Commercial Counsel

Ariat International; San Leandro (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Wellness benefits

PTO & holidays

401(k) match

Employee discount

Job summary

Ariat International is seeking a mid-level Commercial Counsel to join our lean, in‑house legal team in the Bay Area. You will draft and negotiate a wide range of agreements, build scalable templates, and guide privacy and compliance matters for a global retail brand.

This hybrid-remote role requires CA licensure with 3–6 years of relevant experience. You will partner with cross-functional teams to provide timely, business-focused legal advice and help advance strategic partnerships, products,

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3–6 years as commercial counsel in-house or law firm.
• Solid foundation in privacy or product counseling in an in-house team.
• Experience with a global footwear/consumer products brand is a plus.
• Strong ability to work cross-functionally and manage multiple projects.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage vendor, software, and services agreements.
• Create templates, playbooks, and scalable legal processes.
• Develop user-facing legal disclosures, including Terms of Service and privacy policies.
• Handle disputes in commercial relationships with guidance to business teams.
• Advise cross-functional partners on data protection, privacy, compliance, and marketing claims.
• Partner with business clients to identify issues and mitigate risk in a timely manner.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Attention to detail

Initiative

Team collaboration

Education

Juris Doctor (CA licensed)

Job description

Ariat International is hiring a mid-level Commercial Counsel to support our lean, but dynamic legal team. As the sixth member of our legal department, you will have wide-ranging responsibilities, with ownership of projects that make an immediate impact. Under the supervision of the Senior Director/Head of Legal, your work will touch every aspect of running our global retail brand. You are extremely organized and proactive, with a desire to learn and grow. You are customer-focused, collaborate well with team members and cross-functional business partners, and have experience working directly with outside counsel. If you are a self-directing, strategically thinking, and detail-oriented individual with a get-it-done attitude, come work with us!

We are hybrid-remote – with 3 days in the office, 2 days from home. We are considering local Bay Area candidates, or candidates that are willing to relocate to the Bay Area only.

You'll Make a Difference By

• Drafting, reviewing, negotiating and managing a wide variety of vendor agreements, strategic partnership agreements, software agreements, as well as professional services/development agreements, purchasing, event, endorsement, and influencer agreements.
• Creating template agreements, developing playbooks and legal processes that can scale globally.
• Developing and maintaining user-facing legal disclosures, including terms of service and privacy policies.
• Participating in handling disputes that may arise in existing commercial relationships.
• Providing guidance and support to our cross-functional colleagues on a wide range of legal issues including data protection/privacy laws, data security, regulatory compliance, consumer protection laws relating to marketing, advertising and product performance claims, and other global legal frameworks, as needed.
• Being an active and trusted business partner and ensure the provision of timely business focused advice to business clients by identifying potential legal issues and mitigating risk.
• Assisting with other responsibilities based on business needs.

About You

• Juris Doctor degree from an ABA accredited law school, licensed to practice law and in good standing in CA
• Minimum of 3-6 years of experience as commercial counsel. You know how to efficiently manage risk and ensure that business and compliance needs are accurately reflected in agreements.
• You will also have a solid foundation in privacy, or product counseling experience in an in-house legal department.
• Experience with a global footwear and apparel brand, or consumer products is preferred.
• Strong interpersonal skills and can work cross-functionally with multiple stakeholders and teams on multiple projects at once.
• Strong attention to detail—you sweat the small stuff and strive to get it right the first time, every time.
• Ability and willingness to take initiative to address problems and make continuous process improvements
• Team player who manages well under pressure, while maintaining a good sense of humor.

About Ariat

Ariat is an innovative, outdoor global brand with roots in equestrian performance. We develop high-quality footwear and apparel for people who ride, work, and play outdoors, and care about performance, quality, comfort, and style.

The salary range for this position is $150,000 - $160,000 per year.

The salary is determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data for geographic locations. Ariat in good faith believes that this posted compensation range is accurate for this role at this location at the time of this posting. This range may be modified in the future.

Ariat’s holistic benefits package for full-time team members includes (but is not limited to):

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance options
• Expanded wellness and mental health benefits
• Paid time off (PTO), paid holidays, and paid volunteer days
• 401(k) with company match
• Team member discount on Ariat merchandise

Note: Availability of benefits may be subject to location & employment type and may have certain eligibility requirements. Ariat reserves the right to alter these benefits in whole or in part at any time without advance notice.

Ariat will consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with state and local laws. Ariat is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetics or any other basis protected under federal, state, or local law. Ariat is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to candidates with disabilities. If you need an accommodation during the application process, email [e-mail].

Please see our Employment Candidate Privacy Policy at www.ariat.com/careers to learn more about how we collect, use, retain and disclose Personal Information.

Please note that Ariat does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Agreement, Ariat will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter/agency placement fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without a previously signed Agreement, Ariat explicitly reserves the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted directly to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Ariat.