Senior Commercial Counsel

Ancestry

10d•$146,590 - $174,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Ancestry is searching for a Senior Commercial Counsel to lead contract negotiations and develop innovative strategies that safeguard both our company and our customers' genetic and personal data. This is an AI-forward role. We expect you to use AI and to help build the next generation of AI-enabled legal tooling for our team. In this role, you will serve as a key business partner, driving global initiatives, navigating cutting-edge legal challenges, and influencing the future of genomics.

Requirements

J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school with strong academic performance and an active member in good standing of at least one U.S. state bar.
5+ years of relevant experience with a strong focus on technology transactions and complex commercial agreements.
In-house experience at a technology or data-driven company required.
Proven ability to independently negotiate complex procurement, vendor, supplier, and technology agreements on a global scale.
Deep knowledge of data privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA/CPRA, with hands-on experience negotiating Data Processing Agreements.
Demonstrated, hands-on proficiency using AI in your daily legal work. You already use AI for drafting, review, research, and analysis, and you are fluent with legal technology and CLM systems.
Exceptional drafting and negotiation skills, with strong business judgment and excellent communication abilities.
Collaborative, organized, highly responsive, and able to thrive in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple priorities and stakeholders who need timely answers.
Highly self-aware and low-ego. You understand that high-stakes legal work is more effective (and enjoyable) when done with a sense of humor, deep respect for colleagues, and a focus on collective success.

Nice To Haves

Experience at a top-tier law firm strongly preferred.
CIPP/US certification is highly preferred; CIPP/E or other international certifications are a plus.
A builder's mindset for legal AI. You want to help design and improve how a legal team uses AI, not just consume tools handed to you. A track record of building prompts, workflows, or automations, or helping stand up AI or CLM tooling, is a strong plus.
Experience negotiating agreements involving AI and machine learning is expected.

Responsibilities

Act as the primary legal advisor for our procurement team, leading negotiations for essential vendor and supplier contracts that underpin our technology, laboratory, and data operations.
Draft, review, and negotiate a variety of inbound commercial agreements, including SaaS, technology licenses, master services, marketing, and professional services contracts.
Collaborate with our privacy team to draft and negotiate Data Processing Agreements and security addenda, ensuring third-party practices meet privacy laws and Ancestry’s high standards.
Provide clear and actionable legal guidance on contract interpretation, risk mitigation, and compliance to business stakeholders.
Partner closely with cross-functional teams to ensure all contractual terms support company policies and objectives.
Improve efficiency and scalability by helping to develop AI-enabled legal playbooks, contract templates, and internal policies.
Stay current on legal and regulatory changes that impact Ancestry’s commercial and corporate activities, with a focus on privacy and data security.
Support senior legal leadership with strategic transactions, corporate governance matters, and other corporate development initiatives.
Use AI as a default in your day-to-day work, including contract review, drafting, legal research, and analysis, and continually push the team toward faster, AI-first ways of working.
Serve as a legal AI champion for the team. Help select, build, test, and refine the AI tools and workflows we use, and set the standard for how the team puts them to work.