In-House Counsel

The Role

ConvertKit is seeking an experienced In-House Counsel to play both a strategic partnership and tactical role to help us accomplish our ambitious goals. In addition to close partnership with the executive team, this role will serve the broader team to share and set decision-making principles, implement scalable processes, and enhance our compliance processes. Our goals are to manage risk, create principles to equip our team to operate within, share legal requirements and business responsibilities, and create deliverables that are compliant with these initiatives. 

We are looking for an attorney with a non-traditional approach to problem solving. We need someone who will thrive in a fast-paced environment and proactively identify potential challenges and risks across the organization and recommend creative ways to solve them. We are a nimble and ambitious team and need a partner who will proactively propose solutions with the goal of equipping us to make decisions quickly and continue moving projects forward in hours and days, not weeks. 

This role reports directly to our VP of Operations and will be functioning as a key member of the operations team, while also working closely with the executive team. While this is not a people management role, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Product, Engineering, Growth, and Operations, to ensure legal compliance and drive the implementation of our product initiatives. Someone with a deep understanding of and expertise in data privacy and compliance is a must, along with Federal Trade Commission and employment law.

Responsibilities

Frequent:

• Strategic partnership with the executive team as we set strategy and propose tests and initiatives to get signal before allocating significant resources towards an initiative
• Proposing multiple ways to move an idea forward at various risk levels both leveraging industry best practices and creative ways of accomplishing our goals in light of constraints
• Develop relationships with cross-functional leaders across the team
• Staying up-to-date on data collection and privacy, FTC, and other regulatory compliance 
• Proactively identify legal considerations in our business strategy and help architect smooth paths for feature development or process to stand up new business units
• Create streamlined workflows for managing the legal workload across ConvertKit
• Expand the reach of the legal function within ConvertKit by creating educational and self-service resources that enable the team to comply with legal process so you don’t have to be everywhere all the time
• Advise on intellectual property matters, including trademark and copyright protection, licensing agreements, and infringement issues.
• Provide guidance on employment-related matters, including severance, personnel issues, employee handbooks, and other employment questions.
• Manage contract template drafting (employment, custom sales agreements, confidentiality, termination, NDAs, etc), negotiation, and review processes to ensure compliance with legal requirements and protect company interests.
• Reduce friction in our sales processes by fine-tuning terms of service, master services agreements and commercial playbooks for the sales team to help customers sign deals faster
• Iterate on and implement data privacy and security policies and procedures to safeguard sensitive information and mitigate risks.
• Maintain accurate record-keeping systems and ensure documentation is organized and accessible for legal purposes.
• Oversee compliance efforts and liaise with regulatory agencies to ensure adherence to applicable laws and regulations. 

Infrequent:

• Advise on insurance policies and risk management strategies to minimize exposure to legal liabilities and help reduce costs. 
• Lead emergency response and crisis management efforts to address unforeseen legal challenges effectively.
• Facilitate legal due diligence and support the acquisition process, including drafting and negotiating acquisition agreements and conducting legal assessments. We’ve made two acquisitions thus far.
• Handle litigation matters, including pre-litigation dispute resolution, and collaborate with external counsel as needed. We haven’t encountered litigation thus far.

Success in this role looks like:

• Quick turnarounds on assessments of risk and proposing multiple paths forward when working strategically with the executive team
• Creative problem solving and suggesting multiple solutions for questions or problems to solve including risk levels for each
• Risk managed effectively, reducing legal liabilities and ensuring adequate insurance while still allowing the company to move quickly.
• Clear expectations set and scalable processes implemented for working with the broader team
• Contracts managed efficiently, with swift turnaround times.
• Intellectual property safeguarded proactively, minimizing infringement risks.
• Compliance programs implemented effectively, meeting regulatory standards.
• Litigation resolved efficiently, preserving company reputation.
• Data privacy protocols established securely, preventing breaches.
• Organized record-keeping systems enabling easy documentation retrieval.
• Confidentiality agreements negotiated successfully, safeguarding information.
• Timely response to emergencies, minimizing business disruption.
• Expert guidance provided on employment matters, ensuring compliance with labor laws.
• Acquisitions executed smoothly, ensuring legal compliance and integration.

Requirements/Desired Skills

The right candidate should have:

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing with the state bar association
• 8+ years of experience practicing law, with a focus on data privacy and FTC compliance, corporate, employment, or contracts law.
• Strong knowledge of contract law, intellectual property law, compliance regulations, and litigation procedures.
• Demonstrated experience in managing legal risks and providing strategic counsel to business stakeholders.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency in legal research and analysis.
• Experience with employment law, acquisitions, and crisis management preferred but not required.

Benefits Section

ConvertKit has standardized salaries based on position, no matter where you live. For this role, we’re hiring at L3, L4, or L5 with a base salary range of $200k-$240k. Level is determined based on experience and our interview process. Other benefits include:

• Benefits: 
• Profit Sharing
• ConvertKit equity
• Twenty (20) days of paid time off during each year of employment
• Paid paid vacation: An after-tax bonus of $1,000 for taking five consecutive days of vacation where you’re fully unplugged from work
• Ten paid holidays a year
• Annual, team-wide winter break from Christmas to New Year's
• Monthly medical benefits up to $1,850 a month toward premiums. Dental and vision premiums covered 100%
• Two weeks of paid sick time each year, including mental health + well being days
• Twelve (12) weeks paid parental leave and flexible scheduling in your child’s first year
• Childcare benefit up to $3,000 annually
• Up to six weeks of paid bereavement leave, medical leave, and disaster after six months of employment, two weeks of each paid leave in your first six months
• Gender affirming benefits
• $4,000 equipment allowance for your first two years, $3,000 budget every following two years
• Individual learning + development budget ($3,500/year)
• Four-week, paid sabbatical after five years with the team

How to Apply

We usually receive a large number of applications, and our goal is to follow up with you within two weeks. You’ll hear from us either way. Here’s what you can expect from the rest of our hiring process:

1. A phone screen with our recruiter
2. Hiring Manager screen
3. A technical interview with the team
4. A culture contribution interview
5. Hiring Manager Wrap-up

We’ll keep you informed through every step. To get started, complete this application, including a cover letter and answers to the questions on the next page. We read every single application, and your cover letter and responses help put your experience into context.