General Counsel

Zapier•San Francisco, CA

1d•Remote

About The Position

Zapier is hiring a General Counsel to own Zapier's legal function, lead the legal team, and serve on the executive team. This is a hands-on leadership role. You’ll lead a small, talented legal team while setting the legal strategy that enables Zapier to move fast, enter new markets, launch AI-powered products, and deepen customer relationships, all while protecting the company and the trust of our customers. As the leader of Zapier's legal function and a member of the executive team, you'll be responsible for leading the legal team and driving strategy, operations, and execution across the full scope of legal matters that enable Zapier to move fast while managing risk responsibly.

Requirements

J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar.
15+ years of legal experience, with significant time in-house at a high-growth technology company.
You’ve been a General Counsel, Deputy GC, or VP of Legal at a scaled tech company.
You bring deep expertise across multiple areas: AI and product law, commercial transactions, data privacy, M&A, and corporate governance.
You have a track record advising on cutting-edge technology in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.
You’re comfortable making judgment calls when there’s no precedent to follow.
You’ve built and led legal teams in a fast-paced, async-heavy environment.
You know how to hire well, develop people, and create a team culture that works across time zones.
You own the outcomes of your team.
You’re comfortable with ambiguity and energized by building something from scratch, including new frameworks, new playbooks, and new ways of managing risk for a company that ships constantly.
You default to enabling the business, not blocking it.
You find the path to “yes” and clearly explain the risks along the way.
You’ve advised boards, executive teams, and cross-functional partners on strategic, high-stakes decisions, and you know how to bring people along.
You communicate with clarity and directness.
You can distill complex legal issues into plain language for any audience.
You are a genuine, empathetic, humble, and mission-driven team player.
You know when to be hands-on, when to delegate, and when to call in outside experts.
Demonstrated AI fluency at the Adoptive level at minimum, with strong signal toward Transformative.
Mindset: You see AI as a force multiplier for legal teams. You actively explore how AI can change the scope and speed of legal work.
Strategy: You’ve developed a point of view on how AI reshapes legal operations, risk management, and the GC role itself. You can articulate a vision for an AI-native legal function.
Building: You’ve built or overseen AI-powered legal workflows, such as contract review, triage, policy drafting, compliance monitoring. You think in systems, not sessions.
Accountability: You define what “good” looks like before deploying AI, evaluate outputs critically, catch what’s wrong before it ships, and own the outcomes. With AI, you delegate the work, but not the accountability.

Nice To Haves

SaaS, platform, developer tools, or AI experience strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Participate in executive leadership decisions as a business partner, not just a legal advisor.
Translate company strategy into clear legal priorities; proactively identify and manage company-wide risk.
Lead, mentor, and scale a high-performing distributed legal team.
Build AI-powered, automated legal operations, including playbooks, workflows, intake systems, and metrics.
Manage outside counsel relationships, budgets, and performance to maximize value and efficiency.
Lead legal strategy for Zapier’s products, navigating the rapidly evolving global AI regulatory landscape (EU AI Act, U.S. state AI legislation, and emerging frameworks).
Develop and maintain frameworks for risk assessment, transparency, and trust that keep Zapier ahead of regulatory requirements.
Lead the commercial legal team responsible for enterprise customer agreements, strategic partnerships, vendor contracts, marketing and events agreements, and Zapier ecosystem terms.
Partner closely with Sales, Partnerships, and Finance to accelerate deal velocity while managing risk effectively.
Own Zapier’s global data privacy compliance strategy and execution, including GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and emerging privacy regimes.
Oversee regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions where Zapier operates, including international data transfer frameworks and cross-border requirements for AI-driven data processing.
Set the strategic direction for global employment law matters, ensuring the team's policies, handbooks, and practices meet the requirements of a fully distributed workforce across 40+ countries.
Provide oversight and guidance on employment-related disputes, investigations, and outside counsel across multiple jurisdictions.
Lead corporate governance matters globally and serve as corporate secretary to the Board.
Manage corporate recordkeeping, subsidiary compliance, and governance best practices.
Advise on capital structure, equity programs, and strategic transactions, including potential financings and M&A.
Lead legal due diligence, structuring, and negotiation for M&A and strategic investments.