Director, Product Legal

NetApp•San Jose, NC

22h

About The Position

NetApp is seeking an experienced Director, Product Legal to join its Legal team as a strategic legal partner to product organizations, including Enterprise Storage, Cloud Services, and Hybrid Storage Systems. This senior product counsel role supports technical product, engineering, and business teams throughout the product development lifecycle, with emphasis on enterprise products, on-premises offerings, cloud services, software offerings, complex inbound technology transactions, and product counseling. The role calls for extensive experience advising enterprise-focused technology organizations and navigating the legal, commercial, and technical considerations of B2B technology offerings, cloud, SaaS, software, and hybrid infrastructure environments. The Director will engage directly with engineering and product leaders, provide practical legal guidance on sophisticated technology transactions, and independently manage complex matters involving inbound technology, open source, and AI regulations. In addition to serving as a trusted legal advisor, the Director will manage and develop a small team of legal professionals, fostering collaboration, professional growth, and strong business partnerships.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) degree and active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar.
10–12+ years of substantial, relevant legal experience supporting technology products, product counseling, and complex technology transactions, including significant inbound technology agreement experience.
Experience advising enterprise-focused B2B technology organizations, particularly those delivering enterprise products, cloud services, stand-alone software, SaaS, or hybrid cloud solutions in a global environment.
Strong understanding of enterprise technology business models, including contractual, licensing, compliance, and commercial considerations involved in selling products and services to large enterprise customers.
Extensive experience structuring, drafting, and negotiating complex inbound technology agreements.
Ability to work directly with engineering, product management, and technical leadership teams, with sufficient technical fluency to independently advise on sophisticated product and technology matters.
Prior people management experience, including the ability to coach, mentor, and develop legal professionals.
Experience independently managing complex legal matters and serving as a trusted advisor to senior business stakeholders.
Strong commercial judgment, negotiation skills, and a practical, business-enabling approach to legal risk management.
Familiarity with artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and their implications for enterprise technology products.
Excellent communication, relationship-building, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Nice To Haves

A combination of experience in a major law firm and an in-house legal department within a technology organization.
Experience supporting cloud-first, software-first, or enterprise infrastructure technology companies.
Experience working with hyperscalers, enterprise cloud providers, or organizations developing sophisticated cloud and software platforms.
Background supporting enterprise product organizations through complex product launches, technology integrations, and evolving business models.
Experience with both cloud-based and on-premises technology products and services.
Demonstrated success developing legal talent and building effective partnerships with highly technical teams.
Experience navigating intellectual property, open-source licensing, data rights, and emerging technology issues within enterprise product environments.

Responsibilities

Partner with business units, including on-premises, Cloud Services, and other product organizations, and work closely with product management, engineering, and business leadership.
Provide strategic legal guidance throughout the product development lifecycle, from conception and design through development, launch, commercialization, ongoing support, and end-of-life.
Advise on complex legal and regulatory considerations affecting enterprise software, cloud services, SaaS, and hybrid cloud offerings.
Develop a deep understanding of NetApp’s technology, products, and enterprise customer requirements to provide practical, business-oriented legal solutions.
Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to identify legal risks, resolve complex issues, and enable business objectives.
Draft, negotiate, and advise on complex inbound technology transactions, including software licensing, cloud services, technology acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint development agreements, and OEM arrangements.
Structure, draft, review, and negotiate sophisticated technology agreements supporting enterprise products and services.
Advise on contractual requirements for enterprise customers, including representations and warranties, licensing rights, intellectual property protections, and compliance obligations.
Support integration of third-party technologies, software, and services into NetApp product offerings.
Partner with commercial legal, finance, product, and engineering teams to align technology agreements with business objectives, product architecture, and customer commitments.
Provide legal guidance on cloud computing, SaaS, enterprise software, and hybrid cloud and on-premises technology environments.
Advise product and engineering teams on open source, commercial terms, artificial intelligence use, and related legal, regulatory, and commercial implications.
Support matters involving open-source software, intellectual property, data usage, privacy by design, technology licensing, and product compliance.
Evaluate legal risks and opportunities associated with evolving technologies and business models, and translate complex technical and legal concepts into actionable business guidance.
Manage, lead, mentor, and develop a small team of legal professionals, including direct reports and occasional external legal resources.
Foster a collaborative, high-performing environment focused on professional development, accountability, and business partnership.
Coach and develop legal professionals, balance hands-on legal work with people leadership, and support efficient, scalable legal processes.
Independently manage complex legal matters and serve as a trusted advisor to senior business stakeholders.