Associate General Counsel

Canals • New York, NY

4d • Remote

About The Position

Canals is hiring its first Associate General Counsel, who will be the company’s second lawyer and serve as the General Counsel’s principal legal partner. The role owns the commercial contracts function end-to-end, handles a broad range of legal matters across the business, and builds processes and playbooks that support company growth without slowing down business operations. The Associate General Counsel will advise teams across the company, translating legal risk and business opportunities into clear, approachable language. The role offers broad exposure to commercial, corporate, employment, compliance, and strategic legal matters, with an opportunity to develop skills and judgment for a future General Counsel position.

This position calls for someone comfortable working across varied and ambiguous matters, balancing attention to detail with practical, timely judgment. The role drafts and negotiates complex enterprise agreements, explains legal issues to non-lawyers, and determines when to accept terms or push back.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
• Active state bar membership in good standing.
• 4–8 years of experience, including at least 2–3 years at an Am Law 100 law firm in transactional or commercial practice.
• Deep expertise in commercial contract drafting and negotiation, including experience handling complex deals and identifying material risks.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize competing demands, and make judgment calls without close supervision.
• Clear, direct communication skills, including the ability to write and speak in plain language.

Nice To Haves

• In-house experience at a high-growth technology company, particularly Series A–C.
• Familiarity with SaaS and AI business models, cloud infrastructure agreements, and API or platform contracts.
• Experience with federal, state, and international data privacy frameworks and standard data processing agreement negotiations.
• Experience building in-house data privacy compliance frameworks.
• Exposure to equity compensation, venture financing documentation, or mergers and acquisitions, including in a supporting role.

Responsibilities

• Draft, negotiate, and close enterprise SaaS and AI agreements, including related addenda and schedules such as data processing agreements.
• Build and maintain contract templates and a negotiation playbook to help the sales team move deals faster.
• Triage inbound redlines efficiently and establish contract review service-level agreements.
• Own day-to-day privacy compliance and data governance strategy.
• Manage vendor and partner agreements, including software licenses and professional services contracts.
• Serve as the embedded legal partner for Sales & Marketing, Product, Engineering, and Finance.
• Identify legal risks early in product development and advise on mitigation while preserving velocity.
• Build and refine legal operations infrastructure, including contract management tooling and intake processes.
• Help determine when outside counsel is needed and manage those relationships.

What This Job Offers

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