Sr. Cybersecurity Corporate Legal Counsel

Synopsys; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Equity opportunities

Discretionary bonuses

Job summary

Synopsys in Mountain View, CA seeks an experienced cybersecurity attorney to advise on incident response, compliance, and contract negotiations at a global scale. You will coordinate with Information Security, Privacy, Compliance, and business teams to translate risk into practical contract language.

Ideal candidates have 8–10 years of cybersecurity-focused legal experience, strong written and verbal communication, and a proven ability to navigate complex regulatory requirements across

Qualifications

• Eight to ten years of legal experience with cybersecurity matters.
• Significant experience advising on cybersecurity incident response and breach-notification analysis.
• Experience drafting and negotiating cybersecurity, information security, and data-protection provisions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a primary legal advisor during actual or suspected cybersecurity incidents, coordinating with relevant teams.
• Advise on legal, regulatory, contractual obligations arising from incidents, including notifications to customers, regulators, partners, and Board.
• Provide guidance on investigation and forensic-response processes, preservation of privilege, and post-incident remediation.
• Draft, review, and negotiate cybersecurity and data-protection provisions in customer, partner, and vendor agreements.
• Collaborate with technical and compliance experts to translate security capabilities into contract language.

Skills

Cybersecurity incident response

Contract negotiation

Regulatory compliance

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

J.D. from accredited law school

Job description

Synopsys is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. We deliver industry-leading silicon design, IP, simulation and analysis solutions, and design services. We partner closely with our customers across a wide range of industries to maximize their R&D capability and productivity, powering innovation today that ignites the ingenuity of tomorrow.

You are an experienced cybersecurity attorney who understands that the most effective legal advice sits at the intersection of technology, regulatory requirements, contractual commitments, and business risk. You have developed the judgment to distinguish issues that require immediate escalation from those that can be managed through a practical, risk-based solution.

Cyber incident response is a significant part of your practice. You have advised through fast-moving incidents in which the facts develop over time, coordinated with information security and forensic teams, assessed legal and regulatory notification obligations, and helped business leaders make defensible decisions under pressure.

You are also comfortable negotiating cybersecurity terms in customer and vendor agreements. You can work with technical stakeholders to understand what the company can operationally support and translate that position into clear, commercially workable contract language.

At Synopsys, you will work on important cybersecurity matters at global scale, alongside colleagues who value sound judgment, collaboration, and practical problem-solving.

What You'll Be Doing

• Serve as a primary legal advisor during actual or suspected cybersecurity incidents, including coordinating with Information Security, Privacy, Compliance, Communications, HR, and business teams.


• Assess legal, regulatory, contractual, and business obligations arising from cybersecurity incidents, including notification obligations to customers, regulators, business partners, senior management, and the Board, as appropriate.


• Advise on the investigation and forensic-response process, including preservation of privilege, engagement of external counsel and forensic vendors, documentation of key decisions, and post-incident remediation.


• Provide legal guidance on U.S. and international cybersecurity laws, breach-notification requirements, regulatory inquiries, and related compliance obligations affecting the company's systems, data, products, customers, partners, and vendors.


• Draft, review, and negotiate cybersecurity, information security, privacy, and data-protection provisions in customer, partner, and vendor agreements.


• Negotiate provisions involving security controls, encryption, data handling, incident reporting and response times, audit rights, security standards, vulnerability management, allocation of responsibilities, and third-party risk.


• Partner with technical and compliance subject-matter experts to convert the company's security capabilities and risk positions into clear contract language and practical negotiation strategies.


• Support cybersecurity governance and compliance initiatives.


• Provide practical, day-to-day counseling regarding cybersecurity, data protection and governance, enterprise IT operations, and related technology risks.


• Collaborate across Legal, Information Security, Privacy, Compliance, Engineering, Product Management, Commercial, Procurement, and other functions to enable business progress while managing risk thoughtfully.

The Impact You Will Have

• Help the company respond effectively to cybersecurity incidents by providing timely, clear, and defensible legal guidance throughout the incident lifecycle.


• Strengthen compliance with cybersecurity and breach-notification requirements across the jurisdictions in which the company operates.


• Improve the consistency and quality of cybersecurity commitments made to customers, partners, and vendors.


• Support faster, more informed decision-making by translating complex legal and technical issues into practical guidance for business and executive stakeholders.


• Enhance the company's cybersecurity posture through policy development, training, governance, and close partnership with Information Security and other control functions.


• Enable Synopsys to protect its systems, data, products, customers, and reputation while continuing to innovate and grow globally.

What You'll Need

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.


• Eight to ten years of legal experience, with cybersecurity matters comprising a substantial part of your practice.


• Significant experience advising on cybersecurity incident response, forensic investigations, breach-notification analysis, customer notifications, and regulatory reporting.


• Experience interpreting and applying U.S. and international cybersecurity, data-protection, and incident-response requirements.


• Demonstrated experience drafting and negotiating cybersecurity, information security, privacy, and data-protection provisions in customer and vendor agreements.


• Working knowledge of cybersecurity principles, information security practices, cloud environments, data governance, and commonly used security frameworks and standards.


• Ability to independently manage complex, time-sensitive legal matters involving multiple technical, legal, and business stakeholders.


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to explain complex legal and technical issues clearly to legal and non-legal audiences.


• Experience advising a global technology company, whether in-house or in private practice, is strongly preferred.


• Experience with semiconductor, software, SaaS, cloud, AI, or other technology businesses is a plus.

Who You Are

• You can work side by side with cybersecurity engineers, forensic investigators, business leaders, and communications professionals while keeping the legal strategy focused and actionable.


• You stay calm and exercise sound judgment when an incident is moving quickly, facts remain incomplete, and stakeholders need timely guidance.


• You know how to ask precise questions, identify the legally significant facts, and document decisions without slowing the response effort.


• You write clearly and efficiently, whether you are preparing an incident-response analysis, negotiating a security addendum, or explaining obligations to senior leadership.


• You understand when to elevate, when to engage outside experts, and when a practical risk-management approach can resolve an issue.


• You know how to evaluate and negotiate proposed contractual commitments related to cybersecurity, data protection, and incident notification requirements.

The Team You'll Be Part Of

You will join Synopsys' Global Legal organization and work closely with the Information Security organization. The role will collaborate with colleagues across Legal, Privacy, Compliance, Commercial, Procurement, Engineering, Product Management, Human Resources, Communications, and senior leadership. You will support cybersecurity matters affecting Synopsys' global operations, systems, products, customers, partners, and vendors.

Rewards and Benefits

We offer a comprehensive range of health, wellness, and financial benefits to cater to your needs. Our total rewards include both monetary and non-monetary offerings.

In addition to the base salary, this role may be eligible for an annual bonus, equity, and other discretionary bonuses. Synopsys offers comprehensive health, wellness, and financial benefits as part of a competitive total rewards package. The actual compensation offered will be based on a number of job-related factors, including location, skills, experience, and education. The base salary range for this role is across the U.S.

Additional Requirements

This position requires access to or use of information, which is subject to export restrictions, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). All applicants for this position must be "U.S. Persons" within the meaning of the ITAR. "U.S. Persons" include U.S. Citizens, U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (i.e., 'Green Card Holders'), Political Asylees, Refugees or other protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

At Synopsys, we want talented people of every background to feel valued and supported to do their best work. Synopsys considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, military veteran status, or disability.