Director, Legal (Procurement and Strategic Sourcing)

Nscale; New York (NY); On-site; USD 210,000 - 340,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Job summary

Nscale is seeking a Director, Legal (Procurement and Strategic Sourcing) to lead legal support for our engineering and technology supply chain. You will structure and negotiate high-value supply, OEM, reseller and software agreements underpinning our AI cloud.

The role requires deep experience with hardware and software procurement, export controls, and building a scalable procurement legal function while protecting company interests and enabling rapid execution.

Qualifications

• JD from an accredited US law school and active membership in good standing of at least one US state bar.
• 8–12 years of legal experience at a leading law firm and/or in-house, with significant focus on technology procurement and supply agreements.
• Substantial experience negotiating agreements for hardware, software and networking components, such as GPUs and servers, switches, optics and cabling, storage, and related firmware and software, preferably for data center, cloud, telecom or semiconductor businesses.
• Working knowledge of hardware supply chain dynamics, including allocation, lead times, warranty and RMA models, and supplier financing or prepayment structures.
• Familiarity with export controls, sanctions and trade compliance as applied to advanced computing.
• Experience leading or mentoring lawyers and non-lawyer professionals.
• Exceptional negotiation, drafting and communication skills, and a practical, business-enabling approach to risk.

Responsibilities

• Lead drafting and negotiation of complex, high-value agreements for compute, networking and storage hardware, including master purchase and supply agreements, OEM agreements, value-added reseller and distribution agreements.
• Negotiate key commercial and risk terms such as pricing and prepayment structures, forecasting and allocation, delivery and acceptance, title and risk of loss, warranties, RMA and spares, epidemic failure, service levels, liquidated damages, IP indemnities and limitations of liability.
• Draft and negotiate software, firmware and SaaS licensing agreements, support and maintenance agreements, professional services and systems integration agreements, and open-source considerations tied to infrastructure software.
• Work with our export controls team to advise on supply chain risks including export controls and sanctions (EAR, ITAR, OFAC), customs and tariffs, country-of-origin and component sourcing restrictions, and flow-down of customer requirements to suppliers.
• Act as trusted advisor to AI Infrastructure, Nscale Cloud, Procurement and Finance leadership on supplier disputes, force majeure and shortages, and contract performance issues.
• Coordinate with Commercial, Construction and Finance counsel so that supply commitments align with customer obligations, data center delivery schedules and financing requirements.
• Manage supplier disputes and claims, working with Litigation where needed.
• Lead and mentor procurement counsel and paralegal team members.
• Develop and maintain templates, negotiation playbooks, fallback positions and approval matrices for procurement.
• Partner with Legal Operations on contract lifecycle management, intake, reporting and continuous process improvement.

Skills

Negotiation

Drafting

Communication

Mentoring

Education

JD (US law school)

Job description

About Nscale

Nscale is the GPU cloud engineered for AI. We provide cost-effective, high-performance infrastructure for AI start-ups and large enterprise customers. Nscale enables AI-focused companies to achieve superior results by reducing the complexity of AI development. Our GPU cloud bolsters technical capabilities and directly supports strategic business outcomes, including cost management, rapid innovation, and environmental responsibility.

We thrive on a culture of relentless innovation, ownership, and accountability, where every team member takes pride in their work and drives it with excellence and urgency. As an Nscaler, you’ll build trust through openness and transparency, where everyone is inspired to do their best work. If you join our team, you’ll be contributing to building the technology that powers the future.

About the Role

Nscale buys technology at hyperscale: GPUs and accelerated compute, servers, high-performance networking and optical components, storage, and the software that runs it all. We are hiring a Director, Legal (Procurement and Strategic Sourcing) to lead legal support for our engineering and technology supply chain. You will structure and negotiate the high-value supply, OEM, reseller and software agreements that underpin our AI cloud, and build the procurement legal function as we scale.

The ideal candidate understands how hardware and software actually get sourced, licensed, delivered and supported, and can protect Nscale's position on allocation, delivery, warranty and liability without slowing the business down.

What You'll Be Doing

Technology and hardware procurement

• Lead drafting and negotiation of complex, high-value agreements for compute, networking and storage hardware, including master purchase and supply agreements, OEM agreements, value-added reseller and distribution agreements.
• Negotiate key commercial and risk terms such as pricing and prepayment structures, forecasting and allocation, delivery and acceptance, title and risk of loss, warranties, RMA and spares, epidemic failure, service levels, liquidated damages, IP indemnities and limitations of liability.
• Draft and negotiate software, firmware and SaaS licensing agreements, support and maintenance agreements, professional services and systems integration agreements, and open-source considerations tied to infrastructure software.
• Work with our export controls team to advise on supply chain risks including export controls and sanctions (EAR, ITAR, OFAC), customs and tariffs, country-of-origin and component sourcing restrictions, and flow-down of customer requirements to suppliers.

Strategic partnership and business support

• Act as trusted advisor to AI Infrastructure, Nscale Cloud, Procurement and Finance leadership on supplier disputes, force majeure and shortages, and contract performance issues.
• Coordinate with Commercial, Construction and Finance counsel so that supply commitments align with customer obligations, data center delivery schedules and financing requirements.
• Manage supplier disputes and claims, working with Litigation where needed.

Building the function

• Lead and mentor procurement counsel and paralegal team members.
• Develop and maintain templates, negotiation playbooks, fallback positions and approval matrices for procurement.
• Partner with Legal Operations on contract lifecycle management, intake, reporting and continuous process improvement.

About You

• JD from an accredited US law school and active membership in good standing of at least one US state bar.
• 8–12 years of legal experience at a leading law firm and/or in-house, with significant focus on technology procurement and supply agreements.
• Substantial experience negotiating agreements for hardware, software and networking components, such as GPUs and servers, switches, optics and cabling, storage, and related firmware and software, preferably for data center, cloud, telecom or semiconductor businesses.
• Working knowledge of hardware supply chain dynamics, including allocation, lead times, warranty and RMA models, and supplier financing or prepayment structures.
• Familiarity with export controls, sanctions and trade compliance as applied to advanced computing.
• Experience leading or mentoring lawyers and non-lawyer professionals.
• Exceptional negotiation, drafting and communication skills, and a practical, business-enabling approach to risk.

Nice to have

• In-house experience at a hyperscaler, neocloud, OEM, semiconductor company or data center operator.
• Experience with large-scale capital equipment procurement, including power and cooling equipment (e.g., switchgear, UPS, generators, chillers).
• Familiarity with multi-jurisdictional supply arrangements.

Equal Opportunity

Nscale is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If you require reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know.

For information on how Nscale handles candidate personal data, please see our Employee & Candidate Privacy Notice:Here. Nscale does not accept unsolicited candidate submissions from recruitment agencies.

Salary Range

$210,000 - $340,000 USD