Senior Associate General Counsel – Commercial & Privacy

Canals; New York (NY); Remote; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Canals, a growing software company serving wholesale distributors, is seeking its first General Counsel to own the commercial contracts function end-to-end and advise across the business on risk and opportunity.

You’ll draft complex enterprise SaaS/AI agreements, build templates and a negotiation playbook, manage privacy, data governance, and vendor agreements, and partner with Sales, Product, Engineering and Finance.

Qualifications

• JD from an accredited law school, and an active state bar membership in good standing
• 4-8 years of experience, including at least 2-3 years at an Am Law 100 law firm in the transactional/commercial practice area
• Deep expertise in commercial contract drafting and negotiation—you’ve handled complex deals and know where the real risk lives
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, prioritize competing demands, and make judgment calls without hand-holding
• Clear, direct communicator—you write and speak in plain language

Responsibilities

• Draft, negotiate, and close enterprise SaaS/AI agreements, including relevant addenda and schedules (think DPAs)
• Build and maintain contract templates and a negotiation playbook that empowers the sales team to move deals faster
• Triage inbound redlines efficiently and establish contract review SLAs
• Own day-to-day privacy compliance and data governance strategy
• Manage vendor and partner agreements, including software licenses and professional services contracts
• Serve as the embedded legal partner for Sales & Marketing, Product, Engineering and Finance
• Identify legal risks early in the product development cycle and advise on mitigation without killing velocity
• Build and refine the legal ops infrastructure, including contract management tooling and intake processes
• Help to identify when to use outside counsel, and manage those relationships

Skills

Commercial contracts drafting

Negotiation

Plain language communication

Independent work

Judgment under pressure

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Job description

Canals, a growing software company serving wholesale distributors, is seeking its first General Counsel to own the commercial contracts function end-to-end and advise across the business on risk and opportunity.

You’ll draft complex enterprise SaaS/AI agreements, build templates and a negotiation playbook, manage privacy, data governance, and vendor agreements, and partner with Sales, Product, Engineering and Finance.