCPA, DORA, and other relevant frameworks.
• Support the executive team on corporate governance, fundraising, board management and strategic initiatives.
• Develop scalable processes and playbooks to manage legal risk and improve operational efficiency.
• Understand and implement regulatory frameworks including anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, whistleblower protection and data privacy laws.
• Engage and manage external counsel when necessary.
• Provide clear, pragmatic and commercially minded legal advice across the business.

What We Are Looking For

• Qualified lawyer with at least 10+ years of experience including time in house at a technology or SaaS company (bonus for start up or scale up experience)
• Strong generalist skillset across commercial, corporate, regulatory, data privacy, and employment matters
• Excellent judgment with the ability to balance legal risk and business outcomes
• Experience negotiating complex SaaS and technology agreements
• Comfortable working autonomously as a sole counsel, undertaking day to day legal work as well as considering high level strategy and building processes from scratch
• Clear communicator who can distill legal issues for non lawyers
• Bias for action and a roll up your sleeves attitude
• Qualified to practice law in Australia
• Experience working in multiple jurisdictions, including Australia and the US

Bonus Points

• Experience supporting international expansion, employee equity schemes or M&A
• Exposure to AI, data, developer tools or infrastructure technology companies

Why You’ll Love Working at Buildkite

• Remote first culture and support for work life balance
• Competitive compensation and benefits package
• Meaningful work with some of the most innovative companies in tech
• Opportunities for professional growth and learning
• A supportive and collaborative team culture where your ideas matter

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Director

Employment type

• Employment type

  Full-time

Job function

• Job function

  Legal

• Industries

  Software Development

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