An overview of this role

As Legal Counsel, Commercial, you'll help GitLab move faster by making commercial contracting clear, consistent, and scalable. Reporting to the Director, Legal, Commercial, you'll partner with internal stakeholders and external counterparties to negotiate and review complex agreements, assess legal risk, and translate regional legal requirements into practical templates, policies, and processes. You'll be a trusted advisor to teams across GitLab, helping them reach business goals while protecting GitLab's interests, and you'll contribute to the growth of the commercial legal function through mentorship, playbooks, and training. In your first year, you'll take ownership of strategic contracting workstreams, strengthen how we manage risk in high-priority transactions (including technology and artificial intelligence-related agreements), and improve the systems and documentation that support efficient deal execution.

What You’ll Do

• Negotiate, draft, and review complex commercial and technology agreements, including partnership, services, consulting, marketing, licensing, data privacy, and artificial intelligence related contracts.
• Independently manage strategic and high-priority matters tied to large-value and material transactions, partnering directly with internal stakeholders and external parties.
• Advise Sales and cross-functional GitLab teams on contract structure, risk allocation, and practical negotiation strategies that support business goals while protecting GitLab's interests.
• Perform risk analysis on contractual documents and recommend mitigation options, including escalation paths and alternative terms.
• Benchmark, develop, and maintain contract templates, playbooks, policies, and supporting documentation, incorporating regional legal requirements and feedback from stakeholders.
• Monitor legal and regulatory changes, assess impact on GitLab's contracting practices, and propose clear, actionable updates to templates and processes.
• Create and deliver training for contract managers and Sales team members to improve contracting consistency and day-to-day decision-making.

What You’ll Bring

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership in at least one U.S. state
• 3+ years of experience at a major law firm and/or in-house legal department (focus on commercial and technology transactions preferred).
• Experience negotiating and drafting complex commercial and technology agreements, including software, SaaS, services, consulting, marketing, licensing, partnerships, data privacy, and artificial intelligence-related terms.
• Ability to independently manage high volume, strategic and high-priority matters and drive agreements to closure with internal stakeholders and external partners.
• Knowledge of regional legal requirements and comfort partnering with outside counsel to inform contract terms, templates, and policy enforcement.
• Practical risk-spotting and risk mitigation skills, with the ability to provide clear, business-focused guidance that protects GitLab's interests.
• Experience improving or building templates, playbooks, processes, and documentation to support consistent contracting outcomes across teams.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, including the ability to influence and serve as a trusted advisor to sales and cross-functional leadership.
• Ability to create and deliver training for sales team members
• Comfort working in a remote, globally distributed environment across time zones, with a willingness to learn GitLab and its products (including using GitLab in your work).

About the team

The Commercial Legal team partners with the Sales organization and other cross-functional stakeholders across GitLab to support how we sell and deliver our products and services. You'll join our globally distributed team that works asynchronously and closely with internal clients, customers, and outside counsel to review, draft, and negotiate complex commercial and technology agreements, improve templates and playbooks, and provide practical guidance that helps teams move quickly while managing risk. Our focus includes scaling consistent contracting processes across regions, keeping pace with evolving legal requirements (including data privacy and artificial intelligence-related terms), and strengthening enablement through clear documentation and training. For more on how we work, see Team Handbook Page.