Head of Legal

Levanta • Washington, NY

19h • Hybrid

About The Position

Levanta is the leading affiliate marketing platform for marketplace sellers, helping Amazon, Shopify and Walmart brands unlock a scalable, cost-effective marketing channel through direct affiliate partnerships. With access to over 70,000 vetted publishers, influencers, affiliates, and media buyers in Levanta’s Creator Marketplace, sellers can drive high-quality external traffic to their stores, control commissions, improve organic search rankings, and benefit from referral kickbacks on sales generated by their affiliates. Levanta is hiring its first Head of Legal to lead legal across the business. This person will be a strategic partner to the CEO, executive team, and board, while also being highly hands-on in the day-to-day legal needs of a fast-moving startup. You will own commercial contracting, platform terms, compliance, privacy, employment, corporate governance, international expansion, risk management, and outside counsel management. As Levanta scales across new markets, platforms, and operating models, you will help the company navigate legal complexity while keeping the business moving quickly. The ideal candidate has strong business judgment, can move quickly without being reckless, and is comfortable operating in ambiguity. This is a high-impact role for someone who wants to build the legal function from the ground up at a scaling SaaS company.

Requirements

• 5+ years of legal experience, ideally including both top-tier law firm and in-house technology company experience.
• Significant experience with SaaS, marketplace, ecommerce, adtech, affiliate, creator economy, fintech/payments, or platform businesses.
• Strong commercial contracting experience, including enterprise SaaS agreements, partnership agreements, vendor agreements, DPAs, and platform terms.
• Experience advising high-growth startups or venture-backed companies.
• Experience supporting international expansion, cross-border operations, or complex employment and contractor structures.
• Comfort operating as a true generalist across commercial, product, privacy, employment, corporate, international, and compliance matters.
• Strong business judgment and ability to balance legal risk with speed and commercial outcomes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to simplify complex legal issues for non-lawyers.
• Low ego, high ownership, and willingness to be both strategic and hands-on.
• JD from an accredited law school and active bar membership in good standing.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, creator platforms, ecommerce marketplaces, or performance marketing.
• Experience managing legal issues across multiple jurisdictions, including China.
• Familiarity with EORs, subsidiaries, resellers, contractors, local counsel management, and cross-border contracting.
• Experience managing outside counsel and legal budgets.
• Familiarity with privacy frameworks, data processing agreements, and vendor security review processes.
• Prior experience as the first legal hire or senior legal leader at a scaling startup.

Responsibilities

• Own legal review and negotiation for customer, partner, vendor, agency, publisher, and enterprise agreements.
• Partner closely with Sales, Partnerships, Customer Success, Marketplace, Finance, and Product to unblock deals while protecting the company.
• Build scalable contract templates, playbooks, fallback positions, and approval workflows.
• Support enterprise sales motions, including MSAs, DPAs, security reviews, procurement redlines, and custom commercial terms.
• Advise on marketplace, affiliate, creator, influencer, and paid media partnership structures.
• Own and evolve Levanta’s Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, creator terms, seller terms, marketplace policies, and related platform rules.
• Advise Product and Engineering on legal issues related to attribution, payments, data usage, creator-brand relationships, affiliate programs, and platform expansion.
• Support compliance with privacy, data protection, advertising, marketing, consumer protection, and platform partner requirements.
• Help the company navigate evolving marketplaces and platforms like Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop, Shopify, Meta, Google, and other ecosystem partners.
• Develop practical internal policies that allow the business to scale without unnecessary friction.
• Advise on international expansion, cross-border operations, and market-specific legal risk as Levanta grows globally.
• Partner with Finance, People, Product, and GTM teams on entity formation, EOR arrangements, contractor structures, employment risk, taxable presence, and local operating models.
• Manage local counsel in priority jurisdictions and translate legal advice into clear, practical business recommendations.
• Support international customer, vendor, partner, creator, and agency agreements.
• Advise on cross-border data, privacy, employment, IP protection, payments, anti-bribery, sanctions, and regulatory considerations.
• Help build internal policies and approval processes for international hiring, contracting, sales activity, and vendor management.
• Manage corporate governance, board consents, equity matters, investor requests, financing support, and corporate housekeeping.
• Partner with Finance and People on employment matters, contractor classification, equity administration, compensation issues, and international hiring considerations.
• Manage disputes, claims, escalations, and legal risk across the business.
• Oversee outside counsel and ensure legal spend is efficient and well-prioritized.
• Help prepare the company for future financing, strategic partnerships, M&A, and expansion opportunities.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Open vacation and sick policy, take the time you need.
• Opportunity for professional growth and advancement within a rapidly expanding startup.
• A culture that values diversity, inclusion, and the impact of every team member on our success.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree