Senior Legal Counsel

Bird; United States; In loco; USD 180.000 - 230.000; Tempo pieno

Descrizione del lavoro

Bird is seeking a US-based Senior Legal Counsel to serve as the primary commercial attorney supporting our fast-growing business.

This is a hands-on, builder role: you'll own commercial contracting end-to-end, from first draft through signature, working directly with teams across the business - Sales, Product, Engineering, and Finance - in a startup environment where things move quickly and our processes are still being built as we scale.

Competenze

• J.D. from a top-tier law school and admission to a U.S. state bar.
• 7+ years of relevant legal experience, with most in commercial/technology transactions.
• In-house experience preferred.
• Proven ability to independently draft and negotiate a broad range of agreements (MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, DPAs).
• Ability to balance legal risk with business needs in a high-growth environment.
• Strong communication skills to explain complex legal matters to non-lawyers.

Mansioni

• Own commercial contracting end-to-end, from drafting to signature.
• Advise executives on legal and commercial risk and deal terms.
• Build and evolve templates and lightweight contracting guidelines.
• Manage deal lifecycle timelines and expectations.
• Handle cross-border matters and regional collaboration.
• Provide guidance on regulatory, IP, employment, and legal operations as needed.
• Train internal teams on contracting fundamentals.

Conoscenze

Contract negotiation

Commercial contracting

Regulatory guidance

Cross-functional collaboration

Risk assessment

Legal operations

Communication

Problem solving

Formazione

J.D. from a top-tier law school

Descrizione del lavoro

We're looking for a US-based Senior Legal Counsel to be the primary commercial attorney supporting our fast-growing business. This is a hands-on, builder role: you'll own commercial contracting end-to-end, from first draft through signature, working directly with teams across the business - Sales, Product, Engineering, and Finance - in a startup environment where things move quickly and our processes are still being built as we scale.

You'll work alongside a lean legal team, with one member covering EMEA/APAC, partnering closely on cross-border matters while owning your region's commercial contracting and generalist legal support independently.

Beyond commercial contracting, you'll be a generalist partner to the business - comfortable providing guidance on relationship management, and picking up regulatory questions, IP matters, employment issues, and legal operations as they come up.

If you've operated on a small team in a legal department before, enjoy variety, and don't need a mature process to do great and efficient work, this role is built for you.

Responsibilities

• Own commercial contracting end-to-end, from drafting, reviewing, and negotiating agreements (MSAs, order forms, SOWs, NDAs, DPAs, connectivity/network access agreements) directly with stakeholders, with minimal layers between you and the business.
• Advise internal stakeholders, including executive management, on legal and commercial risk - shaping deal terms that reflect the company's risk tolerance and growth stage.
• Build and evolve templates and lightweight contracting guidelines as the business scales, while staying personally hands-on in negotiations.
• Manage stakeholder expectations throughout the deal lifecycle - turnaround times, risk trade-offs, and what legal can and can't accept - directly and in real time.
• Take on unfamiliar commercial, technology, and legal matters as they arise, and work out a sound path forward without waiting for a defined process to exist first.
• Train internal teams on contracting fundamentals and negotiation positions, so routine matters don't all have to route through Legal.
• Advise on a broad range of corporate matters as they come up - regulatory compliance, vendor relationships, intellectual property management, insurance, and employment-related issues.
• Partner with your EMEA/APAC counterpart on cross-region deals, shared templates, and consistent contracting standards.
• Support other corporate matters as needed, in step with the business's evolving priorities.

What we're looking for

• J.D. from a top-tier law school and active license to practice law in at least one U.S. state (in good standing).
• 7+ years of relevant legal experience, with the substantial majority in commercial/technology transactions (SaaS, CPaaS,, or similar); in-house experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience independently drafting and negotiating a high volume and broad range of commercial agreements (MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, DPAs, partner/reseller agreements) with minimal oversight.
• Comfort operating without a fully built-out legal function - and comfortable negotiating a deal, drafting a template from scratch, or picking up a question you haven't seen before.
• Sound, pragmatic business judgment - able to balance legal risk against commercial reality in a resource-conscious, high-growth environment.
• A strong bias toward solving problems independently on unfamiliar or non-routine matters. When something is material enough to bring to stakeholders or leadership, you frame it as a defined problem with key risks and a clear recommendation grounded in the company's risk profile - not an open question for someone else to solve.
• Ability to break down complex legal issues and explain them in clear, simple terms that non-lawyers can act on.
• A low-ego, get-it-done attitude, comfortable with ambiguity, shifting priorities, and being one of a small number of lawyers supporting the business.

Nice to have

• Experience in telecommunications, messaging, or adjacent B2B tech industries.
• Familiarity with U.S. telecom regulatory frameworks (e.g., FCC, state PUC registrations) or data privacy frameworks (e.g., CCPA, TCPA).
• Prior experience as employee/counsel #1 or #2 in an early-stage or scaling legal function.