Senior Counsel, Commercial

About this role

<div class="content-intro"><p>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. <br><br>Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake. <br><br>Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.</p></div><p data-start="170" data-end="399"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>The role in a nutshell:</strong></span></p> <p data-start="170" data-end="399"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We are seeking a Senior Counsel 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.</span></p> <p data-start="401" data-end="836"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">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 in fast-moving environments. 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.</span></p> <p data-start="838" data-end="1006"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In addition to deep commercial expertise, this role requires experience navigating open source licensing considerations and negotiating with highly regulated customers.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>What you’ll do:</strong></span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1032" data-end="1170"> <p data-start="1034" data-end="1170"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Serve as a primary legal partner to the Go-To-Market team, supporting customer transactions from initial structuring through execution</span></p> </li> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1171" data-end="1323"> <p data-start="1173" data-end="1323"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Draft, review, and negotiate SaaS agreements, enterprise customer agreements, professional services agreements, NDAs, and partner/channel agreements</span></p> </li> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1324" data-end="1454"> <p data-start="1326" data-end="1454"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Draft and maintain standard form agreements and online terms (e.g., platform terms, universal license agreements, order forms)</span></p> </li> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1455" data-end="1609"> <p data-start="1457" data-end="1609"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Negotiate directly with sophisticated customer counsel, including those at financial services, insurance, healthcare, and pharmaceutical organizations</span></p> </li> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1610" data-end="1716"> <p data-start="1612" data-end="1716"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ensure commercial agreements align with open source licensing requirements and industry best practices</span></p> </li> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1717" data-end="1871"> <p data-start="1719" data-end="1871"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Partner closely with Product, Product Legal, Security, and other cross-functional teams to align legal guidance with business and technical objectives</span></p> </li> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1872" data-end="1969"> <p data-start="1874" data-end="1969"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Provide practical, risk-calibrated advice consistent with company policies and risk tolerance</span></p> </li> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="1972" data-end="2085"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Support partnership initiatives as needed and contribute to scalable contracting processes as the company grows</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>What we're looking for:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2119" data-end="2213"> <p data-start="2121" data-end="2213"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school and active bar membership in good standing</span></p> </li> <li style="font-size: 12pt;" data-start="2214" data-end="2328"> <p data-start="2216" data-end="2328"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">5+ years of commercial legal experience, ideally combining law firm and in-house technology company…