Senior Commercial Counsel – SaaS & AI Contracts (Remote)

Canto; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); Remote; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Startup spirit

Hands-on impact

Learning by doing

Close-knit team

Open communication

Job summary

Canto is seeking a Commercial Counsel to build and scale a modern in‑house legal function focused on strategic commercial contracting. Reporting to the CFO, you will design AI‑enabled contracting processes that accelerate deals and scale the business across Sales, Finance, and executives.

Initial six months involve establishing end‑to‑end contracting operations, playbooks, and CLM systems, while partnering with stakeholders to reduce friction and maintain compliance.

Qualifications

• JD and active bar membership in good standing.
• 5–8 years of SaaS or technology legal experience, in-house or a mix of law firm and in-house.
• Strong experience negotiating commercial SaaS agreements (MSAs, subscription agreements, DPAs, and NDAs).
• Working knowledge of data privacy frameworks (GDPR, CCPA).
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently, build processes from scratch, and establish legal infrastructure in a scaling environment.
• Experience partnering with Sales and go‑to‑market teams in a high‑velocity environment.
• Clear interest in legal technology and AI‑driven workflows.

Responsibilities

• Drive Commercial Contracting & Sales Enablement.
• Own negotiation and execution of commercial SaaS agreements (MSAs, subscription agreements, DPAs, NDAs).
• Enforce company positions on non-standard terms and manage escalation paths to improve time-to-signature.
• Train and enable Sales to handle routine negotiations independently.
• Lead the end-to-end contracting function for all customer and vendor agreements.
• Implement and manage a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) system with templates and workflows.
• Leverage AI-driven tools for contract review, risk flagging, and automation.
• Partner with Security, Product, and Executive Leadership on AI, data governance, and regulatory requirements.

Skills

Bar admission

SaaS contracting

Commercial negotiations

Privacy frameworks (GDPR/CCPA)

Independent work

Sales collaboration

AI-driven workflows interest

Education

JD & bar admission

Tools

CLM systems

AI-enabled legal tools

Job description

Canto is seeking a Commercial Counsel to build and scale a modern in‑house legal function focused on strategic commercial contracting. Reporting to the CFO, you will design AI‑enabled contracting processes that accelerate deals and scale the business across Sales, Finance, and executives.

Initial six months involve establishing end‑to‑end contracting operations, playbooks, and CLM systems, while partnering with stakeholders to reduce friction and maintain compliance.