Legal, Partnerships

Baseten; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation and equity

Medical, dental, vision insurance (US)

Flexible PTO including company Winter/

Parental leave

Fertility & family-building stipend

401(k) company match (US)

Exposure to ML startups and learning

Job summary

Baseten is seeking a senior attorney to partner with our Partnerships and GTM teams on strategic deals at the center of the AI ecosystem. You will engage with model labs, AI-native firms, cloud platforms, and compute providers, guiding terms from model license to deployment.

You will also help scale the team and contribute to enterprise deals, M&A, and strategic initiatives. You will collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Product, Eng, Finance, and Security to move deals forward, translate complex

Qualifications

• JD and active bar membership in good standing.
• 8+ years of technology transactions or partnerships experience, including in-house at an AI-native, cloud, or developer-infrastructure company.
• Proven track record of closing complex partnership, licensing, or distribution deals.
• Ability to structure first-of-their-kind deals without a template.
• Commercial mindset focusing on terms that serve both sides.
• Fluency in open source and open weight model licenses; ability to explain tech to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong judgment, practical problem-solving, and direct communication.
• Willingness to mentor others and contribute to enterprise deals, M&A, and strategic initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle of partnership agreements with Partnerships and GTM teams.
• Lead negotiations directly with partner counsel and executives.
• Interpret model licenses and explain applicability to Baseten products for customers and teams.
• Shape integration and technology partner frameworks that expand customer capabilities on Baseten.
• Create templates, playbooks, and enablement to accelerate business.
• Stay current on AI legal developments and adapt positions accordingly.
• Mentor teammates and participate in scaling the legal team, including enterprise deals and strategic work.

Skills

Tech transactions

Partnerships

Negotiation

Open source licensing

Strategy & deal structuring

Mentoring

Autonomy

Clear communicator

Education

Juris Doctor (JD) & active bar membership

Job description

ABOUT BASETEN

Baseten powers mission-critical inference for the world's most dynamic AI companies, like Cursor, Notion, OpenEvidence, Abridge, Clay, Gamma, and Writer. By uniting applied AI research, flexible infrastructure, and seamless developer tooling, we enable companies operating at the frontier of AI to bring cutting-edge models into production. We're growing quickly and recently raised our $1.5B Series F, led by Altimeter Capital, Conviction Partners, and Spark Capital. Join us and help build the platform engineers turn to ship AI products.

THE ROLE

We're hiring a senior attorney to work with our Partnerships and GTM teams on the strategic deals that position Baseten at the center of the AI ecosystem. You'll partner with leading model labs, AI-native companies, global cloud platforms, and the innovators powering next-gen compute, often in areas where market norms are still taking shape. Along the way, you'll collaborate closely with Sales, Marketing, Product, Eng, Finance, and Security to get these deals done. By connecting Baseten with the companies shaping AI, you'll make it possible for builders and our customers to own their intelligence.

Closing a deal here means understanding how our product works (model license terms, Model APIs, dedicated deployments, fine-tuning, and integrations) and the novel legal issues it raises, while helping shape deals that move our business forward. This is a role for a commercially minded lawyer who thrives at that intersection and wants to own deals end to end. And, like everyone on this team, you'll also flex onto other work where you're needed.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own the full lifecycle of partnership agreements as a trusted partner to Partnerships and GTM teams, structuring deals that expand our reach and shape the future of our business
• Lead negotiations independently, working directly with partner counsel and executive stakeholders
• Interpret model licenses and explain how they apply to our products in plain language for customers and internal teams
• Shape the framework for integrations and technology partners that expands what customers can do on our platform
• Build templates, playbooks, and enablement that help the business move faster
• Stay current on AI legal and regulatory developments, and recommend how our positions should evolve with the product, market, and law
• Mentor others, help us scale the team, and pitch in on enterprise deals, M&A, and other strategic work as needed

REQUIREMENTS

• JD and active bar membership in good standing
• 8+ years of technology transactions or partnerships experience, including in-house experience at an AI-native, cloud, or developer-infrastructure company
• A track record of closing complex partnership, licensing, or distribution deals, including with partners who are also customers or competitors
• A creative problem-solver who enjoys structuring first-of-their-kind deals without a template
• A commercial mindset that sees the deal behind the paper and finds terms that serve both sides
• Fluency in open source and open weight model licenses, and the curiosity to dig into how technical products work
• Sound judgment and a bias toward practical answers, especially when there isn't a settled one
• A clear, direct communicator who can push back constructively and still keep deals moving
• A partner Partnerships and GTM want in the room early, with a desire to build enablement, mentor others, and help us scale the team
• Thrives with autonomy on a lean, fast-moving team; knows when to own and when to escape
• A desire to become a recognized thought leader in your field

NICE TO HAVE

• The ability to learn, build, and master AI tooling and systems to self-serve and operate at breakneck speed, and an interest in building the framework for how Legal uses AI workflows to streamline its work
• Experience working on model licensing or distribution at a frontier lab, hyperscaler, or AI platform company
• Experience with marketplace, gateway, or reseller arrangements
• Experience supporting international partners and cross-border deals (EMEA, APAC)

BENEFITS

• Competitive compensation, including meaningful equity
• (U.S. only) 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee and dependents
• Flexible PTO policy including company wide Winter Break (our offices are closed from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day!)
• Paid parental leave
• Fertility and family-building stipend through Carrot
• (U.S. only) Company-facilitated 401(k)
• Exposure to a variety of ML startups, offering unparalleled learning and networking opportunities.

At Baseten, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law (by example, the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, where applicable).