Product Counsel

Tekion; Sacramento (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation and stock

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Unlimited PTO and parental leave

Work with Silicon Valley leaders

Early-stage hyper-growth environment

Work with latest technologies

Job summary

Tekion is seeking a Product Counsel to partner with Product and Engineering teams across the U.S. and India, advising on the full product lifecycle from design through launch.

This role emphasizes practical, scalable legal solutions and plain-language counsel that helps teams ship features safely within Tekion's cloud-native automotive platform. The candidate should have a J.D., active bar license, 8–10 years of tech industry experience, and strong judgment for high-growth environments;

Qualifications

• J.D. from ABA-accredited law school and active U.S. bar license.
• 8–10 years of legal practice advising technology companies.
• Ability to navigate high-growth, cross-border tech environments.
• Strong legal and business judgment with focus on material risks.
• Excellent communication to engineers, product managers, and executives.

Responsibilities

• Embed with Product and Engineering from early design through launch and post-release.
• Triage legal issues to prioritize material risks and advise on mitigation or escalation.
• Architect creative, legally compliant features and workflows built into the product.
• Develop deep knowledge of Tekion's platform, data flows, and integrations.
• Build scalable legal infrastructure, playbooks, and self-service guidance for teams.
• Coordinate daily with distributed teams across time zones and borders.

Job description

About Tekion

Positively disrupting an industry that has not seen any innovation in over 50 years, Tekion has challenged the paradigm with the first and fastest cloud-native automotive platform that includes the revolutionary Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) for retailers, Automotive Enterprise Cloud (AEC) for manufacturers and other large automotive enterprises and Automotive Partner Cloud (APC) for technology and industry partners. Tekion connects the entire spectrum of the automotive retail ecosystem through one seamless platform. The transformative platform uses cutting-edge technology, big data, machine learning, and AI to seamlessly bring together OEMs, retailers/dealers and consumers. With its highly configurable integration and greater customer engagement capabilities, Tekion is enabling the best automotive retail experiences ever. Tekion employs close to 3,000 people across North America, Asia and Europe.

Job Introduction

Tekion is seeking a Product Counsel to serve as the dedicated legal partner to our Product and Engineering teams. Reporting directly to the Deputy General Counsel, VP Legal, you will advise across the full product development lifecycle - from initial design and feature scoping through launch and ongoing iteration - while helping build and scale Tekion's product legal function. This is an individual contributor role for an attorney who thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, works seamlessly with cross-border teams across the U.S., India, and other global hubs, and delivers clear, actionable legal advice that enables product teams to ship. We are looking for someone with strong judgment who focuses on material risks and develops scalable, creative solutions rather than exhaustively chasing low-risk issues. You know when to say "yes," "yes, if," or "no," and you have the practical instincts to know when to elevate and dive deeper. You do not need a narrow subject-matter specialty. We are looking for a reliable, collaborative partner who listens carefully, asks the right follow-up questions, gives sound legal counsel in plain language, and is genuinely interested in understanding how individual features connect to the broader Tekion platform ecosystem.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

• Product Legal Partnership: Embed directly with Product and Engineering from early feature scoping and system design through launch and post-release iteration.
• Pragmatic Risk Management: Triage legal issues quickly to prioritize material risks, formulate practical solutions, and exercise sound judgment on when to approve, mitigate, or elevate to legal leadership.
• Product-Embedded Solutions: Collaborate with technical teams to architect creative, legally compliant features and workflows that can be built directly into the product.
• Platform & Technical Fluency: Develop a deep working knowledge of Tekion's platform architecture, data flows, and integrations to ensure advice is grounded in how the software actually works.
• Function Building & Scale: Create and operationalize the scaffolding for a growing product legal function, including intake channels, review playbooks, checklists, and self-service guidance for product teams.
• Cross-Border Execution: Coordinate daily with distributed engineering and product organizations across the U.S., India, and global hubs across multiple time zones.
• Regulatory Translation: Monitor and translate evolving global technology regulations into actionable engineering, operational, and product requirements.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Partner with colleagues across Commercial Legal, Information Security, and Compliance to maintain consistent legal terms and risk posture across the business.

Basic Qualifications (Required)

• Credentials: J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school (or foreign equivalent) and an active bar license in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• Experience: 8-10 years of legal practice, including substantial experience advising technology companies and software/cloud platforms.
• Pace & Environment: Demonstrated success operating effectively in high-growth, fast-paced, cross-border technology environments.
• Risk Calibration: Exceptional legal and business judgment with a high tolerance for ambiguity, the ability to focus on high-impact risks rather than edge cases, and sharp escalation instincts.
• Consultative Communication: Strong active-listening and inquiry skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues in plain language and earn trust with engineers, product managers, and executives.
• Systems Thinking: Genuine intellectual curiosity and appetite to understand complex software ecosystems, system architectures, and interdependent platform features.
• Builder Mindset: Proactive drive to create scalable legal infrastructure, processes, and playbooks from scratch.

Nice-to-have

• Prior in-house product counseling experience (strongly preferred).
• Experience advising on privacy and data protection frameworks.
• Experience with AI/ML technologies, model deployment, or data governance.
• Familiarity with intellectual property strategy, software licensing, or open-source compliance.
• Experience advising on digital advertising, marketing technology, or adtech workflows.
• In-house legal experience at an enterprise B2B SaaS or cloud platform company.

Perks & Benefits

• Competitive compensation and generous stock options
• 100% employer-paid top-of-the-line medical, dental and vision coverage
• Great benefits including unlimited PTO, parental leave and free snacks and beverages
• The opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds from Silicon Valley's most dominant and successful companies
• Be part of an early stage, hyper-growth start-up with the opportunity to grow and prosper
• Work on the latest and coolest technologies - everything is home-grown and built ground-up
• A dynamic work environment with a strong sense of community and collaboration
• The open and transparent culture that encourages innovation, rewards performance and discourages hierarchy
• Exciting opportunities for career growth and development

AshbyNote: Tekion recently transitioned to a new recruiting tool and we appreciate your patience and feedback as we adjust to our new system!

Tekion is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, victim of violence or having a family member who is a victim of violence, the intersectionality of two or more protected categories, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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