Legal Counsel

Rakuten USA; San Mateo (CA); Remote; USD 99,000 - 172,000; Full time

Job summary

Rakuten USA is seeking a Legal Counsel experienced in handling complex commercial agreements and providing legal guidance on various matters, including AI governance. The role requires a J.D. degree, active bar membership, and 2 to 4 years of relevant legal experience. This remote position will allow you to collaborate with cross-functional teams while ensuring compliance with legal regulations. You will also be responsible for analyzing risks and developing strategies to mitigate them, making this an exciting opportunity for a proactive legal professional.

Benefits

Discretionary bonus

Health, vision, dental insurance

401k matching

PTO

Volunteer Time Off (VTO)

Qualifications

• 2-4 years relevant legal practice experience required.
• Active membership in at least one US state bar.
• Additional training in Privacy or AI-related law fields preferred.

Responsibilities

• Draft and negotiate complex commercial agreements.
• Provide legal review on matters including strategic transactions and regulatory compliance.
• Develop and maintain AI governance program.

Skills

Strong analytical capabilities

Strong writing skills

Exceptional interpersonal skills

Negotiating commercial agreements

Familiarity with global privacy laws

Education

J.D. degree

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree preferred

Job description

Job Description:

This position is eligible forremotework in the followingstates:CA/CO/CT/FL/GA/IL/IN/MD/MA/MN/TX/UT/VA/WA/WI

Rakuten International oversees 7 businesses with over 4,000 employees globally. The brand is recognized for its leadership and innovation in e-commerce, digital content, advertising, entertainment and communications, bringing the joy of discovery and access to more than 1 billion members across the world. Our teams deliver on the company’s mission to delight merchants and customers through innovation, optimism, and teamwork.

Job Summary:

You will serve as an established and productive individual contributor, managing defined components of legal projects or processes within your area of responsibility.You will apply practical knowledge of corporate, commercial and privacy lawto analyze risk and provide legal adviceonvariousin-house clients. You will be responsible for structuring, drafting and negotiating a variety of vendor and technical contracts. You will actas advisor on legal issues involving the organization’slegal andregulatory compliance, serving as a subject matter expert on AI governance.Requires a law degreeand membership in one state bar.

Key Responsibilities:

• Structure, draft, and negotiate a wide variety of complex commercial agreements, including technology, professional services, sponsorships and partnerships, non-disclosure, and data sharing agreements.

• Provide legal review, advice, and support on diverse legal matters, including strategic transactions, commercial contracting, licensing, and general corporate matters, while identifying and mitigating contractual and legal risks.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to internal clients, offering guidance on cybersecurity preparedness, data breach response, regulatory compliance, internal and external AI products, insurance, contract interpretation, dispute resolution, and risk allocation.

• Serve as the primary legal partner for AI technology, governance and policy stakeholders, providing practical legal risk mitigation strategies for AI and ML initiatives, across multiple jurisdictions, while ensuring alignment with global legal frameworks. Develop and maintain AI governance program.

• Lead consensus building and coordinate legal advice across complex issues such as data protection, IP, intermediary liability, and consumer protection, collaborating with cross-functional teams on external communications, policy development, and product development and launches.

• Advise clients on cybersecurity preparedness, data breach response, and regulatory compliance.

• Administer legal documentation processes, ensuring accuracy and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

• Analyze complex legal scenarios to provide sound recommendations for organizational decision-making.

• Communicate effectively with internal stakeholders to address legal concerns and resolve routine issues.

• Develop complex legal contracts and agreements to support business operations.

• Evaluate existing policies and procedures, identifying opportunities for improvement and ensuring compliance.

• Implement processes to streamline legal workflows and enhance operational efficiency.

• Coordinate complex legal matters, collaborating with cross-functional teams to achieve objectives.

• Recommend strategies to address emerging legal issues and mitigate organizational risks.

• Documents legal findings and decisions, maintaining comprehensive and accurate records for future reference.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• J.D. degree and active membership in at least one US state bar and eligibility to obtain registered in-house counsel status (if required by the State Bar in the assigned work location).

• 2-4 years relevant legal practice experience at significant law firm(s) or in-house required.

• Strong analytical capabilities and written and oral communication skills.

• Strong writing skills and ability to simplify technical and legally dense material for clients and other audiences.

• Exceptional interpersonal skills with proven experience in relationship building and partnering with legal, business and technical colleagues

• Ability to motivate and influence highly-skilled professionals to achieve organizational goals.

• Demonstrated expertise with negotiating commercial agreements for technology services.

• Familiarity in global privacy laws and frameworks including the GDPR, CCPA and privacy principles that are common across global laws and regulations.

• Experience supporting investigations and regulatory inquiries related to cybersecurity.

• Additional certifications or training in Privacy or AI related law fields preferred.

• Demonstrated experience negotiating commercial agreements with particular experience advising on commercial agreements, governance programs, or other initiatives involving artificial intelligence.

Minimum Requirements:

• 2-4 years Required

• 5-7 years Preferred

• Bachelor's Degree Required

• Master's Degree Preferred

• Active state bar membership (required for the jurisdiction in which the attorney practices) Upon Hire Required

• Additional certifications or training in financial services law, compliance, or related fields Upon Hire Preferred

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Five Principles for Success
Our worldwide practices describe specific behaviors that make Rakuten unique and united across the world. We expect Rakuten employees to model these 5 Shugi Principles of Success.

Always improve, Always Advance - Only be satisfied with complete success - Kaizen
Passionately Professional - Take an uncompromising approach to your work and be determined to be the best
Hypothesize - Practice - Validate – Shikumika - Use the Rakuten Cycle to succeed in unknown territory
Maximize Customer Satisfaction - The greatest satisfaction for our teams is seeing their customers smile
Speed!! Speed!! Speed!! - Always be conscious of time - take charge, set clear goals, and engage your team

Rakuten provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. Rakuten considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, provincial or local laws.

At the time of posting, Rakuten expects the base compensation for this role to be within the range shown below. Individual compensation will vary based on job-related factors, including the skills, qualifications, and experience of the successful candidate as well as business need and geographic location. The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for discretionary bonus, health, vision, dental insurance, 401k matching, PTO, Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.

USD $99,306.00 - $171,612.00 annually