Commercial Counsel

We are seeking a Commercial Counsel to own the contracts that move revenue. This role is the legal partner to our sales organization: you will run the NDA and commercial agreement lifecycle end to end, from first draft through negotiation to signature, and you will be the person sales calls when a deal needs to close this quarter. You will also own vendor and procurement contracting on the buy side. This is a high-volume, high-judgment role at a company selling complex hardware into research institutions, national labs, universities, and enterprise customers across the US, Europe, and Asia. You will work directly with sales leadership, finance, and engineering, and you will have real latitude to set positions rather than escalate every question. The ideal candidate is fast, commercially minded, and comfortable making a call with imperfect information. Ideal Candidate You are a commercial lawyer who thinks like a business partner. You give clear answers quickly, you distinguish real risk from theoretical risk, and sales trusts you because you make their deals faster rather than slower. You are equally comfortable turning an NDA in an hour and spending a week on a complex multi-site purchase agreement. You want ownership of a function, not a queue of tickets. Key Responsibilities NDAs and Early-Stage Agreements • Own the NDA process end to end: intake, review, negotiation, and execution, with quick turnaround times. • Maintain and improve Maybell's NDA templates, fallback positions, and playbook so that routine requests are resolved without legal review. • Handle mutual and one-way NDAs, evaluation agreements, and letters of intent with research institutions, national labs, universities, and commercial customers. • Train and enable sales to self-serve on standard forms, escalating only genuine deviations. Commercial Contracts and Sales Support • Draft, review, and negotiate purchase agreements, quotes and order forms, terms and conditions, statements of work, and service and warranty agreements. • Serve as the day-to-day legal partner to the sales team on deal structure, risk allocation, and customer pushback, including live participation in customer calls where it accelerates the deal. • Negotiate customer-supplied paper and procurement terms, including university and government-adjacent forms, and know which battles are worth fighting. • Support distributor, reseller, and channel partner agreements as Maybell expands internationally. • Partner with finance on payment terms, revenue recognition considerations, and credit risk, and with engineering on delivery, acceptance, and specification commitments. Vendor and Procurement • Own the buy side as well: review and negotiate vendor, supplier, SaaS, and professional services agreements, and the inbound NDAs that precede them. • Partner with finance and operations on procurement terms, renewals, and spend approvals, and build lightweight standard forms so routine purchases do not require legal review. Process, Enablement, and Risk • Build the contracting infrastructure: templates, clause library, approval matrix, signature policy, and a contract repository that the business will actually use. • Define and track cycle-time and volume metrics so contracting is measured as a business function, not a black box. • Coordinate with trade compliance, security, and privacy on export-related, data-related, and security-related terms in customer agreements. • Manage outside counsel on specialist questions and keep that spend disciplined. • Flag recurring commercial risks to leadership with a recommendation, not just an issue list. Intellectual Property / Import-Export Restrictions (Preferred, Not Required) • Form a reasoned in-house view on IP matters before we engage specialist external counsel. • Assess IP infringement risk from both defensive and offensive angles. • Navigate the import and export restrictions that apply to quantum computing hardware and related cryogenic equipment. • Distinguish what genuinely warrants outside counsel and how best to do so. Qualifications • JD and active bar membership • 4+ years of commercial contracting experience, including meaningful time supporting a sales organization directly. • Demonstrated volume experience with NDAs and commercial agreements - you have negotiated hundreds of them and have views on what actually matters. • Comfort negotiating on customer paper, including procurement and institutional forms, without requiring perfect templates. • Sound commercial judgment and a bias toward closing. This role exists to get deals done responsibly, not to accumulate protections no one will ever invoke. • Ability to work at startup pace with limited support and to build process where none exists. • Experience with hardware, capital equipment, or complex product sales is advantageous but not required. • Exposure to export controls, data protection, or government contracting is a plus What We Offer • Competitive Compensation: Base salary range $155,000-$185,000 depending on experience, with additional compensation through performance bonuses and equity options in one of the country's most promising startups • Ownership: This is the contracting function - you set the templates, the positions, and the process rather than inheriting someone else's • Growth Trajectory: Significant opportunities for professional development and career advancement in a rapidly scaling organization • Impact: Direct influence on the success of a company developing revolutionary technology • Exceptional Team: Collaboration with world-class scientists, engineers, and business leaders who are defining a new industry • Comprehensive Benefits: Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) matching, and more Maybell Quantum is solving incredibly challenging problems at the cutting edge of physics and engineering. If you're excited about applying your commercial contracting experience to help build a category-defining company, we want to hear from you.