Senior commercial counsel

WRITER; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 201,000 - 282,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous PTO

Medical coverage

Parental leave

Galleri cancer screening

HSA option

Annual stipends (wellness)

Job summary

WRITER seeks a senior commercial counsel to partner with Sales and Procurement, drafting and negotiating SaaS agreements that drive growth while protecting the company. You’ll join a small, fast-moving team that values clear business communication and creative problem-solving.

You’ll support global deals, govern contract templates, and train GTM colleagues, contributing to scalable, data-driven legal operations.

Qualifications

• Law degree from an accredited school and admissible to practice in the U.S.
• 7+ years negotiating commercial contracts, preferably SaaS/tech
• Experience contracting with large enterprise companies & partners
• Exposure to privacy, IP, and AI-specific legal issues
• Experience using contract management tools
• Familiarity with CLM tools (Asana, Salesforce, Linksquares)
• Business-minded lawyer with strong work ethic, fast, low ego
• Ability to explain complex legal concepts clearly

Responsibilities

• Review and negotiate inbound and outbound commercial contracts, including SaaS licensing, partnerships, and data processing agreements.
• Develop and manage contract templates and negotiation playbooks with sales operations.
• Improve sales contracting processes and support internal stakeholders as the company scales.
• Provide practical, business-focused legal guidance to go-to-market teams.

Skills

Contract negotiation

SaaS contracts

Enterprise contracts

Privacy & AI basics

Contract mgmt tools

CLM tools

Education

J.D.

Tools

Asana

Salesforce

Linksquares

Job description

About WRITER

WRITER is where the world's leading enterprises orchestrate AI-powered work. Our vision is to expand human capacity through superintelligence. And we're proving it's possible – through powerful, trustworthy AI that unites IT and business teams together to unlock enterprise-wide transformation. With WRITER's end-to-end platform, hundreds of companies like Mars, Marriott, Uber, and Vanguard are building and deploying AI agents that are grounded in their company's data and fueled by WRITER's enterprise-grade LLMs. Valued at $1.9B and backed by industry-leading investors including Premji Invest, Radical Ventures, and ICONIQ Growth, WRITER is rapidly cementing its position as the leader in enterprise generative AI.

About WRITER

WRITER is where the world's leading enterprises orchestrate AI-powered work. Our vision is to expand human capacity through superintelligence. And we're proving it's possible – through powerful, trustworthy AI that unites IT and business teams together to unlock enterprise-wide transformation. With WRITER's end-to-end platform, hundreds of companies like Mars, Marriott, Uber, and Vanguard are building and deploying AI agents that are grounded in their company's data and fueled by WRITER's enterprise-grade LLMs. Valued at $1.9B and backed by industry-leading investors including Premji Invest, Radical Ventures, and ICONIQ Growth, WRITER is rapidly cementing its position as the leader in enterprise generative AI. Founded in 2020 with office hubs in San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, and London, our team thinks big and moves fast, and we're looking for smart, hardworking builders and scalers to join us on our journey to create a better future of work with AI.

About The Role

We’re looking for a senior commercial counsel who thrives on deal-making and loves turning legal complexity into business clarity. In this role, you’ll be the trusted legal partner to our sales and procurement functions, reporting to our head of commercial legal. You’ll be drafting and negotiating SaaS agreements that power our growth and keep our partnerships strong. If you’re energized by fast-paced negotiations with large enterprise companies, curious about cutting-edge technology, and excited to join a small-but-mighty team that values creativity and collaboration (all with a sense of humor and low ego) then, this may be the role for you. Come help us redefine what it means to be an in-house legal team - and have fun doing it.

What You’ll Do

• Review and negotiate inbound and outbound commercial contracts, including inbound and outbound SaaS licensing agreements, strategic partnership agreements, data processing agreements and other important contracts with our enterprise customers and suppliers.
• Develop and manage various contract templates and negotiation playbooks and improve efficiency of sales contracting processes in collaboration with sales operations.
• Create thoughtful processes that benefit the business (not just legal) and how we support our internal stakeholders as we grow and scale - If you see something that doesn’t work, or could be better, we want you to help fix it!
• Enable and train our go-to-market teammates by giving them practicable advice and guidance.

What You Need

• A law degree from an accredited law school and admitted to practice law in the U.S.
• 7+ years of experience negotiating commercial contracts, ideally at a SaaS company and/or law firm servicing tech industry clients.
• Experience contracting with large enterprise companies and strategic partners, often in heavily-regulated industries (finance, healthcare, insurance). Bonus points if you’ve supported a global sales team with international offices.
• Exposure to privacy, IP, and/or AI-specific legal issues, with a basic understanding of AI. We don’t need you to be an expert, but it helps if you know the basics.
• Experience using contract management tools, in particular to help legal teams like ours continue to be data-driven.
• Familiarity with legal operations, project management and CLM tools like Asana, Salesforce, Linksquares, etc.
• A strong work ethic, the ability to think on your feet, and a sense of humor - we work hard, but we know how to have fun.
• You are:
  • A business person first that also happens to be a lawyer.
  • Someone who can explain complex legal concepts in a non-legal way.
  • A redline machine! The end-of-month, quarter and year push is real, and we work fast under tight deadlines. Efficiency and the ability to prioritize and multi-task are must-haves.
  • A self-starter, who finds ways to add value without being told.
  • A partner - not a roadblock. We get things done!
  • Curious, reliable, comfortable moving uncomfortably fast, and - above all else - have a low ego.

Benefits & Perks (US Full-time Employees)

• Generous PTO, plus company holidays
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family
• Paid parental leave for all parents (16 weeks)
• Fertility and family planning support
• Early-detection cancer testing through Galleri
• Flexible spending account and dependent FSA options
• Health savings account for eligible plans with company contribution
• Annual work-life stipends for:
  • Wellness stipend for gym, massage/chiropractor, personal training, etc.
  • Learning and development stipend
• Company-wide off-sites and team off-sites
• Competitive compensation, company stock options and 401k

WRITER is an equal-opportunity employer and is committed to diversity. We don't make hiring or employment decisions based on race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state or federal law. Under the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

By submitting your application on the application page, you acknowledge and agree to WRITER's Global Candidate Privacy Notice.

Compensation Range: $200.9K - $282.1K