Senior Legal Counsel

JLL; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

JLL Technologies in Chicago seeks a Legal Counsel to shape how AI is used in contract review and negotiation, embedding in the business to advise on terms and governance while supporting a Fortune 200 platform.

You will join a robust legal team handling SaaS and technology agreements, venture investments, and responsible AI principles, driving faster processes without sacrificing risk management.

Qualifications

• J.D. degree and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• Meaningful experience negotiating commercial or technology contracts, at a law firm or in-house.
• Good judgment under real deal pressure and the honesty to say when something is outside your experience.
• Genuine curiosity about AI; able to experiment with AI tools and learn publicly.
• Self-direction; comfortable working without micromanagement.
• Comfort operating as a business partner in decision-making rooms.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate and close customer agreements for SaaS and technology-enabled products, pursuing streamlined terms.
• Advise on AI-specific terms in vendor and customer contracts, including data rights and training rights.
• Help build guidance for using AI responsibly in contract review, drafting, and research.
• Maintain records of AI use-case reviews and governance decisions for future scrutiny.
• Provide product counsel across buy, build, and partner models as new products launch.
• Support JLL Spark on investments and related activities.
• Develop templates, playbooks, and AI-assisted workflows for the team to use.
• Collaborate with Legal and Compliance to promote AI tools usage and risk management.

Skills

Commercial contracts negotiation

Business partner mindset

AI curiosity

Self-direction

Deal pressure judgment

Education

J.D.

Bar admission

Tools

Legal tech workflows

Job description

JLL empowers you to shape a brighter way .

Our people at JLL are shaping the future of real estate for a better world by combining world class services, advisory and technology for our clients. We are committed to hiring the best, most talented people and empowering them to thrive, grow meaningful careers and to find a place where they belong. Whether you've got deep experience in commercial real estate, skilled trades or technology, or you're looking to apply your relevant experience to a new industry, join our team as we help shape a brighter way forward.

Team: JLL Technologies Legal

Location: Chicago, IL - JLL's Aon Center offices, 200 E. Randolph Street

Reports to: General Counsel, JLL Technologies

The opportunity

Contract review used to mean one lawyer reading against another. Increasingly, it means one AI-assisted lawyer against another, and the advantage goes to whoever exercises better judgment, not whoever reads faster. We're looking for a Legal Counsel who wants to help build that advantage at JLL Technologies: someone entrepreneurial enough to help define how our legal team uses AI, and grounded enough to know when the AI's answer isn't the right one. We want this person embedded in the business, using that AI-sharpened judgment to earn a seat at the table.

You'd be joining a robust legal team that already runs sophisticated technology and venture transactions for a Fortune 200 platform. This role adds a capability with technology staffing. Contract negotiation is changing across the legal industry. Lawyers on both sides of a deal increasingly use AI to draft, review, and redline, so the differentiator is no longer who reads the document first. It's who catches what the AI missed, weighs a risk it can't weigh, or makes a call it isn't equipped to make. You'll join JLL's legal team in making that shift deliberately: building on JLL's existing Responsible AI governance, which sets out principles on fairness, accountability, privacy, and security, to develop practical guidance for how JLL's lawyers and business teams use AI responsibly, and helping redesign how contracts actually get reviewed and negotiated as a result. This is a hands‑on legal role and a real chance to help shape how JLL's lawyers work for years to come.

About JLL Technologies

JLL Technologies is the technology and innovation arm of JLL (NYSE: JLL), building and investing in the software, data, and AI tools that run commercial real estate. That includes SaaS products used by owners and occupiers, and JLL Spark, JLL's venture fund, which has invested in more than 50 early‑stage proptech companies since 2018.

What you'll do

• Negotiate and close customer agreements for JLL's SaaS and technology-enabled products and keep pushing those agreements toward automated order forms and click-through terms where it makes sense.
• Advise on AI-specific terms in vendor and customer contracts, including data use rights, model training rights, audit rights, and related indemnities.
• Help build and maintain JLL Legal's guidance and protocols for using AI responsibly in contract review, drafting, and research, building on JLL's existing Responsible AI principles.
• Keep clear records of AI use-case reviews and governance decisions, so the guidance holds up to scrutiny later.
• Provide product counsel across JLL Technologies' buy, build, and partner model as new products launch.
• Support JLL Spark, JLL's venture fund, on new and existing investments.
• Build and maintain legal templates, playbooks, and AI-assisted workflows that the wider team will actually use.
• Work with JLL's broader Legal and Compliance team to build shared fluency in using AI tools well, including where not to trust them, and being a subject matter expert in technology.
• Partner directly with business leaders, not just review what lands in your inbox, to design processes that move faster without giving up the risk management that matters.

What you bring

• A J.D. and membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• Meaningful experience negotiating commercial or technology contracts, at a law firm or in-house.
• Good judgment, tested under real deal pressure, and the honesty to say so when something is outside yourexperience.
• Genuine curiosity about AI. You don't need a technical background, but you should already be experimenting with AI tools, or eager to start, and comfortable learning in public.
• Self-direction. We don't micromanage, and you're naturally curious about what's next.
• Comfort operating as a business partner who's in the room where decisions get made.

Nice to have

• Experience in SaaS, software, or proptech.
• Familiarity with data privacy laws such as the GDPR and the CCPA, or related credentials such as the IAPP's CIPP.
• Familiarity with the emerging AI regulatory landscape, such as the EU AI Act or evolving U.S. state AI laws, or related credentials such as the IAPP's AI Governance Professional (AIGP).
• Exposure to legal tech workflows or hands-o