Counsel

Zinnia•New York City, NY

About The Position

Zinnia is the leading technology platform for accelerating life and annuities growth. With innovative enterprise solutions and data insights, Zinnia simplifies the experience of buying, selling, and administering insurance products. All of which enables more people to protect their financial futures. Our success is driven by a commitment to three core values: be bold, team up, deliver value – and that we do. Zinnia has over $180 billion in assets under administration, serves 100+ carrier clients, 2500 distributors and partners, and over 2 million policyholders. You'll be the person business teams come to when they need to know: is this deal worth the risk? You'll dig into complex commercial agreements — SaaS, licensing, professional services, implementation, support, insurance third-party administration — and help the business figure out what to accept, what to push back on, and what to walk away from. That means understanding not just contract law, but how our products and processes actually work, so your advice is grounded in reality rather than boilerplate. You'll partner closely with Sales and Operations throughout the customer contract lifecycle, from first draft to renewal.

Requirements

J.D. and active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar
5+ years of relevant experience at a law firm and/or in-house, with substantial experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements
Strong background in tech transactions — SaaS, licensing, implementation, professional services, support, data protection, and information security terms
Experience in insurance, financial services, TPA, or another regulated industry is strongly preferred
A track record of running negotiations independently, from first draft to signature
Sound judgment balancing legal risk against commercial reality
Strong writing and communication skills, especially the ability to make complex issues clear to non-lawyers
The organizational chops to juggle multiple live matters and deadlines without dropping a ball
A collaborative, business-minded approach and the ability to build real relationships across the org

Nice To Haves

Have natural curiosity and actually enjoy learning new areas of law rather than just tolerating it
Want opportunities to stretch beyond your core subject-matter expertise
Ask follow-up questions until you get to the why , not just the what
Are detail-oriented enough to catch what others miss, but pragmatic enough not to let perfect be the enemy of done
Have a strong opinion on the Oxford comma (we won't hold either position against you, but we want to know you have one)
Can explain a dense legal issue to a non-lawyer in one paragraph, not five

Responsibilities

Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements — SaaS, licensing, professional services, implementation, support, and insurance TPA agreements — leading negotiations with customers, vendors, and strategic partners
Handle the full lifecycle: pricing, service levels, data protection, IP, indemnification, limitation of liability, termination rights, and regulatory terms
Manage post-signature matters — interpretation, amendments, renewals, and disputes
Help build and refine the tools that make contracting faster and more consistent: templates, playbooks, fallback positions, and approval workflows
Serve as the go-to legal partner for Sales, Finance, Product, Technology, Operations, InfoSec, Privacy, and Compliance
Spot legal and commercial risk early, explain it in plain language, and recommend a practical path forward — not just "no"
Keep an eye on developments in commercial, tech, insurance regulatory, and privacy law that affect how we do business, and flag what actually matters
Team up with Legal, Compliance, and Risk on broader initiatives, assessments, and cross-functional projects
Jump into special projects outside core contracting work when the team needs it — this role has room to grow into whatever's interesting