Employment and Commercial Counsel

Rent the Runway; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 154,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO

Health & vision insurance

401(k) match

Employee discounts

Parental leave

Sabbatical

Team events

Fridays remote

Job summary

Rent the Runway seeks an Employment & Commercial Counsel to advise our People Team and executives on employment law and to draft and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements. You will collaborate with the lean Legal team and report to the Chief Legal & Administrative Officer from our Brooklyn headquarters, with a hybrid schedule Monday–Thursday.

You will work on HR policies, international trade, brand relationships and other legal matters, partnering across teams to balance growth with

Qualifications

• JD and NY bar membership or eligibility to register as in-house attorney in NY.
• 4+ total years practicing law, including 2+ years employment law and 2+ years in-house counsel experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead attorney for all employment matters across the business.
• Draft and negotiate commercial agreements with partners, sponsors, and vendors.
• Develop HR policies with People team and maintain documentation.
• Scale RTR’s Legal function with templates, policies, and tech stack.

Skills

Employment law

Commercial contracts

Negotiation

In-house counsel

Education

J.D.

New York Bar

Tools

Contract lifecycle mgmt

Job description

About Us:

Rent the Runway (RTR) is transforming the way we get dressed by pioneering the world’s first Closet in the Cloud. Founded in 2009, RTR has disrupted the $2.4 trillion fashion industry by inspiring women with a more joyful, sustainable and financially-savvy way to feel their best every day. As the ultimate destination for circular fashion, the brand now offers infinite points of access to its shared closet via a fully customizable subscription to fashion, one-time rental or ownership. RTR offers designer apparel and accessories from hundreds of brand partners and has built in-house proprietary technology and a one-of-a-kind reverse logistics operation. RTR has been named to CNBC’s “Disruptor 50” five times in ten years, and has been placed on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list multiple times.

About the Job:

As Employment & Commercial Counsel, you will play a key role in advising our business partners and driving RTR’s growth. You will work primarily advising and counseling our People Team and executives on employment law matters as well as drafting and negotiating commercial agreements. At the same time, you will be a generalist who is excited and interested to jump into the wide range of questions the Legal team handles every day, including brand relationships, transportation, safety, environmental compliance, and international trade. You’ll be a strategic, hands‑on, and creative partner to the business - as well as a practical problem solver.

You will report to the Chief Legal & Administrative Officer and work collaboratively with the other members of RTR’s lean Legal team. We are an “office centric” company and you will work from Rent the Runway’s Brooklyn headquarters Monday - Thursday.

What You’ll Do:

• Serve as the lead attorney and strategic advisor for all employment matters across the business, including recruitment, employee relations, performance management, leaves of absence and accommodations, labor matters, wage and hour matters, internal investigations, worker’s compensation, and immigration.
• In partnership with the People team, develop and maintain effective HR policies, procedures and other documentation, including drafting, implementing, and maintaining form documents and ensuring clear and effective procedures for employment matters.
• Draft and review commercial contracts, including agreements with designer partners, sponsorships, advertisers/influencers/ambassadors, technology partners including but not limited to, SaaS and software licensing partners, and consultants, and more.
• Partner with your colleagues on the Legal team to continue to scale RTR’s legal function, including building templates, policies, procedures, and the legal tech stack that enable us to provide top tier legal services as efficiently as possible.
• Pitch in and advise various teams on everything from key business initiatives to one-off “what if…” questions.
• Develop training materials and other resources for your business partners.
• Collaborate with other business functions and develop pragmatic solutions that support the growth of the Company while appropriately managing the legal risk.
• Work independently on matters you own, and collaborate on key legal and business deliverables with RTR’s Chief Legal & Administrative Officer, Deputy General Counsel, Sr. Manager of Legal, and leaders across the business.

About You:

• JD and NY bar membership or eligibility to register as an in-house attorney in NY.
• 4+ total years of practicing law, including 2+ years experience in employment law and 2+ years of work as in-house counsel for an operating company.
• Experience with non-exempt workforces is a plus.
• Experience drafting and negotiating commercial agreements.
• Interest in developing skills as a legal generalist.
• Familiarity with marketing/advertising, traditional or digital media, tech, ecommerce, retail, manufacturing, or contract lifecycle management is a plus.
• A practical, proactive, creative, and risk-based approach to counseling and negotiating.
• Excellent judgment.
• Systemic and process-driven thinker who is excited about scaling RTR’s Legal services.
• The ability to translate legal issues into clear, “plain English” guidance and business solutions for non-lawyers.
• A highly collaborative work ethic, while also exercising autonomy as a subject matter expert.
• Flexibility necessary to thrive at an ambitious, dynamic growth company, including strong business judgment and an ability to calibrate when we need a quick response versus a deep dive to get something precisely right.
• An ability to interact effectively with your colleagues and clients, and to build strong relationships and influence across departments.
• An ability to prioritize and manage multiple critical projects under tight deadlines.

Benefits:

At Rent the Runway, we’re committed to the well-being of our employees, and aim to create a workplace that fosters both personal and professional growth. Our benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Paid Time Off, including vacation, paid bereavement, and family sick leave - every employee needs time to take care of themselves and their family.
• Comprehensive health, vision, dental, FSA and dependent care from day 1 of employment - Your health comes first, and we’ve got you covered.
• 401(k) match - an investment in your future.
• Exclusive employee subscription and rental discounts - to ensure you experience the magic of renting the runway (and give us valued feedback!).
• Universal Paid Parental Leave for both parents + flexible return to work program - because we know your newest family member(s) deserve your undivided attention.
• Paid Sabbatical after 5 years of continuous service - Unplug, recharge, and have some fun!
• Company-wide events and outings - our team spirit is no joke - we know how to have fun!
• Office-centric work - our corporate employees and technical leaders have the option to work remotely on Fridays, in accordance with Company policies

Rent the Runway is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with applicable law, we prohibit discrimination against any applicant or employee based on any legally-recognized basis, including, but not limited to: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, childbirth or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, age (40 and over), national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), veteran status, uniformed service member status or any other status protected by federal, state or local law.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $154,170 to $192,712. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held.