Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Commercial Counsel roles sit at the center of how SaaS revenue is actually converted into durable customer relationships, and this one is anchored in enterprise contracting. The remit spans SaaS and licensing terms, partnerships, and data-provider arrangements, which are core deal types for subscription businesses that sell into regulated or risk-sensitive customer environments.
For a long-term SaaS legal career, the value here is in developing repeatable judgment on risk allocation at scale. Owning agreements end to end builds fluency in the commercial levers that matter in subscription models, including renewal dynamics, limitation frameworks, privacy and data protection positions, and how legal review interfaces with sales cycles. The focus on templates, playbooks, and process improvement also signals exposure to legal-ops style thinking that becomes increasingly important as SaaS companies mature.
This role tends to fit counsel who prefer being embedded with revenue stakeholders and translating legal nuance into practical tradeoffs. It suits someone who enjoys negotiating directly, handling multiple concurrent deal threads, and knowing when to escalate to specialists. Candidates interested in regulated-data considerations, including FCRA-adjacent questions, should find the subject matter particularly relevant to SaaS contracting.
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
About the team/role
Reporting to Checkr’s VP, Commercial & Corporate Legal, you’ll join our legal team as Commercial Counsel and serve as a trusted advisor to the revenue organization on the agreements that power our growth. You’ll draft, negotiate, and close a wide range of complex, enterprise-level commercial agreements, advising internal clients on the legal, regulatory, and risk considerations behind each deal. Partnering closely with Sales and Revenue, and cross-functionally with Compliance, you’ll help Checkr scale responsibly and move deals at the speed our customers expect.
What you’ll do
- Lead the review, drafting, and negotiation of a variety of commercial agreements, including SaaS, licensing, partnership, and data provider agreements
- Own deals end-to-end, providing practical, risk-based guidance in the context of Checkr’s commercial goals and risk thresholds, and knowing when to escalate
- Serve as a trusted advisor to Sales and Revenue teams, resolving issues independently and building consensus across stakeholders
- Create, improve, and manage commercial templates, playbooks, and internal processes that help the legal team scale
- Research and analyze laws that affect the business, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), from a commercial standpoint
- Partner cross-functionally as a creative problem-solver and strategic thinker, and help manage outside counsel on commercial matters
What you bring
- JD and active membership in good standing of the California Bar
- 3+ years of experience structuring, drafting, and negotiating commercial agreements, ideally with some time in-house at a high-growth technology company
- Working knowledge of the legal issues in commercial agreements—liability, indemnification, risk allocation, data protection, privacy—and the judgment to know when risks matter and when to consult subject-matter experts (including on the FCRA)
- A pragmatic strategist who resolves issues in the context of the company’s commercial goals and risk thresholds and communicates them clearly to non-lawyers, including senior stakeholders
- Ability to manage many projects independently in a fast-paced environment, with strong attention to detail, sound judgment, humility, and a good sense of humor
- An A-player mindset with a strong bias for action: you raise the bar, move with urgency, stay resilient through ambiguity, and take ownership to deliver meaningful outcomes
