Commercial Counsel, SPARC

Anthropic$265K — $335K *
Legal & Accounting
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • J.D. and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar, preferably California
  • Experience in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements
  • Ability to provide practical legal guidance on complex commercial law issues to non-lawyers

Responsibilities

  • Draft, review, and negotiate agreements related to AI safety and research
  • Collaborate with Sales and Go-to-Market teams to expedite deals
  • Develop and manage legal templates and procedures
  • Work with Policy and Research teams on AI governance initiatives
  • Identify legal risks and support business efforts
  • Stay updated on legal implications of AI technologies

Benefits

  • Visa sponsorship available
  • Hybrid work policy requiring office presence 25% of the time
  • Encouragement for applicants from underrepresented groups
  • Focus on inclusion of diverse perspectives in team development
  • Commitment to ethical implications of AI systems
Full Job Description
About the role

We're looking for a Commercial Counsel, SPARC (Safety, Policy, and Research Contracts) to join our legal team at the forefront of shaping how cutting-edge AI technology reaches users, researchers, and enterprises worldwide. You'll work alongside experienced colleagues who operate as true strategic partners (moving fast, thinking creatively, and working collaboratively) on cutting-edge AI safety and research agreements, including threat-sharing frameworks with leading security organizations and collaborations that shape and advance responsible AI development standards. You'll also focus on supporting our Go-to-Market teams, handling enterprise agreements and customer negotiations. This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated attorney to develop deep expertise in their commercial transactions career while contributing directly to responsible AI development.
Key responsibilities
  • Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements, focusing mainly on AI safety and research agreements, as well as GTM/Sales transactions including enterprise customer contracts
  • Partner closely with Sales and Go-to-Market teams to support deal velocity and provide practical legal guidance
  • Help build and maintain commercial legal infrastructure, including contract templates, playbooks, and process improvements
  • Partner with Policy, Safeguards, and Research teams on novel AI governance initiatives
  • Identify and escalate legal risks appropriately while supporting business momentum
  • Stay current on legal developments affecting AI technologies
Minimum qualifications
  • J.D. and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar (California preferred)
  • Experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements
  • Demonstrated ability to provide clear, practical legal guidance to non-lawyers on complex commercial law matters
Preferred qualifications
  • Commercial experience supporting research collaborations and sponsored research and grant giving programs
  • Curiosity about AI technology and AI policy, and a commitment to responsible AI development
  • Experience with biotech, clinical research, or other life sciences transactions
  • Familiarity with grant-making or grant-funded arrangements, including funding terms and compliance considerations
  • Experience advising on partnerships with non-profit foundations, academic institutions, or industry trade groups
  • Comfort advising research teams whose work doesn't follow a standard commercial playbook
  • Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate legal concepts for non-legal audiences
  • A collaborative approach to working with colleagues and external partners
  • Experience navigating multi-stakeholder agreements involving technical and policy considerations
  • Ability to adapt to shifting priorities in a fast-paced environment
  • Experience with SaaS agreements or other technology transactions


The annual compensation range for this role is listed below.

For sales roles, the range provided is the role's On Target Earnings ("OTE") range, meaning that the range includes both the sales commissions/sales bonuses target and annual base salary for the role.

Annual Salary:

$265,000-$335,000 USD

Logistics

Minimum education: Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience

Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience

Minimum years of experience: Years of experience required will correlate with the internal job level requirements for the position

Location-based hybrid policy: Currently, we expect all staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time. However, some roles may require more time in our offices.

Visa sponsorship: We do sponsor visas! However, we aren't able to successfully sponsor visas for every role and every candidate. But if we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa, and we retain an immigration lawyer to help with this.

We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification. Not all strong candidates will meet every single qualification as listed. Research shows that people who identify as being from underrepresented groups are more prone to experiencing imposter syndrome and doubting the strength of their candidacy, so we urge you not to exclude yourself prematurely and to submit an application if you're interested in this work. We think AI systems like the ones we're building have enormous social and ethical implications. We think this makes representation even more important, and we strive to include a range of diverse perspectives on our team.

Your safety matters to us. To protect yourself from potential scams, remember that Anthropic recruiters only contact you from [redacted].com email addresses. In some cases, we may partner with vetted recruiting agencies who will identify themselves as working on behalf of Anthropic. Be cautious of emails from other domains. Legitimate Anthropic recruiters will never ask for money, fees, or banking information before your first day. If you're ever unsure about a communication, don't click any links-visit anthropic.com/careers directly for confirmed position openings.

About Anthropic

Anthropic is an artificial intelligence research lab that focuses on developing AI systems that are safe, reliable, and trustworthy. The company was founded in 2019 by Dr. Yoshua Bengio, a leading AI researcher and winner of the Turing Award. Anthropic's research is focused on developing AI systems that can learn from small amounts of data, reason about complex systems, and interact with humans in a natural way. The company is based in New York City and has a team of experienced AI researchers and engineers.
Learn more about Anthropic
Size
50 employees
Industry
Founded
2019

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