Sr. Legal Counsel (API Sales)

Who we are:

Vonage is a global cloud communications leader that helps businesses accelerate their digital transformation through our fully programmable Unified Communications, Contact Center Applications, and Communications APIs.

Why this role matters:

Vonage’s Legal Department seeks a talented Commercial Senior Legal Counsel to support its fast-growing and dynamic API communications division. The role involves supporting complex, strategic transactions with our customers, partners, and suppliers worldwide, whilst serving as a trusted advisor on commercial, compliance, data protection, and legal matters in connection with the product and sales cycle. Additionally, the Senior Legal Counsel will play a key role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of contracting processes. You will oversee a pipeline of commercial deals, manage existing customers relationships and contracts, and provide legal guidance to a global business team.

In this role, you’ll:

• Review, negotiate, create and manage commercial contracts with customers, partners, and resellers to protect company interests and ensure legal compliance.
• Support continuous improvement in streamlining and simplifying processes for contract negotiations, operational processes and the provision of legal support to all other areas of the company.
• Engage with Vonage customers to address needs, resolve questions and negotiate contract terms.
• Advise internal teams (e.g., product, security, compliance) and senior leaders on solutions to support company growth.
• Support the sales teams by reviewing RFPs, assisting indirect sales and advising on new market opportunities.
• Provide legal guidance on the development of new products and services.
• Enhance and standardize contract templates, processes and procedures for a global framework that enables cross-selling across services.

What you’ll bring:

Required

• JD from an accredited law school and active member in good standing of at least one US state bar; Minimum of 5-7 years of relevant in-house legal experience, ideally in technology, SaaS, or cloud communications.
• Experience leading customer negotiations and drafting complex SaaS and commercial contracts; Support the development, commercialization, and licensing of technology and IP assets
• Serve as a subject matter expert on domestic and international privacy and data security within our Legal team
• Develop and refine processes, runbooks, and systems to ensure efficient and scalable contracting operations.
• Develop and implement legal strategies to effectively and efficiently manage a large portfolio of litigated matters in a wide variety of jurisdictions.
• Advise on copyright, trademark, trade secret, and patent matters in the context of software and technology transactions.
• Advise on consumer protection, marketing, and advertising matters to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations
• Maintain standards, procedures, and internal controls designed to promote ethical conduct, foster commitment to compliance with the law, and prevent and detect violations of law and other misconduct
• Monitor and stay updated on relevant laws and regulations, communicate with stakeholders about regulatory initiatives, and assist with implementation of regulatory changes
• Assess, develop, communicate and advance Vonage’s global revenue generation strategy and commercial transaction support, including efficient processes for negotiating and managing transactions, and superior negotiation judgment.
• Provide advice and support to the product team, local legal teams, support functions, Vonage management, and the Legal, Risk, and Compliance Department
• Serve as a subject matter authority on business development and partnership/reseller management matters within the legal department and collaborate with other legal functions as needed (e.g., Intellectual Property, Compliance, Data Privacy and Products/Regulatory Law group)
• Experience with artificial intelligence and machine learning technology and regulatory compliance and strategy
• Structure, draft and negotiate key supplier contracts (both on Vonage and supplier paper) such as inbound license agreements, consulting, marketing, professional service, SaaS, and data processing agreements
• Ability to work on a wide range of mission-critical projects, under tight time constraints, with minimal supervision
• A combination of top law firm and in-house experience; 

Desirable

• Thrives in an environment where urgency, results driven mindset and accountability are key behaviors.
• Effective communicator, skilled at engaging with internal stakeholders, and external lawyers, customers, partners, resellers and their inhouse counsel.
• Experienced with API agreements and complex cross-border agreements.
• Experienced with supporting product and engineering teams in a product counseling capacity.

How you’ll benefit:

• Medical, Vision, and Dental Coverage
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Income Protection
• Maternity & Paternity Leave
• 401(k) Contributions: Pre-Tax, Roth, or After-Tax Roth Options
• Unlimited Discretionary Time Off
• Three Paid Volunteer Days a Year
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Voluntary Legal Plan
• Optum Employee Assistance Program
• Discount on Auto, Home & Pet Insurance

Where you will work:

This position offers a hybrid work arrangement based out of our New Jersey office, with the flexibility to work remotely. We are also open to considering fully remote candidates located within the USA, specifically in Eastern and Central time zones.

Sponsorship is not available. Legal authorization to work in the USA is required. We are unable to sponsor individuals for employment visas, now or in the future, for this job opening.

Note: The purpose of this profile is to provide a general summary of essential responsibilities for the position and is not meant as an exhaustive list. Assignments may differ for individuals within the same role based on business conditions, departmental need or geographic location.

#LI-HB