Vice President - Commercial Legal Affairs

Company Description

Organizations everywhere struggle under the crushing costs and complexities of “solutions” that promise to simplify their lives. To create a better experience for their customers and employees. To help them grow. Software is a choice that can make or break a business. Create better or worse experiences. Propel or throttle growth. Business software has become a blocker instead of ways to get work done.

There’s another option. Freshworks. With a fresh vision for how the world works.

Freshworks Inc. builds uncomplicated service software that delivers exceptional employee and customer experiences. Our people-first approach to AI eliminates friction, helping businesses reduce complexity, lower cost-to-serve, and deliver faster, more human support through enterprise-grade yet easy-to-use CX and IT solutions. Nearly 75,000 companies, including Bridgestone, New Balance, Nucor, S&P Global, and Sony Music, trust Freshworks to power their Employee Experience (EX) and Customer Experience (CX) operations.

Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.

Job Description

Freshworks is looking for an experienced legal professional with a strong understanding of AI powered SaaS business models to help lead our world-class commercial legal team. Reporting to the Chief Legal Officer, this role requires a collaborative and pragmatic team player who can proactively lead the global commercial legal team, navigate escalations, design legal operations and drive and manage multiple complex customer negotiations and commercial projects through to completion.  This role requires a balance of strategic judgment and operational excellence, along with the ability to lead through complexity and utilize technology to drive execution at global scale.  

Superb project management, transactional, analytical, written and verbal communication skills are critical, particularly in conveying issues and topics with various cross-functional leaders and executives.  We are looking for someone with demonstrated leadership skills who is an excellent people manager that enjoys mentoring and training of a global team.  

You will be a core member of the Legal leadership team, partnering closely with peer leaders, including Deals Desk and Field Sales, as well as executives across Product, Engineering, and Finance. 

This role is based in our San Mateo (California) office. This role is hybrid, Tuesday - Thursday in office.

Responsibilities

• This position is responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects of commercial transactions and agreements that impact the organization and leading that team in the provision of solutions-oriented, pragmatic and proactive legal advice. The Vice President will serve as a trusted legal advisor and business partner to clients across the organization, ensuring that all commercial activities are conducted in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
   
• Lead a team of commercial attorneys responsible for structuring, drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a wide range of commercial agreements applicable to a SaaS company, including MSAs, DPAs, vendor agreements, professional services agreements, and partnership, distributor & reseller agreements.  The VP will direct and participate in high-stakes negotiations with external parties, ensuring that the company's interests are protected while maintaining positive business relationships and driving deal closure. 
   
• Seamlessly partner with all business partners within Freshworks, including but not limited to Sales, Professional Services, Sales Operations, Deals Desk, Finance, Product, Partner & Alliances, Marketing and Information Security, to proactively identify and address risks and opportunities, helping Freshworks move quickly to execute company business objectives while ensuring legal considerations are integrated into such business decisions.
   
• Be responsible for the continuous improvement and scalability of legal operations of the Company, including contract management, streamlining contract workflows, creating self-service or automated processes that improve efficiency and increase the velocity of the commercial legal team.  Support continuous improvements of commercial legal playbooks, sales resources, forms, policies and processes to help train and enable our sales teams and simplify our contracting processes.
• Responsible for overall product compliance of our product, our go-to-market operations and our marketing organization.  Stay updated on relevant laws, regulations, and industry trends to ensure all commercial transactions and product offerings conform to relevant national and international laws, industry-specific regulations, and applicable privacy and data protection regulations.
   
• Provide strategic legal advice to mitigate risks and potential liabilities while driving the business forward to clients on a wide range of legal matters, including commercial contracts, commercial disputes, strategic transactions, M&A and privacy and cybersecurity.  Includes working with the Information Security team to review potential customer breach incidents and work on communications to customers.
   
• Serve as a representative of the Legal Leadership Team among the company’s senior leadership to drive the Company strategy, goals and culture into the organization. 

Qualifications

• Juris doctorate degree from an accredited U.S. law school and active state bar membership in good standing
• At least 15 years of relevant legal experience with an in-house position at technology companies directly supporting a sales organization, preferably during the growth-to-great phase of its lifecycle.
• Demonstrated experience and ability to recruit, manage, mentor and lead a team of legal professionals, providing guidance and training with direct communication and feedback to constantly improve and uplevel the team as a whole.  Exhibit Radical Candor (i.e., care personally and challenge directly) while still being able to influence and inspire.
• Demonstrated experience in providing both tactical and strategic legal leadership to contribute to overall business initiatives in a collaborative manner.
• Strong organizational and communication skills with the ability to identify and resolve issues quickly and effectively and make on-the-spot risk calls.  

Skills

• Ability to make sound business decisions quickly and in the face of ambiguity and uncertainty, while maintaining a calm and composed demeanor under pressure.  
• High level of business acumen with a strategic mindset that can align legal strategies with overall business objectives.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to convey complex legal concepts in a clear and concise manner to make them understandable and actionable for management.
• Ability to manage and lead team resources creatively and efficiently, and handle escalations from the business collaboratively and cooperatively, to achieve reasonable outcomes.
• Meticulous attention to detail, proactive, and able to manage and prioritize multiple concurrent matters in a fast-paced environment
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, and ability to deliver balanced, pragmatic risk assessments.
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively across all levels of an organization with enterprise-wide savvy and viewpoint to avoid siloed thinking.
• Service-oriented, responsive, professional and strong integrity.
• Ability to drive your own results and “roll up sleeves” to take on any project in a small in-house legal team environment to get stuff done.
• Ability to see challenges as opportunities to develop and move with an experimental mindset to find simpler or innovative ways to get the real work that matters done and deliver results (i.e., abandon past practices if they don’t make sense or would lead to a poor outcome).
• Low-ego individual that has the ability to view issues holistically and operate as a business person (not just a lawyer) and takes an expansive view of how to drive the business forward.
• Flexible, fun, hard-working individual that thrives in dynamic and fast-moving environments, has the desire to be impactful and wants to be an integral part of shaping and nurturing an amazing work culture.

Additional Information

We're committed to building a workplace that reflects the diverse world we serve. At Freshworks, you'll find inclusive teams, flexible thinking, and opportunities to grow your career - while making work better for millions. 

If this sounds like a journey you want to be part of, we'd love to meet you. Let's building something refreshing together. 

The annual base salary range for this position is $330,000 - $405,000 Base Salary. 

Compensation is based on a variety of factors including but not limited to location, experience, job-related skills, and level. Bonus/equity may be available.

At Freshworks, we have fostered an environment that enables everyone to find their true potential, purpose, and passion, welcoming colleagues of all backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ethnicities. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and believe that diversity in the workplace creates a more vibrant, richer environment that boosts the goals of our employees, communities, and business. 

Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.

At Freshworks, we have fostered an environment that enables everyone to find their true potential, purpose, and passion, welcoming colleagues of all backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ethnicities. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and believe that diversity in the workplace creates a more vibrant, richer environment that boosts the goals of our employees, communities, and business. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.