Commercial Counsel

COMMERCIAL COUNSEL

ABOUT OUR CLIENT

Our client is a growing technology company developing advanced systems for commercial and government applications. The organization moves quickly, solves complex technical problems, and works across highly regulated markets. Its team is focused on translating ambitious technical work into practical programs, partnerships, and products.

OUR CLIENT MIGHT BE A FIT FOR YOU IF:

You enjoy helping organizations move quickly through complex agreements, partnerships, and opportunities. You see contracts as tools that enable progress and take pride in finding practical solutions that balance risk, speed, and business objectives.

You are comfortable working across technical, commercial, and government-facing teams, translating legal complexity into clear guidance that helps people make decisions and move forward. You also enjoy building systems and processes that scale with a growing organization.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Commercial Counsel serves as a trusted legal and business partner across our client’s commercial, government, technology, and strategic partnership activities. This role is responsible for helping the company structure, negotiate, and execute a wide variety of agreements while balancing legal rigor with the need to move quickly in a fast-moving technical organization.

The Commercial Counsel works closely with Finance, Business Development, Government Relations, technical teams, and leadership to turn opportunities into executable agreements. This includes supporting commercial transactions, licensing arrangements, government contracts, strategic partnerships, and research collaborations. The role will also help develop the systems, templates, and processes needed to scale legal operations efficiently.

This opportunity is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex business problems, finding practical paths forward, and building the operational foundation that allows a growing company to move quickly and responsibly.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Commercial, Licensing and Government Agreements

• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of agreements, including customer contracts, technology licenses, R&D collaboration agreements, strategic partnerships, supply chain agreements, NDAs, government contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements.

• Partner with internal stakeholders to structure agreements that support business objectives while appropriately managing legal, commercial, and intellectual property risks.

• Advise teams on contract strategy, liability allocation, intellectual property ownership, licensing structures, confidentiality, and compliance considerations.

• Support commercial, government, and strategic partnership opportunities from initial discussions through execution.

• Serve as a practical problem solver during negotiations, helping teams find paths forward and close agreements efficiently.

Legal Operations and Contract Management

• Own and improve contract management processes, templates, workflows, approval routing, and reporting systems.

• Develop scalable contract templates and self-service resources that allow routine agreements to move efficiently through the organization.

• Leverage legal technology and AI-assisted review tools to improve contract review speed, consistency, and visibility.

• Help establish policies, approval frameworks, and operating practices that support a growing organization.

• Track contract obligations, milestones, renewals, and key commitments while helping leadership maintain visibility into contractual risks and opportunities.

Business Partnership, Compliance and Risk Management

• Partner closely with Finance, Business Development, Government Relations, technical teams, and leadership to support company initiatives and strategic objectives.

• Provide practical, business-oriented legal guidance that enables informed decision-making while balancing risk, speed, and execution.

• Support compliance activities related to contracts, export controls, intellectual property, and other legal obligations applicable to company operations.

• Coordinate with outside counsel on specialized legal matters, regulatory issues, and complex transactions as needed.

• Identify emerging legal, contractual, and regulatory risks early and work with stakeholders to develop practical mitigation strategies.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership in good standing.

• 8+ years of experience negotiating, drafting, and managing commercial agreements, including meaningful in-house experience.

• Demonstrated ability to independently negotiate and close complex commercial, licensing, partnership, and government-related agreements.

• Experience supporting government contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or related contracting activities.

• Strong understanding of commercial contracting, intellectual property licensing, and risk allocation.

• Ability to balance legal risk, business objectives, and execution speed in a fast-moving environment.

• Strong business judgment and a practical, solution-oriented approach to legal issues.

• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.

• Ability to communicate legal concepts clearly to technical, business, and executive audiences.

• Experience working directly with cross-functional stakeholders, including business, technical, and leadership teams.

• Experience developing or improving legal processes, contract workflows, templates, or operational systems.

• Comfortable operating independently in ambiguous and rapidly evolving environments.

BONUS QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in energy, aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, or other deep-technology industries.

• Experience with FAR, DFARS, OTAs, SBIR/STTR programs, cooperative agreements, or federal grant mechanisms.

• Experience supporting research collaborations, joint development agreements, technology commercialization efforts, or university partnerships.

• Experience with intellectual property licensing, technology transfer, patent strategy, or trade secret protection.

• Familiarity with export controls, including EAR, ITAR, and OFAC compliance requirements.

• Experience implementing or managing contract lifecycle management systems, legal operations tools, or AI-assisted contract review platforms.

• Experience working with federal agencies, federally funded research programs, or highly regulated industries.

• Experience supporting strategic partnerships, supply chain agreements, manufacturing agreements, or international commercial transactions.

• Experience managing outside counsel and coordinating specialized legal support across multiple subject areas.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Location: Greater Seattle area, Washington.

• Travel: Occasional travel for business collaboration as needed.

BENEFITS

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision benefits.

• 10 paid holidays and a company-wide December holiday break.

• Generous paid vacation and sick time.

• Small, tight-knit team with low barriers to action.

• Exposure to a wide range of challenging, hands-on technical and business problems.

• Meaningful equity in the form of stock options.

Our client values people of all backgrounds and is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates do not need to match every listed qualification to apply.

This position may require access to export-controlled information. To comply with U.S. export control laws, applicants must be a “U.S. person” as defined by U.S. trade control laws, including a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual.