Legal Operations Associate

Sei Labs•New York, NY

About The Position

Sei Labs builds open-sourced technology for the high-performance Sei Blockchain, the first parallelized EVM Layer 1 blockchain designed to scale with the industry. The unique optimizations built into Sei enable Web3 applications to reach Web2 level scale and performance, driving the mass adoption of digital assets. Our teams are comprised of former Google, Goldman Sachs, Robinhood, Nvidia, and Databricks veterans dedicated to onboarding the next billion users onto a vibrant ecosystem of applications. Sei Labs has raised over $30M from top investors including Jump Crypto, Multicoin Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, Hudson River Trading, and Flow Traders. This role is the operational backbone of the Legal function, sitting directly under the General Counsel. The Legal Operations & Contracts Manager will partner across the company — Engineering, Talent, Finance, BD, and our incubated spinout entities — to make Legal an enabler rather than a bottleneck. This is a high-ownership seat at a small, fast-moving company; you'll build process from scratch where it's needed and skip it where it isn't.

Requirements

5–8+ years in legal operations, contracts management, or senior paralegal / contract negotiator roles at a tech company, law firm, or financial services firm.
Demonstrated ownership of the contract lifecycle end-to-end, including direct negotiation of commercial terms with counterparties.
Proven track record building or significantly transforming a legal operations function — this role requires writing the playbook, not following one.
Experience leading or supporting AI, automation, or data-driven transformation initiatives within a legal department.
Strong data and analytics skills; ability to build dashboards and translate metrics into operational insights.
Comfort operating in ambiguity. You build the system as you go and don't wait for someone to hand you a playbook.
Capacity for managing budgets, timelines, and competing priorities with a sharp eye for detail and follow-through.
Strong written communication. You can summarize a 40-page agreement in five bullets and a recommendation.
Familiarity with at least one CLM platform (Ironclad, LinkSquares, Agiloft, Evisort, or similar). Preference for Ironclad.
Working knowledge of US corporate, commercial, and employment law fundamentals. International exposure (EU, Singapore, Cayman, BVI) is a plus.
Highly effective interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate across all levels inside and outside the organization, with a focus on building trusted relationships.
Positive, get-it-done attitude that is receptive to feedback, pushes for excellence, and inspires others to overcome challenges.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience in crypto, fintech, or financial-services company.
Exposure to token-related agreements, validator / staking contracts, or foundation / protocol governance structures.
Experience supporting fundraising, M&A, or spinout transactions.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end contract lifecycle: intake, drafting, redlining, negotiation support, signature routing, and post-execution storage. Scope spans vendor agreements, BD deals, NDAs, grants, validator and node operator agreements, employment-related contracts (with Talent), and incubation entity setups.
Stand up and maintain our CLM. You'll have a meaningful hand in tool selection and implementation.
Develop and maintain template libraries (NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, DPAs, grant agreements) with embedded fallback positions so the business can self-serve where appropriate.
Build legal workflows that scale: matter intake, request triage, signature processes, retention and records policies.
Audit existing technology tools, identify gaps, and contribute to a legal technology roadmap covering matter management, CLM, e-billing, and AI-assisted workflows.
Lead efforts that push automation, AI, and data-driven insights into how we deliver legal work across the organization.
Build a legal operations dashboard tracking matter volume, cycle times, contract turnaround, and outside counsel spend.
Manage external counsel relationships, scoping, and budgets. Keep spend disciplined and matters moving on the clock.
Review, modify, and enforce billing guidelines to drive cost rigor across external legal spend.
Manage external vendors and consultants to ensure effective partnerships and strong ROI.
Track entity governance for Sei Labs — corporate records, board consents, KYC packets, signatory matrices.
Partner with Finance on contract-driven obligations (payment terms, renewals, audit rights) and with Talent on employment paperwork across US, EU, and EOR jurisdictions.
Support the GC on regulatory and compliance workstreams — sanctions screening processes, token-related matters, privacy program work, and policy build-out.
Support the Legal Department's annual planning cycle, including budget and headcount.
Help organize key programs and events that support the day-to-day functioning and culture of the Legal team, including onboarding, L&D resources, and initiatives that foster team cohesion and professional growth.