The RoleAs Senior Legal Counsel, you will be Traversal's first legal hire, building the legal function from the ground up while reporting to the Head of Strategy & Operations.. The majority of your time will be spent leading commercial contract negotiations with enterprise customers, while also serving as a trusted generalist advisor on corporate, compliance, and employment matters as the company scales. This is a rare opportunity to shape how a fast-growing AI company approaches legal risk and process, with direct visibility into deals, product strategy, and executive decision-making.
Responsibilities- Own commercial contracting end-to-end: draft, negotiate, and close enterprise customer agreements (MSAs, DPAs, security/privacy addenda, order forms) with large enterprise customers, balancing legal risk with sales velocity.
- Build the legal function from scratch - templates, playbooks, and approval workflows - so the business can scale without bottlenecking on legal review.
- Serve as primary legal advisor to the executive team on corporate matters: entity governance, board materials, equity administration, and support for future fundraising.
- Own compliance and risk across data privacy and security certifications (SOC 2, GDPR/CCPA) and emerging regulatory considerations relevant to an AI product operating inside customers' production environments.
- Advise on employment matters (offer letters, policies, terminations) and partner with the Head of Operations on vendor and procurement contracts.
- Manage outside counsel relationships across specialty areas (IP, litigation, international expansion) for efficient, cost-effective use of external legal spend.
- Proactively flag legal and regulatory risk to leadership as Traversal scales into new markets and customer segments.
Requirements- J.D. and active bar admission; NY admission preferred given our in-office location.
- Corporate law experience combined with hands-on commercial contract negotiation at an early-stage startup - this is a firm requirement, not a nice-to-have.
- 7+ years of legal experience, with a mix of law firm training and in-house experience, ideally at a B2B SaaS or enterprise software company.
- Deep expertise drafting and negotiating enterprise commercial agreements (MSAs, SaaS terms, DPAs, security addenda) with sophisticated enterprise counterparties.
- Working knowledge of data privacy and security frameworks (GDPR, CCPA, SOC 2) relevant to software with access to customer production systems.
- Comfort operating as a generalist "department of one" - able to triage corporate, employment, and compliance questions, escalating to outside counsel when needed.
- Willing and able to work 5 days/week in-person in our New York office (near Madison Square Park).
- Strong business judgment, balancing legal risk against commercial velocity in a fast-moving startup environment.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to explain legal concepts clearly to non-legal stakeholders.
Nice to Have- Experience with AI/ML-specific legal and regulatory issues (model risk, AI governance frameworks, emerging AI regulation).
- Experience supporting fundraising (venture financings, SAFEs, board governance).
- Familiarity with contract lifecycle management (CLM) tooling and legal ops processes.
CompensationWe offer competitive compensation, startup equity, health insurance, and additional benefits.
The U.S. base salary range for this full-time, in-person role in New York is $200,000-$400,000, plus equity and benefits. Our salary ranges are based on location, level, and role. Individual compensation is determined by experience, skills, and job-related knowledge.
