Head of Legal Affairs (First In-House Attorney), San Francisco, CA (917-SLS)
Job Description
Job DescriptionOur client, a fast-growing enterprise SaaS AI company, has exclusively retained Solutus Legal Search to hire its first in-house attorney and Head of Legal Affairs. This is a rare opportunity to build and lead the legal function at a high-growth company partnering with sophisticated enterprise customers, working directly with a seasoned founding team that has successfully scaled and exited a prior business.
This role will be deeply embedded with sales and go-to-market leadership, owning the company’s most critical commercial work while building scalable legal processes to support continued growth. The successful candidate will operate as a true business partner—helping accelerate deal velocity, manage risk thoughtfully, and support the company’s evolution from growth-stage to scale.Key Responsibilities include
- Own and lead the company’s complex enterprise SaaS commercial transactions, serving as the primary legal partner to Sales and GTM leadership
- Partner closely with executive leadership and cross-functional teams to address legal matters and strategically scale the legal function
- Design and implement practical, scalable legal processes, templates, and tools that streamline deal cycles and support revenue growth
- Advise internal stakeholders on day-to-day legal matters, including commercial contracting, data privacy and security, intellectual property, and regulatory considerations
- Manage and coordinate outside counsel as needed across specialty areas
The Ideal Candidate
- 8+ years of relevant legal experience, ideally with meaningful SaaS and enterprise commercial deal exposure
- Demonstrated experience owning and closing complex technology and SaaS transactions
- Comfortable working closely with sales teams and executives in fast-moving deal environments
- Familiarity with data privacy and security frameworks common in enterprise SaaS
- Gravitas and strong problem-solving skills
- A builder’s mindset with strong business judgment and comfort balancing risk and opportunity
- Clear, concise communicator who earns trust across sales, product, finance, and leadership
This is an outstanding opportunity for a business-minded attorney who wants to build a modern legal function, sit close to revenue, and partner directly with leadership during a critical stage of growth. The role is based in San Francisco with an in-office, highly collaborative culture and flexibility in scheduling.
The company offers a competitive base salary, targeted in the high $200s, along with a meaningful equity grant. Final compensation will depend on experience, scope, and seniority, with opportunity for increased responsibility as the company scales.
Solutus Legal Search has been selected as the exclusive representative on this search. Resumes submitted directly to the company will be routed to Solutus for review.
Ref. #917-SLS
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