Commercial Counsel (Contract) Austin, TX

SoftBank Group International; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

SoftBank Group International seeks an experienced Commercial Counsel in Austin, TX to draft, negotiate, and manage a high volume of commercial agreements across robotics, infrastructure, and internal functions. The role collaborates with procurement, finance, and operations to mitigate risks and accelerate contracting.

You will guide business teams on legal tradeoffs, maintain templates and playbooks, and support major commercial initiatives in a fast-growing environment.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor from ABA-accredited law school.
• Active member of NY, TX or CA State Bar in good standing.
• At least 5 years drafting and negotiating complex commercial and procurement agreements.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate a high volume of commercial agreements (supplier, procurement, manufacturing, development, licensing, services, confidentiality, and partnerships).
• Identify and address legal and commercial risks with practical solutions.
• Maintain contract templates, clauses, and negotiation playbooks to improve efficiency.
• Advise on contracting matters across procurement, supply chain, manufacturing, and vendor management.
• Coordinate with business, finance, technical, and operations teams through intake, negotiation, and signature.
• Provide business-focused legal guidance on robotics, infrastructure, and organizational build-out initiatives.
• Explain legal tradeoffs clearly to non-lawyers and support timely decision-making.

Skills

Contract drafting

Negotiation

Risk management

Cross-functional collaboration

Legal writing

Communication

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Active state bar membership (NY/TX/CA)

Tools

Zip

GCAI

Job description

The SoftBank Group invests in breakthrough technology to improve the quality of life for people around the world. The SoftBank Group is comprised of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984), an investment holding company that owns stakes in AI, smart robotics, IoT, telecommunications, internet services, and clean energy technology providers, as well as a majority stake in Arm, which is building the future of computing; and the SoftBank Vision Funds, which are investing to help transform industries and shape new ones. To learn more, please visit www.visionfund.com and https://group.softbank/en.

About the role:

As Commercial Counsel, you will be a key member of the legal team, managing a high volume, wide variety of commercial agreements across the Company’s business units. Operating in a fast-paced environment, you will draft, review, and negotiate commercial and procurement agreements supporting robotics, infrastructure, the build-out of internal functions, and other business priorities. Taking a pragmatic, business-first approach, you will work directly with business, procurement, finance, technical, supply chain, manufacturing, and operations teams throughout the contracting process to spot legal and commercial risks, resolve issues, and move agreements forward on schedule. This role is an initial 6-month engagement with potential for extension and a pathway to convert to a permanent Full-Time Employee position upon meeting performance milestones.

Key Responsibilities:

• Draft, review, and negotiate a high volume of commercial agreements, including supplier, procurement, manufacturing, development, consulting, technology, licensing, services, confidentiality, and strategic partnership agreements.
• Identify and address legal, commercial, and operational risks through appropriate contract terms and workable business solutions.
• Maintain contract templates, clause libraries, build upon negotiation playbooks, standard positions, fallback language, approval requirements, and guidance that make contracting more consistent and efficient.
• Advise on commercial and contracting matters arising across procurement, supply chain, manufacturing, vendor management, and other operational activities.
• Work with procurement, finance, technical, operations, and business teams to move agreements from intake through negotiation and signature.
• Advise business and functional teams on contracting matters tied to robotics, infrastructure, organizational build-out, and other major commercial initiatives.
• Help business teams understand legal and commercial tradeoffs so they can make timely, informed decisions.
• Build strong working relationships across functions and manage competing contracting priorities.
• Improve how contracts are submitted, reviewed, negotiated, escalated, and reported as the organization grows.
• Identify intellectual property, privacy, data security, regulatory, compliance, tax, trade, employment, and other specialized legal issues arising from commercial transactions, and coordinate with internal subject-matter resources or outside counsel as appropriate.

Requirements:

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an American Bar Association accredited law school.
• Active member of the New York, Texas or California State Bar and in good standing.
• At least 5 years of relevant legal experience, including demonstrated experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial and procurement-related agreements in a corporate legal department, law firm, or comparable environment.
• Proven ability to work independently, manage multiple contracting matters, and appropriately coordinate with internal specialists and outside counsel.
• Experience working with business, procurement, finance, technical, and operational stakeholders across matters with competing timelines and priorities.
• Sound judgment and the ability to give clear, business-focused legal advice in a fast-moving, high-growth environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain legal issues clearly to non-lawyers.
• Ability to manage a high volume of commercial agreements without losing attention to detail or responsiveness.
• Comfort taking ownership in a changing environment where priorities can shift quickly and processes or playbooks may still be taking shape.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior in-house experience at a fast-growing, operations-heavy technology company.
• Direct experience supporting hardware, manufacturing, supply chain, or robotics industries.
• Familiarity with modern legal operations tools and intake workflows (e.g., Zip, GCAI).

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