Commercial Counsel (Platform & Marketplace)

Menlo Ventures; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 265,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Anthropic is seeking a Commercial Counsel for Platform & Marketplace in San Francisco. This role involves supporting go-to-market motions and managing negotiation strategies with partners while ensuring legal compliance. The ideal candidate has strong experience in technology partnerships and the ability to work with senior leadership on complex agreements.

Candidates must hold a JD and have significant experience in partnership negotiations. The position also offers a salary range of $265,000–$320,000 USD, emphasizing hybrid work flexibility.

Qualifications

• Active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• 8 years of relevant legal experience, particularly in technology partnerships.
• Experience in leading complex negotiations with technology companies.

Responsibilities

• Own legal strategy for partnership ecosystems.
• Lead complex negotiations with multiple parties.
• Provide counsel on partnership structures balancing risk and growth.

Skills

Negotiation

Contract Management

Partnership Economics

Strategic Thinking

Communication Skills

Mentorship

Education

JD

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

About Anthropic

Anthropic’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems.

About The Role

As Commercial Counsel for Platform & Marketplace at Anthropic, you’ll support scaling up go-to-market motions and platforms like the Claude Marketplace, which lets enterprise customers discover, buy, and pay for third‑party applications. You’ll be the trusted senior legal partner to Business Development teams within Anthropic’s Partnerships & Alliances org, shaping how we collaborate with sellers and customers on existing and future platforms. You’ll focus on how we interact with our own resale channels and how we participate in third‑party marketplaces. You’ll own, negotiate, and continuously improve the core contracting vehicles for these go-to‑market programs, as well as support terms that sit between sellers and buyers.

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end legal strategy and execution for certain partnership ecosystems and contracting programs
• Serve as one of the legal partners to our Partnerships & Alliances business team, functioning as a strategic advisor embedded in partnership planning
• Independently lead complex, multi‑party negotiations involving technical integrations, revenue‑sharing arrangements, joint go-to‑market strategies, and strategic commitments that may implicate other Anthropic business relationships
• Architect scalable partnership frameworks, templates, and programs that enable the broader organization to execute deals efficiently while maintaining appropriate risk controls
• Provide strategic counsel on partnership structures that balance legal risk management with aggressive growth objectives
• Coordinate cross‑functionally with Compute, Strategic Pursuits, Finance, and GTM teams on deals where partnership terms interact with other commercial relationships and commitments

Minimum Qualifications

• JD and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar (California preferred)
• Demonstrated track record of independently leading complex, multi‑stakeholder negotiations with major technology companies that resulted in successful partnership launches, including situations where Anthropic’s interests must be balanced against partners and end customers simultaneously
• Experience serving as the go‑to legal partner for a partnerships or business development organization; the attorney that business leaders actively want in strategy sessions
• Deep understanding of partnership economics: how deal registration works, why revenue attribution matters to partners, how to structure incentives that align interests, and what motivates a partner to prioritize one vendor over another
• Superior judgment in risk assessment and strategic tradeoffs, with the confidence to recommend which partnerships to pursue, which terms are worth fighting for, and when to walk away
• Outstanding communication skills with executive presence; comfortable presenting partnership strategy to senior leadership and negotiating directly with partner General Counsels
• Track record of mentoring and elevating other attorneys, whether through formal reporting relationships or informal guidance
• Genuine intellectual curiosity about AI technology and comfort with ambiguity; thrive in environments where you’re building the playbook

Preferred Qualifications

• At least 8 years of relevant legal experience, with at least 4 years of substantial focus on technology partnerships, channel programs, and strategic alliances, where you’ve been the lawyer executing partnership strategy and driving hands‑on deal negotiation
• Direct experience as commercial counsel at high‑growth technology companies during scaling phases, where partnerships are central to the GTM model
• Background negotiating with and managing relationships with major hyperscalers and systems integrators
• Familiarity with complex revenue‑sharing arrangements, marketplace agreements, and co‑sell programs where multiple parties share economics
• Experience with emerging technology partnerships (AI/ML, cloud infrastructure, developer platforms) where legal frameworks are still evolving and you’ve helped define industry norms
• Prior involvement in deals where partnership terms created constraints or opportunities for other business relationships, including managing a counterparty who is simultaneously a partner, supplier, and sometimes competitor

Role‑specific policy

For this role, we expect staff to be able to work from our San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C., or New York office at least 3 days a week, though we encourage you to apply even if you might need some flexibility for an interim period of time.

Annual Salary

$265,000—$320,000 USD

Logistics

Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience.

Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience.

Minimum years of experience: Years of experience required will correlate with the internal job level requirements for the position.

Location-based hybrid policy: We expect all staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time, though some roles may require more time in our offices.

Visa sponsorship: We sponsor visas. If we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa.

Safety: To protect yourself from potential scams, remember that Anthropic recruiters only contact you from @anthropic.com email addresses. Legitimate Anthropic recruiters will never ask for money, fees, or banking information before your first day. If you’re ever unsure about a communication, don’t click any links—visit anthropic.com/careers directly for confirmed position openings.