Assistant General Counsel

Gridware • San Francisco, CA

3d • $235,000 - $265,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Gridware is seeking an attorney to join its small legal team and directly influence the company’s legal, product, and business strategy. The role will lead the commercial counsel function and may own additional legal areas. It requires an autodidactic approach and close collaboration with internal teams. The position is hybrid and reports to the General Counsel.

The Assistant General Counsel will lead negotiations with utility customers, advise the go-to-market organization throughout the deal cycle, and manage the company’s commercial contracting function and related legal operations. The role also includes product counseling, advice on data ownership, privacy, and security, and legal support for international deals and expansion.

Gridware is a San Francisco-based technology company focused on protecting and enhancing the electrical grid. Its Active Grid Response platform uses high-precision sensors to detect potential grid issues early and support proactive maintenance and fault mitigation.

Requirements

• Member of a US State Bar.
• JD from an ABA-accredited law school.
• 7+ years of relevant experience, with a substantial portion spent as the lead attorney on complex, high-value commercial agreements.
• Demonstrated ability to run a large, multi-workstream negotiation against a sophisticated counterparty.
• Experience working with outside counsel in international contexts.
• Experience building or materially improving contract templates and playbooks.

Nice To Haves

• Commercial contracts experience in one or more of the following: enterprise SaaS and platform agreements; IoT or connected hardware sold with a software subscription; contract manufacturing and supply chain agreements; data licensing and data rights; or field services, installation, or construction-adjacent subcontracting.
• Experience with utilities or energy infrastructure, such as representing a vendor selling to utilities, working inside a utility or IPP, or working at a state or federal energy regulator; familiarity with the regulatory and procurement environment utilities operate in.
• Experience at a top law firm or in state or federal clerkships.
• Experience on in-house legal teams at technology companies.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end negotiation of master agreements with utility customers, including large investor-owned utilities, public power, and international utilities.
• Serve as the primary legal point of contact for the GTM team, partnering with GTM leadership and account executives throughout the deal cycle to structure terms, manage risk, and efficiently close large, critical deals.
• Own and continuously refine contract templates, fallback positions, and negotiation playbooks to improve consistency, reduce turnaround time, and enable internal business teams to self-serve on standard terms.
• Advise on data ownership, privacy, and security issues in commercial agreements and product development, partnering with Engineering and InfoSec.
• Provide product counseling on new products in partnership with Product, Engineering, GTM, Data Science, Customer Support, and Product Marketing.
• Advise on international deals and other legal aspects of international expansion, including selecting and managing local counsel.
• Own the company’s broader commercial contracting function, including vendor, partnership, and other agreements, as well as related legal operations processes.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision coverage, with Gold and Platinum plans fully covered with some providers.
• Paid parental leave.
• Alternating day off every other Monday.
• A two-week-per-year paid “Off the Grid” break for all employees.
• Commuter allowance.
• Company-paid training.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree