Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Commercial Counsel roles are increasingly central in SaaS companies where revenue is driven by subscription contracts, partnerships, and recurring renewals. This position stands out because it is the first dedicated commercial counsel, suggesting a shift from ad hoc legal coverage to a more structured in-house function. The remit spans enterprise customer agreements, partner arrangements, and vendor contracts, which are core legal surfaces in a product-led, go-to-market heavy SaaS model.
From a SaaS career perspective, the role offers unusually broad exposure for a part-time seat. It touches contract negotiation cadence with Sales and Partnerships, product launch support involving data handling and cross-border services, and the creation of templates and playbooks that let teams move faster with consistent risk decisions. The explicit expectation to use AI tools in legal workflows also reflects a growing SaaS pattern: legal teams being measured on operational leverage, not only issue-spotting.
This role best suits a lawyer who prefers hands-on execution and pragmatic judgment, and who is comfortable working closely with finance and executive stakeholders. It will appeal to someone who enjoys shaping processes while staying close to day-to-day deal work, and who wants a SaaS-focused portfolio without committing to a full-time schedule.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
We’re looking for an experienced, commercially minded legal partner to join Karbon as our first dedicated Commercial Counsel. In this part-time role, you’ll work closely with our CFO and leadership team to lead commercial negotiations, support global GTM partnerships, advise on new product launches, and help scale our legal and operational frameworks. This is a high-impact position that supports Karbon’s continued growth as a global SaaS leader in the accounting industry.
This is a part-time role (approximately 3 days per week)
The prorated compensation range for this part-time position: $87,000-93,000
About the Role
This is a hands-on role with a strong emphasis on execution. You’ll be responsible for day-to-day legal work across the business, with commercial contracts as the primary focus.
- Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a wide range of commercial agreements, including:
- Enterprise customer agreements (MSAs, order forms, amendments)
- Channel partner, vendor, and supplier contracts
- NDAs and standard form agreements
- Lead and support commercial negotiations across Sales, Partnerships, and GTM teams
- Provide legal and commercial advice on product launches, particularly involving payments, data handling, and cross-border services
- Collaborate with the CFO and other executives to build scalable legal processes and templates that support global operations
- Support due diligence, compliance, and integration work related to strategic initiatives, partnerships, or acquisitions
- Provide some practical legal support on employment matters (e.g. agreements, policies, compliance)
- Act as a trusted legal advisor to the Executive Leadership Team, clearly flagging risks and enabling business decisions
- Manage external counsel as needed across multiple jurisdictions
- Maintain and evolve internal legal resources (playbooks, templates) to help business teams move faster with confidence
AI Responsibility
Karbon embraces AI as a core enabler of scale and efficiency across both our product and internal operations. In this role, you will be expected to actively use AI tools to streamline and continuously elevate legal workflows, such as contract drafting, clause management, issue spotting, and legal intake. You will also advise on the legal implications of AI in our product, vendor ecosystem, and customer use cases.
About You
- 6–8 years of legal experience, ideally in-house at a SaaS or tech company and/or at a top-tier law firm
- Strong experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, including customer, vendor, and partner agreements
- Solid understanding of corporate and transactional matters; exposure to employment and compliance is a plus
- Experience with SaaS, data protection, privacy, or information security is beneficial but not required
- Able to manage competing priorities and drive work forward independently in a part-time, fast-paced environment
- Clear, concise communicator who collaborates well with cross-functional, non-legal stakeholders
- Practical, proactive, and comfortable making judgment calls without over-engineering
- Admitted to practice law in at least one relevant jurisdiction
Why work at Karbon?
- Gain global experience across Australia, New Zealand, UK, and Canada
- Strong benefits package including:
- Flexible Time Off with an encouraged 4 weeks use per year
- Company paid medical for you and eligible spouse/partner and dependents
- Paid dental and vision and eligible spouse/partner and dependents
- 401(k) with company matching
- Flexible Spending Account
- Up to 8 weeks paid parental leave
- Work-from-home stipend
- Work with (and learn from) an experienced, high-performing team
- A collaborative, team-oriented culture that embraces diversity, invests in development and provides consistent feedback
- Be part of a fast-growing company that firmly believes in promoting high performers from within
