Head Commercial Counsel

At SmartBear, we believe building great software starts with quality—and we’re helping our customers make that happen every day. Our solution hubs—SmartBear API Hub, SmartBear Insight Hub, and SmartBear Test Hub, featuring HaloAI, bring visibility and automation to software development, making it easier for teams to deliver high-quality software faster. SmartBear is trusted by over 16 million developers, testers, and software engineers at 32,000+ organizations – including innovators like Adobe, JetBlue, FedEx, and Microsoft.

Job Summary:

The Head Commercial Counsel will drive SmartBear’s revenue contracts function, including complex contract negotiations with customers and channel partners and developing a high-performing contracts team. Reporting to the Associate General Counsel, this strategic role will shape contract management processes and legal policies to drive consistency, mitigate risk, and support business growth while serving as a trusted advisor to the sales leadership team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead all aspects of revenue-generating contracts, with a primary focus on structuring, negotiating, and drafting of a high volume of complex, strategic agreements with global customers to drive top-line growth. Contract types include Master Service Agreements, Enterprise License Agreements, and Data Privacy and Security Agreements, among others.
• Collaborate closely with Sales leadership and management across core business, enterprise sales, and renewals to close revenue-generating deals, effectively managing multiple high-priority transactions on tight timelines.
• Work with Channel Partnerships team to develop, review and negotiate complex global Reseller, Distribution and Marketplace agreements.
• Establish and refine contract management policies, procedures, and tools, including standard form templates and negotiation playbooks, to improve contracting efficiency.
• Advise on emerging global privacy laws and regulations that impact data privacy and data security, including identifying trends and potential impacts on business activities.
• Collaborate with the security and compliance teams to incorporate security documentation into customer agreements, safeguarding the company’s interests.
• Partner closely with cross-functional teams, including finance, operations, sales, customer care, and security, to align contract terms with business needs and strategic goals.
• Foster collaboration and operational consistency across the contracts function, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and best practices.

Requirements:

• JD degree and active membership in good standing of a U.S. state bar.
• 7+ years of relevant commercial experience, with at least 3 years in a managerial role in-house within a high-growth technology company. PE portfolio company experience also preferred.
• Deep expertise in structuring, drafting, and negotiating a wide variety of strategic and complex agreements with a technology company.
• Proven experience scaling legal teams.
• Strong strategic and interpersonal skills.
• Collaborative approach with hands-on leadership style.

Why you should join the SmartBear crew:

• You can grow your career at every level.
• We invest in your success as well as the spaces where our teams come together to work, collaborate, and have fun.
• We love celebrating our SmartBears; we even encourage our crew to take their birthdays off.
• We are guided by a People and Culture organization - an important distinction for us. We think about our team holistically – the whole person. 
• We celebrate our differences in experiences, viewpoints, and identities because we know it leads to better outcomes. 

Did you know?

• Our main goal at SmartBear is to make our technology-driven world a better place. 
• SmartBear is committed to ethical corporate practices and social responsibility, promoting good in all the communities we serve. 
• SmartBear is headquartered in Somerville, MA with offices across the world including Galway Ireland, Bath, UK, Wroclaw, Poland and Bangalore, India. 
• We’ve won major industry (product and company) awards including B2B Innovators Award, Content Marketing Association, IntellyX Digital Innovator and BuiltIn Best Places to Work.

SmartBear is committed to creating an inclusive workplace for employees where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. We are an equal opportunity employer and make employment decisions based on merit, qualifications, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, gender, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace that reflects a diversity of thought and experience as well as our values of being smart, open, driven, accountable, and curious.

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