The Role

AKUVO is looking for a General Counsel to take the contracts desk off the CFO's plate and own it end-to-end. This is a high-ownership, detail-intensive role for an early-career attorney who loves working through contracts - not just routing them.

The majority of the work is commercial contracts - reviewing, redlining, and negotiating MSAs, order forms, and NDAs against our approved templates and playbooks. Most negotiations happen in writing; larger or more complex deals may occasionally require a call to work through open issues. You will also handle vendor contracts and maintain the data privacy and DPA language that lives inside those agreements. You will be the person who keeps deals moving and makes sure our templates are always protecting us.

You'll be part of the CFO's team, which means you will see across commercial, vendor, and operational agreements. You will work directly with the CFO, Sales, and Customer Loyalty - and collaborate closely with People & Culture and the SVP of Enterprise Risk, both of whom sit in the same organization. You will need to be someone who can operate independently, use sound judgment on when to decide versus when to escalate, and stay rigorous under deal pressure.

Key Responsibilities

Customer & Commercial Contracts

• Own the customer contracts desk: Partner with sales to review, redline, and negotiate customer MSAs, order forms, and NDAs against approved templates and playbooks.
• Own the negotiation process: Work through contract comments in writing and, where needed on larger deals, by phone - keeping negotiations moving without unnecessary escalation.
• Manage the full contract lifecycle: Ensure every executed agreement is filed accurately and tracked for renewal, expiration, and key obligations.

Vendor & Procurement Contracts

• Handle the vendor queue: Route, review, and redline vendor agreements - SaaS, services, and professional services contracts.
• Manage DPAs and data privacy: Own vendor DPAs and data privacy language; keep them current, documented, and aligned with what we sign on the customer side.
• Surface what matters: Flag terms that affect commercial exposure, renewals, or obligations with material implications.

Templates, Playbooks & Legal Currency

• Maintain and improve templates: Own the contract template library - keep templates updated, version-controlled, and protective of AKUVO's interests.
• Stay current on legal changes: Monitor changes to relevant laws and regulations (data privacy, collections, AI/data security) and translate them into updated contract language and templates.
• Keep the repository clean: Maintain a well-organized, auditable contract repository accessible to the people who need it.

Corporate & Entity Housekeeping

• Own state registrations and filings: Manage foreign qualifications, annual report filings, and registered agent relationships across the states where AKUVO operates.
• Keep the entity in good standing: Track deadlines, coordinate with the CFO on any new state activity, and ensure nothing lapses.

Equity & Cap Table Support

• Support equity administration: Prepare option grant paperwork, board consent templates, and coordinate 409A and cap table matters with outside counsel - ensuring nothing falls through the cracks between legal events.

Outside Counsel Management

• Handle matters in-house and manage outside counsel: Take routine legal questions and contract work directly, route specialized matters - litigation, complex regulatory, IP - to the right firm, track invoices and accruals, and ensure the CFO is not the bottleneck for every legal request.
• Manage the relationship operationally: Keep context organized so attorneys can work efficiently, and flag spend or scope changes to the CFO proactively.

Financial Services Regulatory Monitoring

• Watch the regulatory landscape: Monitor guidance and rule changes from NCUA, FFIEC, CFPB, and state banking regulators that could affect our contracts or customer obligations, and summarize implications for the CFO.
• Translate changes into our paper: Flag where regulatory changes require updates to contract language or templates, and coordinate with outside counsel where legal analysis is needed.

Skills & Experience

Required

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with a U.S. state bar - Pennsylvania admission, or eligibility to register as in-house counsel in Pennsylvania, preferred.
• 3-5 years of experience practicing law - in a law firm, in-house legal department, or a combination - with hands-on commercial contract drafting, redlining, and negotiation.
• Demonstrated ability to work through contracts independently: read them carefully, identify legal risk, propose language, and drive to resolution.
• Strong written communication - you will be corresponding directly with counterparties, opposing counsel, and business stakeholders.
• Exceptional attention to detail and follow-through that does not need a manager behind it.
• Sound legal and business judgment about when to decide, when to advise, and when to escalate.
• Discretion - you will see commercial terms, deal economics, and privileged and internal matters that stay inside the room.

Nice to Have

• Coursework, clerkship, or early practice focus in commercial transactions, corporate, or technology and data privacy law.
• Experience with SaaS or FinTech contract types: MSAs, order forms, DPAs, security exhibits.
• Familiarity with data privacy frameworks (CCPA, GDPR basics) and how they surface in contract language.
• Exposure to AI tools for drafting, summarizing, or organizing contract-related work - and motivation to use them.
• Experience using a contract lifecycle management (CLM) or document management system.
• Familiarity with financial services regulation - NCUA, FFIEC, CFPB, or state banking - and how it surfaces in vendor and customer agreements.

Who Will Thrive Here

This role is not a hand-holding environment. The right person enjoys the work - reading contracts carefully, catching what others miss, and moving things to done. They are not intimidated by redlines or pushback from opposing counsel. They take ownership without being asked, keep their own queue organized, and know when something needs to be escalated.

If you have been waiting for a role where you actually own the contracts and commercial legal function - not just support someone who does - this is it.