Legal Counsel, Commercial in London

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk. Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders.

The Role In a Nutshell

We are seeking a Senior Counsel, Commercial to serve as a key legal partner to our Go-To-Market organization. This is a highly visible, customer-facing role at the centre of the business, enabling revenue growth while protecting the company. This is Chainguard’s first dedicated commercial counsel seat in the UK — an opportunity to lead the charge on the commercial front across EMEA while working closely with the broader legal team and your regional colleagues.

The ideal candidate is a strong commercial attorney with significant drafting experience who thrives in the energy and intensity of a high-growth company. You are proactive, business-minded, and comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy in a fast-moving environment. You enjoy partnering closely with Sales and cross-functional teams, negotiating directly with sophisticated customer counsel, and taking full ownership of transactions from start to finish.

In addition to deep commercial expertise, this role requires experience navigating open source licensing considerations, familiarity with DORA and EU privacy law, and comfort negotiating with highly regulated customers. You will primarily support EMEA-based deals while also providing coverage for East Coast US deals.

What You’ll Do

• Serve as the primary legal partner to the Go-To-Market team for EMEA-based deals, supporting customer transactions from initial structuring through execution.
• Provide coverage for East Coast US deals, working in close coordination with the US legal team.
• Draft, review, and negotiate SaaS agreements, enterprise customer agreements, professional services agreements, NDAs, and partner and channel agreements.
• Draft and maintain standard form agreements and online terms, including platform terms, universal license agreements, and order forms.
• Negotiate directly with sophisticated customer counsel, including those at financial services, insurance, healthcare, and pharmaceutical organizations.
• Ensure commercial agreements align with open source licensing requirements and industry best practices.
• Maintain familiarity with DORA, GDPR, and applicable EU and UK privacy law as it relates to commercial contracting.
• Partner closely with Product, Product Legal, Security, and other cross-functional teams to align legal guidance with business and technical objectives.
• Provide practical, risk-calibrated advice consistent with company policies and risk tolerance.
• Manage a volume of approximately four new deals per week, operating with strong autonomy and sound judgment.
• Contribute to scalable contracting processes as the company and international team grow.

What We’re Looking For

• Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent legal qualification with active bar or solicitor membership in good standing.
• 5+ years of commercial legal experience, ideally combining law firm and in-house technology company experience.
• Strong experience drafting and negotiating SaaS, subscription, and professional services agreements.
• Demonstrated ability to draft standard form agreements and online terms from the ground up.
• Experience negotiating with highly regulated customers and familiarity with the regulatory considerations impacting those industries.
• Working knowledge of open source licensing and compliance considerations.
• Familiarity with DORA, GDPR, and UK and EU data privacy frameworks as they apply to commercial contracts.
• Experience in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, or related technology sectors strongly preferred.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to build strong working relationships across Sales, Product, Security, and executive stakeholders.
• Sound business judgment and the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives.
• Comfort managing multiple complex matters independently in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Based in the United Kingdom — candidates in other European hubs where Chainguard has existing personnel may also be considered.

Why This Role

This is a rare opportunity to be the first full-time commercial counsel in Chainguard’s UK and EMEA presence. You will not be starting from scratch — you will have an existing EMEA-based regulatory lawyer as a colleague and a strong US legal team to work alongside. But on the commercial front, you will be making the seat your own, building relationships with the regional sales team, and shaping how Chainguard does deals in this market. As the international team grows, so does the opportunity.

Base Salary Range: £132,000 - £155,000 GBP

Benefits

• Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
• Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options.
• Health Insurance: 100% covered health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents.
• Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need — to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.
• Paid Parental Leave: 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.

Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.