Legal Counsel, Commercial
Chainguard is seeking a Senior Counsel, Commercial to serve as a key legal partner to our Go-To-Market organization. This is a highly visible, customer-facing role at the center of the business, enabling revenue growth while protecting the company. This is Chainguard’s first dedicated commercial counsel seat in the UK — an opportunity to lead the charge on the commercial front across EMEA while working closely with the broader legal team and your regional colleagues.
The ideal candidate is a strong commercial attorney with significant drafting experience who thrives in the energy and intensity of a high-growth company. You are proactive, business-minded, and comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy in a fast-moving environment. You enjoy partnering closely with Sales and cross-functional teams, negotiating directly with sophisticated customer counsel, and taking full ownership of transactions from start to finish.
In addition to deep commercial expertise, this role requires experience navigating open source licensing considerations, familiarity with DORA and EU privacy law, and comfort negotiating with highly regulated customers. You will primarily support EMEA-based deals while also providing coverage for East Coast US deals — the reverse of how the US team currently supports the international side.
As a Senior Counsel, Commercial at Chainguard, you will serve as the primary legal partner to the Go-To-Market team for EMEA-based deals, supporting customer transactions from initial structuring through execution. You will draft, review, and negotiate SaaS agreements, enterprise customer agreements, professional services agreements, NDAs, and partner and channel agreements. Additionally, you will draft and maintain standard form agreements and online terms, including platform terms, universal license agreements, and order forms.
You will negotiate directly with sophisticated customer counsel, including those at financial services, insurance, healthcare, and pharmaceutical organizations. Ensuring commercial agreements align with open source licensing requirements and industry best practices will be a key responsibility. You will also maintain familiarity with DORA, GDPR, and applicable EU and UK privacy law as it relates to commercial contracting. Partnering closely with Product, Product Legal, Security, and other cross-functional teams to align legal guidance with business and technical objectives will be essential.
To be successful in this role, you should have a Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent legal qualification with active bar or solicitor membership in good standing. A minimum of 5 years of commercial legal experience, ideally combining law firm and in-house technology company experience, is required. Strong experience drafting and negotiating SaaS, subscription, and professional services agreements is essential. Demonstrated ability to draft standard form agreements and online terms from the ground up is also important.
Experience negotiating with highly regulated customers and familiarity with the regulatory considerations impacting those industries are crucial. A working knowledge of open source licensing and compliance considerations is necessary. Familiarity with DORA, GDPR, and UK and EU data privacy frameworks as they apply to commercial contracts is also important. Experience in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, or related technology sectors is strongly preferred.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to build strong working relationships across Sales, Product, Security, and executive stakeholders are essential. Sound business judgment and the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives are key. Comfort managing multiple complex matters independently in a fast-paced, high-growth environment is necessary. This role is based in the United Kingdom, and candidates in other European hubs where Chainguard has existing personnel may also be considered.