Lead Legal Counsel, Corporate

GitLab

16h•$168,000 - $285,600•Remote

About The Position

GitLab is seeking a Lead Legal Counsel, Corporate to own securities, public company reporting, and corporate governance for the organization. This role is a senior individual contributor position within the Legal & Corporate Affairs (LACA) team, reporting to the Senior Director, Associate General Counsel, Corporate & Compliance. The successful candidate will possess a strong foundation in securities law and a broad corporate perspective, contributing to areas such as quarterly reporting, annual proxy statements, board matters, equity plans, and subsidiary governance. The role also involves supporting mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other strategic initiatives, requiring close collaboration with various departments including Accounting, Finance, Investor Relations, and People. The position emphasizes translating complex legal issues into clear recommendations, building trust, and balancing legal risk with business objectives.

Requirements

6+ years of demonstrated relevant legal experience, including law firm experience advising US-listed public companies on securities law, corporate governance, and public company reporting.
A Juris Doctor (JD) degree and active admission to a US state bar.
The ability to independently manage complex legal matters and cross-functional projects, prioritize competing needs, and drive work to completion with limited direction.
Clear written and verbal communication, including the ability to explain technical legal issues to non-lawyers and senior leaders and build trusted working relationships.
The ability to investigate unfamiliar legal questions, weigh risks against business objectives, and turn recommendations into action.
Experience improving legal processes, templates, policies, or other scalable resources.
The ability to collaborate in a remote, globally distributed team across time zones and cultures, and willingness to use GitLab in your day-to-day work.

Nice To Haves

Prior in-house experience is a plus.
In-house work at a public software-as-a-service (SaaS), software, or open core company.
M&A experience.
Cross-border corporate matters experience.
Outside counsel management experience.
Legal technology experience that helps scale legal work.

Responsibilities

Own securities and public company reporting matters, working with internal stakeholders and external auditors on SEC filings, quarterly reports, earnings releases, the annual proxy statement, investor presentations, and other public disclosures.
Advise on corporate governance, including board and committee processes, the annual stockholders meeting, corporate approvals, equity plan matters, executive compensation, and related compliance requirements.
Provide legal guidance on complex entity matters across jurisdictions, including formation, maintenance, reorganizations, intercompany agreements, and wind-downs.
Support M&A and other strategic transactions, contributing to diligence, documentation, approvals, signing, closing, and post-closing integration.
Engage and manage outside counsel across jurisdictions, coordinating work and ensuring practical, high-quality, and cost-effective advice.
Identify legal and business risks, present clear options to senior stakeholders, and monitor legal developments to keep policies, processes, and controls current.
Build and improve playbooks, checklists, templates, and workflows for recurring corporate legal work. Train junior legal team members and cross-functional partners to use these resources.