Founding Legal Counsel
Founding Legal Counsel will build Basis’s early-stage legal function, owning commercial contracts, corporate governance, fundraising support, strategic transactions, and personnel matters. The role requires 2–5 years of corporate or commercial law experience, a J.D., U.S. state bar membership, and strong practical business judgment.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Own day-to-day commercial contracting, including reviewing, drafting, and negotiating customer and vendor agreements.
- Develop contract templates and playbooks, approval and escalation processes, obligation tracking, and contract-management systems.
- Support corporate governance and board matters, including cap table management, board and stockholder approvals, meeting preparation, equity administration, fundraising, and corporate records.
- Advise on strategic partnerships and other complex business arrangements.
- Partner with People on employment agreements, policies, employee relations, compensation and equity questions, and workplace issues.
- Provide practical, commercially grounded legal advice to leadership and business teams.
Requirements
- 2–5 years of corporate or commercial law experience at a leading law firm.
- J.D. from a top law school.
- Membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar.
- Experience reviewing, drafting, and negotiating commercial agreements, ideally including SaaS agreements, vendor contracts, NDAs, data-processing terms, and strategic partnership agreements.
- Strong grounding in corporate law, governance, capitalization, equity matters, board processes, and financing transactions.
- Excellent judgment, precise writing, organization, attention to detail, and follow-through.
- Ability to work hands-on, build processes from scratch, and operate independently in an early-stage legal function.
- Intellectual curiosity and ability to learn unfamiliar products, technologies, and areas of law quickly.
Nice-to-haves
- Experience negotiating complex agreements while preserving key protections and maintaining deal momentum.
- Experience with venture financings, board governance, capitalization matters, strategic transactions, or emerging-company work.
- Experience building legal templates, playbooks, approval processes, contract-management systems, or similar infrastructure.
- Demonstrated ability to act as a practical business partner and independently drive ambiguous matters to resolution.
- Capacity and ambition to take on broader responsibility as the company and legal function grow.
Compensation and Benefits
- $175,000–$225,000 annual salary.
- Premium medical, dental, and vision coverage; life insurance; and Spring Health coaching and therapy sessions.
- 100% coverage of Wellhub Gold membership.
- Unlimited PTO and 12 paid company holidays.
- Daily meal stipends, stocked kitchen, and $300 toward a custom desk setup.
- Pre-tax commuter benefits and 401(k) plan.
- Monthly office activities, optional team happy hours, and parental leave.
Skills
Corporate Law, Commercial Contracts, Saas Agreements, Vendor Contracts, Nondisclosure Agreements, Data Processing Agreements, Strategic Partnerships, Corporate Governance, Cap Table Management, Equity Administration, Board Governance, Venture Financings, Contract Management, Employment Agreements, Contract Playbooks
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