General Counsel

UpGuard•Portland, WA

1d•Remote

About The Position

UpGuard is seeking a General Counsel to lead its in-house legal function and support its scaling operations towards operational maturity and category leadership. This role requires a strategic legal advisor who is also deeply involved in the day-to-day business operations. The General Counsel will work alongside a small, capable legal team, acting as a player-coach. This position is ideal for an ambitious lawyer who can balance high-level counsel with hands-on execution in a rapidly growing company that is defining the cyber risk management space.

Requirements

10+ years of legal experience (with 4+ years in a leadership role)
Strong in-house background at an international, B2B SaaS company
Law degree and admission to, and in good standing with, the local governing body
Proven experience building a compliance program at a scaling company
Demonstrated ability to drive compliance and legal improvements across functions with competing priorities
Deep understanding with sell-side SaaS contracting and experience navigating complicated deals
Strong interpersonal and cross-functional collaboration skills
Experience providing responsive, business-oriented legal support across global teams, time zones, cultures, and distributed environments
Experience implementing AI tools and workflow automation to enhance legal operations

Nice To Haves

Prior experience as General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel at a B2B SaaS company at a comparable growth stage (post-Series B or C, approximately 200–600 employees)
A track record of building compliance programs from the ground up at a company navigating rapid scale
Background in cybersecurity, data privacy, or another regulated technology sector, with related certifications (CIPP/US, CIPP/E, etc.) a plus
Experience building real alignment with go-to-market, product, and marketing teams on legal and compliance priorities

Responsibilities

Act as a strategic legal advisor to executive leadership, proactively identifying risks and opportunities to support informed, high-impact decisions.
Assess UpGuard's current legal and compliance posture across key areas, identify gaps against applicable standards, and develop a prioritized roadmap for improvement.
Lead and develop the in-house legal team, implementing scalable processes and metrics-driven practices to accelerate deals and reduce risk.
Build and execute a scalable compliance program covering data privacy (GDPR, CCPA), OFAC/trade compliance, anti-bribery, AI governance, and ethics.
Identify and mitigate legal and regulatory risks across the business, embedding compliance awareness into day-to-day decision-making.
Manage corporate legal activities, including governance, equity administration, and any M&A or financing activity.
Advise People and Finance teams on employment law matters across UpGuard's global workforce.
Support board governance functions, including preparation of board materials and maintenance of corporate records.
Provide strategic product counselling to product, engineering, and go-to-market teams, addressing legal issues and enabling compliant product launches.
Direct intellectual property strategy, proactively protecting and managing UpGuard's trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets.
Advise on the legal and regulatory implications of AI-driven features, data handling practices, and cybersecurity product capabilities.