Commercial Counsel, GTM

Canva • San Francisco, TX

8d • Hybrid

About The Position

Canva is seeking a sharp, business-minded Commercial Counsel to join its GTM (Go-To-Market) Legal team. This role involves embedding with GTM teams to review and negotiate a high volume of commercial agreements across Enterprise, Public Sector, Higher Education, and strategic partnerships. The ideal candidate will bring expertise, good judgment, and a strong business sense to assess and mitigate legal risk while ensuring deals progress efficiently. The position requires a proactive approach to understanding the business, identifying opportunities and risks, and providing timely, practical advice calibrated to risk, deal structure, and internal policy. Strong communication skills are essential for framing guidance in an actionable way for non-legal stakeholders. The role also involves contributing to the development of legal resources, improving contracting processes, and collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Requirements

• Qualified to practice in the US
• 5+ years of in-house experience at a SaaS or fast-growth tech company.
• Hands-on experience reviewing and negotiating a variety of contracts at a fast-paced technology company, including experience with government and public sector SaaS transactions
• Excited to roll up your sleeves, learn the business and proactively identify and analyse opportunities and risks.
• Genuinely curious about the business, the industry, and the problems in front of you, and that curiosity drives better, more connected legal work.
• Deliver timely, practical advice that is calibrated to risk, deal structure, and internal policy, and know how to frame guidance in a way that is actionable for non-legal stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills and can make complex communications simple.
• Comfortable participating in cross-functional and internationally distributed teams.
• A collaborative team player with strong interpersonal skills and a collegial, solutions-driven attitude.
• Energized by the role AI is playing in legal work and ready to embrace AI tools and workflows to help you work smarter, faster, and more impactfully.
• Familiar with, or willing to learn, the fundamentals of how GenAI works and apply that to contracting work and enablement
• Able to prioritize and effectively set and balance expectations.
• Pragmatism and agility required to meet the needs of the business each day.

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge and understanding of Canva and/or SaaS offerings.
• Experience using contracting tools (e.g. Ironclad and DocuSign)
• Demonstrated interest or experience in using AI tools in a legal or operational setting
• Experience negotiating with federal, state, and local government customers and familiarity with public sector procurement processes.
• Experience supporting channel partner transactions, including reseller and systems integrator agreements.
• Familiarity with FedRAMP, NIST frameworks, or other government cybersecurity and compliance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Review, draft, and negotiate commercial agreements with customers, vendors, and partners.
• Support and evolve the contracting approach for government and public sector customers, including navigating procurement requirements, regulatory obligations, and government-specific contracting frameworks.
• Support partner-led and channel transactions, including negotiating flowdown terms with resellers and other channel partners.
• Respond promptly to legal questions and requests from stakeholders across Sales, Finance, and other teams.
• Keep current on relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards, including data privacy, AI regulations, and other emerging requirements that affect enterprise and government contracts.
• Contribute to the development and upkeep of contract templates, playbooks, escalation guides, and other legal team resources; this includes designing and delivering enablement and training to equip GTM and cross-functional stakeholders to move faster and more independently on routine commercial matters.
• Identify and help develop and implement improvements to contracting processes, workflows, and tools with a scalable, future-focused mindset.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners in Sales, Product, Finance, Security, and Privacy Legal to deliver practical, solutions-oriented legal support.
• Get on the phone with customers and vendors.
• Prioritize and effectively set and balance expectations.

Benefits

• Equity packages
• Health benefits plans
• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution
• Inclusive parental leave policy that supports all parents & carers
• An annual Vibe & Thrive allowance to support your wellbeing, social connection, office setup & more
• Flexible leave options

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed