VP, Legal

Andela; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a VP of Legal to lead legal guidance across the organization. This pivotal role requires expertise in technology agreements, including SaaS and cloud solutions, while managing a small legal team. The ideal candidate will embrace transformation and change management, balancing strategic oversight with hands-on contract work. Join a fully remote work culture that values diversity and innovation, where you can make a significant impact on the company's legal landscape and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. If you're a proactive leader passionate about legal excellence, this opportunity is for you.

Benefits

Fully Remote work culture

Bring your own device stipend

Flexible working hours

Equity in compensation

Healthcare benefits

401k / pension

Generous Paid Time Off

Parental Leave

Compassionate Leave

Qualifications

• 15+ years of legal experience, focusing on technology and commercial agreements.
• Proven ability to draft and negotiate complex contracts with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Lead a small legal team and provide guidance on technology agreements.
• Draft and negotiate various technology and commercial agreements.

Skills

Contract Negotiation

Legal Compliance

Change Management

Team Leadership

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Job description

About Andela:

At Andela, we know brilliance is evenly distributed around the world, but opportunity is not. For over 10 years, Andela has connected its customers with top global, remote technical talent from over 135 countries with the majority residing in emerging markets like Africa and Latin America.

As one of the world’s largest talent marketplaces, Andela gives companies greater flexibility to quickly deploy qualified technologists. With talent highly skilled in advanced technologies to support Application Development, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud & DevOps, Data Engineering, and much more, customers experience 33% faster project delivery. The company’s exclusive AI-powered platform, Andela Talent Cloud, is the industry’s only unified platform managing the complete global talent lifecycle and enables customers to fill individual roles or engage fully managed teams up to 66% faster.

Andela is on the precipice of two breakout industry transformations: one in staffing/hiring and the other in software development, both accelerated by generative AI.

Join us and change the world.

Job Overview:

The VP, Legal will play a crucial role in providing legal guidance and support across the organization. This position requires expertise in drafting and negotiating a wide range of technology and commercial agreements, with a focus on SaaS, cloud-based solutions, managed services, and vendor agreements. The successful candidate will lead a small legal team while also being hands-on in managing and executing key legal functions. This role demands a proactive, hands-on leader who can balance strategic oversight with detailed contract work, ensuring that all contracts are compliant with applicable laws and regulations while mitigating risks and protecting the company's interests.

The ideal candidate runs towards, not away from, transformation and rebuilding, including both the org/team and strategy. Seasoned change management expertise is a must.

Exceptional Leadership:

As a leader in the company, you’ll serve as a role model for the rest of Andela. Think about the feedback your peers typically give you – if it usually sounds like the below, we want to hear from you.

Low ego, low drama, servant leader: You share credit, take blame. You like being wrong because it means someone else had an even better idea.

One team mentality: You break silos across teams. You put the company and mission first above your team alone.

Great listener, hungry for feedback: You’re always seeking to improve – our product, our business, yourself. You solicit diverse opinions and deeply listen.

Owner, not renter: You see a problem, you fix it or find someone who will. The buck stops with you.

Player-coach: You fly high (create strategy) AND low (know the details that matter). You roll up your sleeves and get scrappy. You do this without micromanaging, empowering your team while actively engaging in important details.

Business problem solver: You’re not just a functional expert; you consistently get praise for approaching your function through the lens of solving business problems.

Key Responsibilities:

• Draft, review, and negotiate a variety of technology and commercial agreements, including but not limited to SaaS agreements, cloud-based services contracts, managed solutions agreements, and vendor agreements.
• Provide legal advice and support on matters related to commercial transactions, intellectual property, data privacy, and compliance.
• Lead and mentor a small team of legal professionals, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, including sales, finance, operations, and product development teams, to ensure contracts align with business objectives and mitigate potential risks.
• Advise on legal issues related to the company's products and services, including new product launches and enhancements.
• Advise on legal guidance related to employment law.
• Manage and resolve legal disputes, including contract disputes and regulatory compliance issues.
• Stay up-to-date with relevant laws and regulations affecting the technology industry and ensure the company's compliance with applicable legal requirements.
• Lead and/or collaborate in the development and implementation of company policies and procedures to ensure legal compliance and mitigate risks.
• Provide training and guidance to employees on legal and compliance matters as needed.
• Lead corporate governance matters and other legal projects as required.

Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing with a state bar.
• Minimum of 15 years of relevant legal experience, preferably with a focus on technology and commercial agreements.
• In-depth knowledge of SaaS, cloud-based solutions, managed services, and vendor agreements.
• Strong understanding of intellectual property, data privacy, and regulatory compliance issues related to the technology industry.
• Proven ability to draft, review, and negotiate complex contracts with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proactive and solution-oriented approach.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• High ethical standards and a commitment to maintaining confidentiality and integrity.

Benefits:

• Fully Remote work culture - we hire globally and all of our roles are fully remote!
• Bring your own device stipend - buy your own laptop with funds from Andela
• Flexible working hours
• Equity (as a part of the compensation package)
• Healthcare, 401k / pension
• Generous Paid Time Off, Parental Leave, Compassionate Leave

And more to come! We're on a journey to reimagine global benefits at Andela.

At Andela, we outcompete through diversity. We know that our strengths lie in the multiplicity of talents, perspectives, backgrounds & orientations resident in our community and we take pride in that. Andela is committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Each individual has the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes equal employment opportunities and prohibits discriminatory practices. Andela provides equal employment opportunities and workplace to all employees and applicants without regard to factors including but not limited to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy (including breastfeeding), genetic information, HIV/AIDS or any other medical status, family or parental status, marital status, amnesty or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. This commitment applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. Our policies expressly prohibit any form of harassment and/or discrimination as stated above.
Andela is home for all, come as you are.