Legal Counsel

happyrobot.ai; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

HappyRobot is seeking a smart, business‑oriented Legal Counsel to support its growing AI platform with a focus on intellectual property and commercial agreements. This role collaborates with product, engineering, sales, partnerships, and operations to protect IP and scale contracting practices.

Ideal candidates have extensive experience in IP, data privacy, and negotiating SaaS-based arrangements, plus familiarity with DPAs and US privacy laws.

Qualifications

• Admitted to and in good standing with the bar of at least one US state.
• 6+ years of relevant legal experience at a law firm and/or in-house in a startup or high-growth tech company.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements, including SaaS agreements, MSAs, enterprise agreements, licensing, vendor, reseller, partnership, and DPAs.
• Advise on commercial, intellectual property, and data privacy matters related to product development and business operations.
• Review and negotiate DPAs and advise on compliance with US data privacy laws (CCPA/CPRA and state frameworks).
• Support IP strategy across trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret, and IP ownership matters.
• Assist with open-source compliance and IP assignment for employees and contractors.
• Develop and maintain legal templates, playbooks, policies, and scalable contracting workflows.
• Provide practical, business‑oriented legal guidance balancing risk and growth.
• Monitor regulatory developments in commercial law, IP, SaaS, and data privacy and assess impact.
• Support fundraising, due diligence, and other strategic corporate initiatives as needed.
• Manage external counsel when specialized legal support is required.

Skills

Contract negotiation

IP law

Data privacy

Regulatory compliance

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bar admission (US state)

Tools

Contract management software

Job description

About HappyRobot

HappyRobot is the infrastructure for enterprises to build and orchestrate AI workforces. Our AI workers don't just communicate through voice and email - they make decisions, take action, and run operations autonomously across entire enterprise systems. Born in Y Combinator (S23) and backed by a16z, Base10, Prysm Capital and Eurazeo with over $150M raised, we power critical operations for global enterprises worldwide.

HappyRobot is the infrastructure for enterprises to build and orchestrate AI workforces. Our AI workers don't just communicate through voice and email - they make decisions, take action, and run operations autonomously across entire enterprise systems. Born in Y Combinator (S23) and backed by a16z, Base10, Prysm Capital and Eurazeo with over $150M raised, we power critical operations for global enterprises worldwide. Learn more about our vision in our manifesto.

About the Role

We’re looking for a smart, practical, and business-oriented Legal Counsel to support our growing business with a focus on intellectual property and commercial agreements. This role will work cross-functionally with product, engineering, sales, partnerships, and operations teams to ensure our IP is protected and our commercial arrangements are sound, scalable, and aligned with our strategic goals.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements, including SaaS agreements, MSAs, enterprise agreements, licensing agreements, vendor agreements, reseller agreements, partnership agreements, Order Forms, DPAs, NDAs, and services agreements.

• Advise internal stakeholders on commercial, intellectual property, and data privacy matters related to product development, partnerships, customer relationships, and business operations.

• Review and negotiate data processing agreements (DPAs) and advise on compliance with US data privacy laws and regulations, including CCPA/CPRA and other applicable state privacy frameworks.

• Support the company’s intellectual property strategy, including trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret, and IP ownership matters.

• Assist with open-source software compliance, employee and contractor IP assignment matters, and IP diligence processes.

• Build, improve, and maintain legal templates, negotiation playbooks, internal policies, and scalable contracting workflows to increase operational efficiency.

• Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice that balances risk mitigation with commercial objectives and enables business growth.

• Monitor legal and regulatory developments related to commercial law, intellectual property, SaaS businesses, and data privacy, and assess their impact on the company.

• Support fundraising, due diligence, and other strategic corporate initiatives as needed.

• Manage external counsel effectively when specialized legal support is required.

Requirements

• Admitted to and in good standing with the bar of at least one US state.

• 6+ years of relevant legal experience, ideally combining experience at a reputable law firm and an in-house legal team at a startup or high-growth technology company.