About this opportunity
Bird lists this Senior Legal Counsel opportunity in new york city, New York. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
About the Role
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.
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.