Legal Counsel, Commercial
ChainguardJobsCloseBy Editorial Insights
Chainguard seeks a Senior Counsel, Commercial to be the Go-To-Market partner for EMEA, owning deals end to end and supporting East Coast US transactions. This is the UK’s first dedicated commercial counsel seat, demanding proactive, autonomous drafting and negotiation of SaaS and enterprise agreements, with emphasis on open source licensing and privacy (DORA, GDPR). Requirements: JD or equivalent, 5+ years of commercial law, mix of law firm and in-house tech, and experience with regulated customers. The role requires strong cross-functional collaboration, business judgment, and managing about four new deals weekly. Apply with a SaaS OSS licensing focus, end-to-end deal ownership, and evidence of strategic thinking; remote-friendly, equity, 100% health, generous leave.
Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.
Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.
Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.
The role in a nutshell:
We are seeking a Senior Counsel, Commercial to serve as a key legal partner to our Go-To-Market organization. This is a highly visible, customer-facing role at the center of the business, enabling revenue growth while protecting the company. This is Chainguard’s first dedicated commercial counsel seat in the UK — an opportunity to lead the charge on the commercial front across EMEA while working closely with the broader legal team and your regional colleagues.
The ideal candidate is a strong commercial attorney with significant drafting experience who thrives in the energy and intensity of a high-growth company. You are proactive, business-minded, and comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy in a fast-moving environment. You enjoy partnering closely with Sales and cross-functional teams, negotiating directly with sophisticated customer counsel, and taking full ownership of transactions from start to finish.
In addition to deep commercial expertise, this role requires experience navigating open source licensing considerations, familiarity with DORA and EU privacy law, and comfort negotiating with highly regulated customers. You will primarily support EMEA-based deals while also providing coverage for East Coast US deals — the reverse of how the US team currently supports the international side.
What you’ll do:
- Serve as the primary legal partner to the Go-To-Market team for EMEA-based deals, supporting customer transactions from initial structuring through execution
- Provide coverage for East Coast US deals, working in close coordination with the US legal team
- Draft, review, and negotiate SaaS agreements, enterprise customer agreements, professional services agreements, NDAs, and partner and channel agreements
- Draft and maintain standard form agreements and online terms, including platform terms, universal license agreements, and order forms
- Negotiate directly with sophisticated customer counsel, including those at financial services, insurance, healthcare, and pharmaceutical organizations
- Ensure commercial agreements align with open source licensing requirements and industry best practices
- Maintain familiarity with DORA, GDPR, and applicable EU and UK privacy law as it relates to commercial contracting
- Partner closely with Product, Product Legal, Security, and other cross-functional teams to align legal guidance with business and technical objectives
- Provide practical, risk-calibrated advice consistent with company policies and risk tolerance
- Manage a volume of approximately four new deals per week, operating with strong autonomy and sound judgment
- Contribute to scalable contracting processes as the company and international team grow
What we’re looking for:
- Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent legal qualification with active bar or solicitor membership in good standing
- 5+ years of commercial legal experience, ideally combining law firm and in-house technology company experience
- Strong experience drafting and negotiating SaaS, subscription, and professional services agreements
- Demonstrated ability to draft standard form agreements and online terms from the ground up — not solely negotiating third-party paper
- Experience negotiating with highly regulated customers and familiarity with the regulatory considerations impacting those industries
- Working knowledge of open source licensing and compliance considerations
- Familiarity with DORA, GDPR, and UK and EU data privacy frameworks as they apply to commercial contracts
- Experience in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, or related technology sectors strongly preferred
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to build strong working relationships across Sales, Product, Security, and executive stakeholders
- Sound business judgment and the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives
- Comfort managing multiple complex matters independently in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
- Based in the United Kingdom — candidates in other European hubs where Chainguard has existing personnel may also be considered
Why this role:
This is a rare opportunity to be the first full-time commercial counsel in Chainguard’s UK and EMEA presence. You will not be starting from scratch — you will have an existing EMEA-based regulatory lawyer as a colleague and a strong US legal team to work alongside. But on the commercial front, you will be making the seat your own, building relationships with the regional sales team, and shaping how Chainguard does deals in this market. As the international team grows, so does the opportunity.
About Us
We live and breathe our company values:
- We are customer obsessed — We focus on delivering solutions to our customers that create value and make their lives better.
- We have a bias for intentional action — We prioritize, plan, try things, and fail fast.
- We don't take ourselves too seriously (but we do serious work) — We are solving an important problem which takes focus, but we also like to enjoy the journey.
- We trust each other and assume good intentions — We're transparent with decisions to empower team members to make well informed decisions.
A few of the benefits we offer:
- Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
- Our Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options (yes, you read that correctly: 10 years!).
- 100% Covered Health Insurance: We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck.
- ∞ Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.
- 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child's first year.
If your experience is close but doesn't fulfill all requirements, please apply. We're building the best team in technology and are focused on hiring "Chainguardians" with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.
Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.
By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Chainguard will process your personal data in accordance with Chainguard's Global Candidate Privacy Notice.
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