Global Head of Commercial Legal

Asana•San Francisco, CA

26d•Hybrid

About The Position

As Asana’s Global Head of Commercial Legal, you will be a leader on our Legal & Stock Team and work cross-functionally to help realize Asana’s ambitious mission of enabling the world’s teams to work together effortlessly through human + AI collaboration. Reporting directly to the General Counsel, this is a strategic leadership position with high executive visibility for a proven and experienced leader in the commercial legal space. In this capacity, we expect you to develop and lead commercial legal strategy, embrace a fast-moving environment, manage tough commercial escalations and negotiations, and be a strong people manager who can work across time zones. You will lead a high achieving global team of lawyers and legal professionals in partnering cross functionally to scale operations and structure, negotiate, and close complex commercial transactions for customers in all segments, including via resellers and distributors. You are excited to make a difference in the future of work and directly contribute to Asana’s growth. This role is based in our San Francisco office with an office-centric hybrid schedule. The standard in-office days are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Most Asanas have the option to work from home on Wednesdays. Working from home on Fridays depends on the type of work you do and the teams with which you partner. If you're interviewing for this role, your recruiter will share more about the in-office requirements.

Requirements

JD from an accredited law school. Active membership in good standing with at least one state bar association (CA bar preferred).
15+ years of experience practicing law, with a significant portion from in-house practice.
8+ years of managing and mentoring commercial legal teams, demonstrating exceptional leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
You have experience with a global sales organization (in particular APAC and EMEA), and are familiar with deal structures for selling to regulated entities and globally.
You have successfully managed and scaled a legal operations function, supported channel partner programs, and scaled a team in companies with revenue >$1 billion.
You have the ability to translate complex global legal issues and ambiguity into clear and simple guidance, to communicate effectively with non-legal internal colleagues, and to support and inspire excellence across the business.
You think strategically, balance business needs with legal risks, effectively manage expectations of business leadership, and take a pragmatic approach focused on delivering business-oriented results.
You thrive in a fast-paced complex environment, are comfortable leading through change, operate with a sense of urgency, and can ruthlessly prioritize when needed.
You have a strong executive presence with excellent and concise written/verbal communication.
You are team-oriented and operate with a sense of humor and humility.

Responsibilities

Lead, develop, coach, and mentor Asana’s global team of commercial attorneys and legal professionals responsible for commercial legal, channel partnerships, and procurement.
Serve as a point of escalation for high stakes deals and scale and improve commercial legal support across Asana.
Define and manage the commercial legal budget, coordinate and oversee outside counsel, set organizational goals and vision, and define and manage success metrics to gauge team success and effectiveness.
Serve on the leadership team for the Asana Legal & Stock Team, participating in all facets of team planning, including building out long-term growth plans, setting and achieving team goals, and managing strategic priorities.
Be an active and trusted leader across the business by providing strategic legal and business advice to senior leadership across the company, including in Sales, Procurement, Channel, and Finance.
Partner closely with stakeholders to develop and implement resources (templates, playbooks, training, tools, and team plays) to empower your team to deliver world-class support, including the use of AI, automation, and data analytics.
Deploy AI-driven solutions to increase efficiencies in commercial legal workflows that focus on the hands-on optimization of contract lifecycles and departmental processes to measurably increase team bandwidth and reduce time-to-close for commercial deals.
Be responsible for a wide range of complex commercial transactions with Asana’s partners and customers, including channel partnerships, revenue-generating agreements with enterprises, governments, and educational institutions, and vendor agreements that power our daily operations.