Remote Commercial Counsel — SaaS & AI-Driven Contracts

Canto; Alton (IL); Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Canto is hiring its first in-house legal leader to build and scale a modern legal function from the ground up. This role focuses on commercial contracting as a growth driver and, within six months, you will own end-to-end contracting operations, implement foundational systems and playbooks, and be the primary legal partner across Sales, Finance, and the executive team.

Drive contracting: negotiate and execute SaaS agreements (MSAs, DPAs, NDAs) while enabling rapid business velocity; own CLM, AI

Qualifications

• Five to eight years of legal experience in SaaS or technology, in-house or mix of law firm and in-house.

Responsibilities

• Drive negotiation and execution of commercial SaaS agreements (MSAs, DPAs, NDAs) with guardrails.
• Enforce company positions on non-standard terms and manage escalation paths to improve time-to-signature while limiting risk.
• Train and enable Sales to handle routine negotiations independently.
• Lead end-to-end contracting for customer and vendor agreements with scalable, AI-enabled operations.
• Implement and manage a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) system with templates, playbooks, approvals, and delegation of authority.
• Leverage AI-driven legal tools for contract review, risk flagging, and workflow automation.
• Manage vendor contracting and procurement legal processes; maintain a contract repository.
• Lead privacy work including GDPR and CCPA in operating geographies; partner with Security and Product on AI governance.
• Serve as primary legal advisor across commercial matters and manage outside counsel relationships.
• Handle disputes and pre-litigation matters and advise on corporate compliance program.
• Coordinate with Security during privacy and security events and regulatory obligations.

Skills

SaaS contracts

MSA negotiation

DPAs & NDAs

Contract lifecycle management

AI in legal tech

Regulatory compliance

Vendor contracts

Cross-functional collaboration

GDPR/CCPA knowledge

Tools

CLM systems

AI-enabled review tools

Job description

Canto is hiring its first in-house legal leader to build and scale a modern legal function from the ground up. This role focuses on commercial contracting as a growth driver and, within six months, you will own end-to-end contracting operations, implement foundational systems and playbooks, and be the primary legal partner across Sales, Finance, and the executive team.

Drive contracting: negotiate and execute SaaS agreements (MSAs, DPAs, NDAs) while enabling rapid business velocity; own CLM, AI