Counsel, Commercial & Legal Operations

Rothera•Chicago, IL

2d•$165,000 - $185,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Rothera is seeking a Counsel, Commercial & Legal Operations to own third-party contracting and support the systems that run its legal function. The role is within a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse, with counterparties including SaaS vendors, FCMs, market makers, and data providers. The position offers the opportunity to help build a high-growth legal function as the company launches products and scales its offerings.

Requirements

JD and active bar admission in good standing.
Approximately 5–7 years of commercial contracting experience at a law firm, in-house, or both.
Hands-on experience administering or building workflows in a contract lifecycle management platform.
Regular use of AI tools in contract review and drafting, with sound judgment about their limitations.
Comfort owning legal technology, including evaluating and configuring tools and training business users.
Ability to independently manage a high volume of agreements and know when to escalate.
Curiosity and willingness to learn new areas of law, including intellectual property, privacy, and regulatory matters.
Interest in prediction markets, derivatives, and evolving financial market structure.
Must be authorized to work in the U.S. on a permanent, indefinite basis.

Nice To Haves

New York or Illinois bar admission.
Experience at a CFTC-regulated entity, such as a DCM, DCO, or FCM.
Familiarity with AI-related terms in vendor agreements, including data use, training restrictions, and output ownership.

Responsibilities

Draft, review, and negotiate third-party agreements, including vendor, SaaS, data, services, and technology contracts.
Support counterparty onboarding and amendments, including preparing agreements and tracking their execution.
Own the contract template library and playbooks, including NDAs and other standard agreements.
Administer and help build out the contract lifecycle management platform, including workflows, templates, clause libraries, approval routing, automation, integrations, and reporting.
Design and maintain AI-assisted contract review workflows, including prompts, playbooks, and quality checks.
Manage outside counsel on assigned matters, including scoping, budgets, and invoice review.
Advise business teams on contract terms, risk allocation, data use, and confidentiality.
Support corporate housekeeping as needed.