Vice President, Legal – San Francisco or New York (Hybrid) (986-SLS)
About The Position
Our client, a rapidly growing global technology company is seeking a Vice President, Legal to help lead its legal function through its next stage of growth and maturity. The company has operations across numerous countries and a complex corporate structure comprising approximately 50 entities worldwide. This is a highly visible leadership position reporting to the company’s Chief Legal & Risk Officer. This executive will manage a global legal team of seven professionals and will work closely with senior business leaders throughout the organization. This is a hybrid position based in either San Francisco or New York. The ideal candidate is a business-minded, collaborative builder who views Legal as an enabler rather than a gatekeeper. This person will be an effective people leader who can bring greater cohesion to a talented global team while remaining hands-on and resourceful. They will bring a systematic approach to the legal function, understand how technology, AI, data, and well-designed processes can improve legal service delivery, and communicate effectively with stakeholders throughout the business. This is an incredible opportunity to join a sophisticated global company at an important inflection point. The role combines several compelling mandates: leading and developing a talented global legal team; serving as the Chief Legal & Risk Officer’s key partner; preparing a complex international corporate structure for potential public-company life; and helping build a legal function that uses technology, data, institutional knowledge, and AI to operate more intelligently.
Requirements
- J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar.
- Meaningful experience in private practice coupled with substantial in-house experience.
- Significant experience with corporate governance, ideally involving a complex global corporate structure.
- Demonstrated ability to manage, mentor, and develop high-performing legal professionals.
- Experience working within a global business and managing legal matters across multiple jurisdictions.
- Strong understanding of AI and how technology can improve legal operations, workflows, knowledge management, and service delivery.
- Technology company experience, with comfort operating in a lean, hands-on environment.
- Strong business acumen and the ability to translate sophisticated legal concepts into practical guidance for non-legal stakeholders.
- Excellent judgment, communication skills, executive presence, and stakeholder-management capabilities.
Nice To Haves
- Experience supporting an IPO, IPO-readiness initiative, public-company transition, or similarly significant corporate transaction is strongly preferred.
- Experience implementing or meaningfully participating in the modernization of a legal department through technology, AI, automation, CLM, knowledge-management tools, or similar systems is highly desirable.
- Experience in a regulated business; insurance, insurtech, fintech, financial services, or another complex regulated environment is a plus, but not required.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the Chief Legal & Risk Officer’s senior partner on legal matters and help lead the global legal function.
- Manage, develop, and mentor a global team of seven legal professionals, creating a cohesive, collaborative team and helping individual team members perform at their highest level.
- Partner closely with the Chief Legal & Risk Officer on IPO readiness and a potential IPO process, including diligence, corporate governance, outside counsel management, and coordination with bankers, underwriters, and other advisors.
- Lead and continue to professionalize global corporate governance across approximately 50 legal entities in numerous jurisdictions.
- Develop the governance infrastructure, processes, controls, and documentation necessary to support continued growth and eventual public-company readiness.
- Partner with senior executives and business stakeholders to provide practical, commercially oriented legal advice that enables the business to move quickly while appropriately managing risk.
- Modernize and systematize the legal department through the thoughtful use of AI, legal technology, workflow tools, knowledge management systems, and automation.
- Evaluate emerging legal technology and develop dashboards, metrics, and tools that improve effectiveness, resource allocation, and communication with business stakeholders.
- Build repeatable processes, playbooks, systems, and institutional knowledge so recurring legal issues can be addressed efficiently and consistently.
- Work cross-functionally with business, product, commercial, finance, risk, and other teams to embed Legal more effectively into business decision-making.
- Manage and strategically deploy outside counsel, balancing specialized expertise with cost, efficiency, and the development of internal capabilities.
Benefits
- The position is also eligible for a target annual bonus and a meaningful stock grant as part of the overall compensation package.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Executive
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
