Senior Counsel, Commercial Transactions

Relativity; Illinois; Hybrid; USD 183,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

Relativity is seeking a Senior Counsel, Commercial Transactions to draft, review, and negotiate software, SaaS, and cloud service agreements, including AI-enabled offerings. You will advise business teams, partner with Sales, Product, Security, and Finance, and help scale contracting processes across a fast-growing organization.

The role requires extensive experience in technology transactions and a JD with US bar membership, offering a competitive base salary, bonus potential, and long‑term

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
• Active bar membership in good standing.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Intelligence, flexibility, creativity, diligence, responsiveness, and strong communications skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer, procurement, and strategic commercial negotiations and transactions and technology-related legal work by drafting, reviewing and negotiating software, SaaS and hybrid, cloud services, AI-related offerings, and strategic partnership agreements.
• Provide creative, strategic legal advice and business counsel on commercial, operational and strategic legal issues, and manage a high volume of contracts.
• Engage with customers and internal stakeholders to deliver timely, high-quality outcomes.
• Suggest and implement process improvements for standard forms and contract templates.
• Leverage AI legal technology tools and MS Office to increase efficiency and accuracy.
• Support pricing governance initiatives and collaborate with Finance and business teams.
• Participate in internal approval workflows and respond to stakeholder questions.
• Maintain knowledge of AI tools, Salesforce, Ironclad, and related platforms.

Skills

SaaS contracts

Software licensing

AI tools

Contract negotiations

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Strategic thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Juris Doctor

Tools

Salesforce

Ironclad

Asana

Microsoft Office

Job description

Posting Type

Hybrid

Job Overview

The Senior Counsel, Commercial Transactions serves as a senior legal advisor supporting Relativity’s commercial contracting function and strategic business initiatives.

Primary Objective: Draft, review, negotiate, and advise on a broad range of customer-facing and strategic commercial transactions, with a primary focus on SaaS, software licensing, strategic partnership and go to market arrangements, cloud services, AI-enabled offerings, data processing, and other commercial arrangements.

Secondary Objective: Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Partner, Customer Success, Strategy, Security, Finance, Procurement, and other business stakeholders to enable growth, manage legal risk, develop scalable contracting processes, and support strategic initiatives.

Welcome to a different kind of legal team. We don't slow business down — we help it move forward. This is a team of legal professionals who are as invested in outcomes as the business teams we support. We're looking for an attorney who thrives at the intersection of law and business — someone who picks up a pen to find a path forward using their legal expertise, not to put up a roadblock. You draft and negotiate with confidence, you're energized by complexity, and you bring solutions to the table before anyone has to ask. The ideal candidate moves fast without losing the thread, leads with strategy while staying in the weeds when it matters, and influences stakeholders well beyond the legal lane. You know how to turn ambiguity into clarity, surface issues early, and come ready with answers. You treat process improvement as a competitive advantage and approach every challenge with a positive, collaborative instinct. If you're a critical thinker with a genuine love for the craft of contract work, this is your team.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer, procurement, and strategic commercial negotiations and transactions and technology-related legal work by drafting, reviewing and negotiating software, SaaS and hybrid, cloud services, AI-related offerings, and strategic partnership agreements. Collaborate with sales, finance, security, IT and compliance teams to deliver on time, clarify expectations and problem-solve; managing stakeholder and customer communications.
• Be a reliable and trusted advisor to internal stakeholders by providing creative, strategic legal advice and business counsel on commercial, operational and strategic legal issues, as well as providing timely and accurate responses, and negotiating a challenging volume of contracts – with issues ranging from straight-forward to complex. Identify the issues, and then solve for them.
• Engage with customers – make sure they feel listened to and heard, and above all, deliver.
• Suggest and work on improvements in processes, e.g. new standard forms or variations to enhance efficiency and align to business and product requirements.
• Exhibit agility and enjoyment working with AI legal technology tools by thriving on the efficiency they create. Know how to identify which ones work for what purpose, and why, and be willing and flexible about trying out new ones.
• Lead and support strategic pricing initiatives, pricing governance projects, and commercial model optimization efforts, while partnering with Finance, Global Business Operations, and business stakeholders.
• Participate in our internal approval workflow system, prioritize contracts, and respond to questions from stakeholders and clients.
• Maintain skilled knowledge working with AI tools (including legal technology tools), Microsoft O365, Salesforce, and Ironclad.

Preferred Qualifications

• Eight (8) or more years of relevant experience in‑house and/or at a law firm supporting technology transactions.
• Extensive experience negotiating SaaS, software, cloud services, professional services, data processing, strategic partnership, and enterprise commercial agreements.
• Experience supporting complex commercial contracting environments.
• Strong understanding of technology, including legal technology, cloud services, software licensing models, information security, privacy, intellectual property, and regulatory considerations.
• Experience supporting AI‑enabled products, and emerging technology issues.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Intelligence, flexibility, creativity, diligence, resourcefulness, responsiveness, and strong communications skills.
• Trained in and experience with contract negotiations, including commercial contracts, SaaS contracts, and related services and support agreements.
• Required: Complex software, SaaS and hybrid cloud agreements, master agreements, professional services agreements and software development agreements.
• Desirable but not: Basic knowledge of data privacy laws and practices in a SaaS context involving the security and processing of customer data that may include personal information.
• Desirable but not: Experience with government technology procurement contracting, including at state, federal and local levels, and with regard to GSA, SEWP, and FAR; basic knowledge of FedRAMP and application to SaaS offerings and operations.
• Desirable but not: Understanding of software development, computer technology, SaaS infrastructure and services, open‑source communities, and intellectual property concepts and laws.
• JD degree from an accredited law school and license to practice in the United States.
• Ability to research and analyze legal issues.
• Solid proficiency with AI tools, legal technology tools, MS Office, and legal research platforms and tools. Familiarity with Salesforce, Ironclad and Asana.

Minimum Qualifications

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
• Active bar membership in good standing.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Intelligence, flexibility, creativity, diligence, responsiveness, and strong communications skills.
• Reasonable exposure to computer and software technology concepts.
• Solid proficiency with MS Office, Salesforce, and Contract Management Software.

Compensation

Relativity is committed to competitive, fair, and equitable compensation practices. This position is eligible for total compensation which includes a competitive base salary, an annual performance bonus, and long‑term incentives. The expected salary range for this role is between $183,000 and $275,000. The final offered salary will be based on several factors, including but not limited to the candidate's depth of experience, skill set, qualifications, and internal pay equity. Hiring at the top end of the range would not be typical, to allow for future meaningful salary growth in this position.