Commercial Counsel

AssemblyAI; New York (NY); On-site; USD 190,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

AssemblyAI, based in New York, is seeking a seasoned Commercial Counsel to join as the second hire on our legal team. Reporting directly to the Head of Legal, you will serve as the dedicated legal partner to our high-velocity enterprise sales organization and be the primary legal owner of Assembly’s entire commercial contracting lifecycle.

This role is hybrid, based out of our NYC office (2 days per week). What You’ll Need: J.D.

Qualifications

• J.D. from ABA-accredited law school with NY bar in good standing.
• 3–5 years of hands-on tech commercial contracting experience at a top-tier firm or high-growth startup.
• Mastery of MSAs, DPAs, BAAs and related commercial agreements.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate enterprise-grade MSAs, DPAs, BAAs and other commercial agreements under tight deadlines.
• Negotiate privacy and data protection terms across agreements, addressing GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA, and related regulations.
• Advise on AI-specific contract issues, including model training, IP ownership and data governance.
• Apply business judgment to calibrate risk and protect the business while keeping deals moving.
• Drive MSAs, DPAs, BAAs and other agreements from initiation to execution with minimal guidance.

Skills

Contract negotiation

Risk assessment

Privacy regulatory knowledge

Independent execution

Education

J.D. from ABA-accredited law school

Active New York bar admission

Job description

Why AssemblyAI AssemblyAI builds the best-in-class Voice AI models powering the next generation of voice applications. Our models serve 600M+ inference calls monthly, process 1M+ hours of audio daily, and power 2 billion+ end-user experiences. The Voice AI space is an inflection point; we’re looking for folks truly excited to join a small team and help define the future of the industry. We are one of the most capital-efficient AI companies on the planet - with under 100 people generating roughly $500K ARR per employee, we sit among the top 5 most revenue-dense teams within the fastest-growing AI companies today. That's not an accident; it's a deliberate choice to stay lean, move fast, and give every person on the team outsized ownership and impact. With thousands of customers including Granola, Fireflies, Figure AI, and CallRail, the company has real scale - processing over 2 million hours of audio daily and handling more than 1 million API calls every day. This is a rare growth-stage opportunity where the business is proven and the trajectory is steep, but the team is still small enough that your fingerprints are on everything.

If you've ever felt buried under layers of bureaucracy, starved of real ownership, or frustrated watching your work disappear into a slow-moving org, AssemblyAI is built differently. The company operates as a true meritocracy, with no heavy planning or approval processes and no gatekeeping on the tools or information you need. For anyone who genuinely cares about voice AI, not as a trend to chase, but as a technology to build, this is the place where the most interesting problems at the most interesting scale are being solved by a team small enough that you'll actually know everyone's name.

We’re committed to creating a space where our employees can bring their full selves to work and have equal opportunity to succeed. No matter your race, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, origin, ability, age, veteran status, if joining this mission speaks to you, we encourage you to apply!

About the role:

We are looking for a seasoned Commercial Counsel to join as the second hire on our legal team. Reporting directly to our Head of Legal, you will serve as the dedicated legal partner to our high-velocity enterprise sales organization and be the primary legal owner of Assembly’s entire commercial contracting lifecycle. This role is hybrid, based out of our NYC office (2 days per week).

What You’ll Do:

• Draft, review, and negotiate enterprise-grade Master Services Agreements (MSAs), Data Protection Addendums (DPAs), Business Associate Agreements (BAAs), and other commercial arrangements under tight deadlines.
• Negotiate privacy and data protection terms across commercial agreements, including identifying, addressing, and, where needed, escalating key issues arising under GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA, and other privacy regulations.
• Advise directly on AI-specific contract issues, including model training, intellectual property ownership, and AI data governance.
• Apply exceptional business judgment to determine which risks and liabilities the company can absorb or push back on - minimizing unnecessary redlines while protecting the business.
• To thrive in this role, you must possess a mastery of contract drafting mechanics, sharp risk calibration instincts, and the independence to drive MSAs, DPAs, BAAs, and other commercial agreements from initiation to execution with minimal guidance. You understand how to trade off non-critical redlines, hold the line on true company risk, and keep deal momentum moving at start-up speed.

What You’ll Need:

• Education & Admission : J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school and active membership in good standing with the New York bar.
• Core Experience : 3-5 years of hands-on technology commercial contracting experience at a top-tier tech law firm (Gunderson, Fenwick, Cooley, Orrick, Wilson Sonsini, or equivalents) or high-growth AI or SaaS startup.
• Mastery of Core Agreements: Deep expertise drafting and negotiating MSAs, DPAs, BAAs, and commercial agreements across from sophisticated enterprise counterparties.
• Commercial Pragmatism : Ability to balance risk against deal velocity, knowing exactly when to concede a point to close a deal and when to stand firm.
• Technical & Privacy Knowledge : Strong working command of global data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA) and a sharp, up-to-date grasp of commercial AI considerations (IP protection, training rights, regulatory trends).
• High Autonomy & Execution : Self-sufficient operator comfortable carrying a high deal volume with minimal supervision in a fast-moving environment.

Pay Transparency:

AssemblyAI strives to recruit and retain exceptional talent from diverse backgrounds while ensuring pay equity for our team. Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for our size, stage, and industry, and are one part of many compensation, benefit, and other reward opportunities we provide. There are many factors that go into salary determinations, including relevant experience, skill level, qualifications assessed during the interview process, and maintaining internal equity with peers on the team. The range shared below is a general expectation for the function as posted, but we are also open to considering candidates who may be more or less experienced than outlined in the job description. In this case, we will communicate any updates in the expected salary range. The provided range is the expected salary for candidates in the U.S. Outside of those regions, there may be a change in the range which will be communicated to candidates throughout the interview process. Salary range: $190,000 - $225,000

AI to Interview:

If you’re selected for an interview, please review this resource to better understand how AssemblyAI approaches the use of AI in our interview process.

GDPR privacy notice:

Candidates from the EU should review this job applicant privacy notice before applying.

Keep Exploring AssemblyAI:

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