Legal Operations Lead

Clera; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Clera is seeking a seasoned Legal Ops professional to own and optimize the company’s legal operating system. You will draft, negotiate, and manage routine tech agreements while shaping scalable workflows and templates.

You’ll automate high-volume processes with AI, set escalation rules, and supervise outside counsel to balance speed with risk. On-site in the San Francisco Bay Area or Singapore, with competitive equity and benefits.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in legal operations, contracts management, or transactional work at a fast-growing tech company
• Proven ability to draft, review, and negotiate routine commercial technology agreements
• Experience with data licensing, IP-intensive transactions, marketplaces, or product-linked rights
• Ability to design and implement legal workflows, intake systems, and approval frameworks
• Comfort with legal tech, workflow automation tools, and AI to scale legal work
• Strong commercial judgment balancing risk, speed, and business needs
• Experience managing outside counsel relationships (scoping, spend control, escalation)
• Systems-building/operating experience prioritized over formal law firm background

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end legal workflow from intake to outside-counsel coordination
• Draft, review, and negotiate MSAs, SOWs, data licenses, SLAs, NDAs, and vendor contracts
• Build and refine contract templates and negotiation playbooks for data rights and usage restrictions
• Identify opportunities to automate or streamline high-volume legal workflows with software and AI
• Establish decision rules for what stays internal, can be standardized, or escalated
• Manage outside counsel strategically, including scoping and spend control

Skills

Legal operations

Contract drafting

Data licensing

Workflow design

Legal tech & AI awareness

Outside counsel management

Commercial judgment

Job description

About the Role

This is a foundational role at a fast-growing AI infrastructure company, where you'll build and own the entire legal operating system from the ground up. Sitting at the intersection of legal, operations, and technology, you'll be the person who makes legal scalable as commercial volume and complexity grows.

What You'll Do

• Own the end-to-end legal workflow, including intake, prioritization, contracting, approvals, escalation paths, document management, and outside-counsel coordination.

• Draft, review, and negotiate routine commercial agreements — MSAs, SOWs, data licenses, SLAs, NDAs, and vendor contracts — across buyers, data vendors, and partners.

• Build and continuously refine contract templates and negotiation playbooks so recurring issues like data rights and usage restrictions are handled quickly and consistently.

• Identify opportunities to automate or streamline high-volume legal workflows using software and AI, while preserving human judgment for complex matters.

• Establish clear decision rules for what stays internal, what can be standardized or automated, and what escalates to leadership or outside counsel.

• Manage outside counsel strategically — scoping work, controlling spend, and reserving external lawyers for high-value or specialist questions.

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of experience in legal operations, contracts management, commercial operations, transactional legal work, or a combination at a fast-growing technology company.

• Strong proficiency drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial technology agreements, with sound judgment on routine versus specialist issues.

• Experience with data licensing, IP-intensive transactions, marketplaces, or businesses where contractual rights are closely tied to the product.

• Proven ability to design and implement legal workflows, intake systems, document management processes, and approval frameworks.

• Comfort with legal technology, workflow automation tools, and AI — and genuine interest in using them to scale legal work.

• Strong commercial judgment to balance legal risk against speed, customer needs, and business priorities.

• Experience managing outside counsel relationships, including scoping, spend control, and escalation decisions.

• Legal training or law firm / in-house experience is a plus, but not required — systems building and operating experience is prioritized.

Compensation & Benefits

Competitive compensation with equity and comprehensive benefits, including top-tier medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k), commuter benefits, and unlimited access to leading AI tools. Visa sponsorship and relocation support are available for strong candidates.

Location

On-site in the San Francisco Bay Area or Singapore.