Lead Counsel

Summary

Join Chainguard as their Embedded Legal Sidekick, advising Product, Engineering, Security, and Marketing teams. As Open Source & Licensing Guru, advise on open-source licensing. Take the wheel on all things privacy and data protection, building globally savvy policies. Lead incident response investigations and advise. Orchestrate audits, certifications, and compliance projects. Be the subject matter expert for privacy and AI terms in contracts. Chainguard offers a flexible, remote-first work environment.

Requirements

• Product & Privacy Wizardry: You’ve owned in-house product/privacy counsel work (bonus points for SaaS or security backgrounds) and have the battle scars to show for it
• Open Source Sensei: At least 5 years guiding open source questions, with the uncanny ability to make even the knottiest licensing requirement make sense (or at least actionable)
• Regulations? Bring ’Em On: You master privacy, data protection, and AI compliance across the product lifecycle—and you’re never outpaced (or out-geeked) by regulatory change
• Risk Tamer: Complicated business conundrum? You make risk clear, build trust, and stay pragmatic—even when the popcorn’s burning
• Self-Starter Vibes: Thrive in chaos, ambiguity, and shifting priorities? You’ll love how fast—and far—you can run here
• Team Over Ego: Listen first, communicate clearly, and always help raise the bar (no pun intended)
• Legal Credentials: In good standing with a U.S. state bar

Responsibilities

• Be the Embedded Legal Sidekick: Go deep with Product, Engineering, Security, and Marketing teams and become their go-to for crisp, business-friendly advice. If you can translate legalese into actionable game plans (without boring anyone to tears), you’ll fit right in
• Open Source & Licensing Guru: Advise on every “Is this license going to bite us later?
• Question. You’ll help us play smart with open-source while keeping legal and security landmines at bay
• Put Privacy First (and Second and Third): Take the wheel on all things privacy and data protection—building globally savvy policies, keeping our Privacy Program sharp, and spotting privacy risks in shiny new product features before regulators can even find their binoculars
• Incident Response, But Make it Calm: When things go sideways, grab the flashlight and lead the way—investigating, advising, communicating, and helping Chainguard learn ~fast~ so we end up even better
• Connect the Dots: Orchestrate audits, certifications, compliance projects, and more—all while making Legal the enabler (not the gatekeeper) across GRC, Procurement, Sales, Security, and beyond
• Crush Contract & AI Conundrums: Be the subject matter go-to for privacy and AI terms for every deal that matters (with customers, vendors, and wildcards in between). You’ll be the person who makes complicated risks sound crystal-clear and manageable, even if everyone else isn’t sure what “AI hallucinations” are (yet)

Benefits

• Work flexibly, from wherever you work best. We trust you to get it done—and support you along the way
• 100% Covered Health Insurance: We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck
• ��� Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset
• 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child's first year
• Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a $400 monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs
• Our Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options (yes, you read that correctly: 10 years!)