The Role
We're hiring our first in-house attorney — and with that comes a rare opportunity to build Descript's legal function from the ground up. As Senior Counsel, you'll own most of Descript's day-to-day legal operations, with outside counsel supporting complex matters. This is a high-autonomy role.
You'll be the go-to legal advisor across the company, partnering with sales, product, finance, and engineering teams on everything from commercial deals to AI product counsel to employment matters. You won't just run legal — you'll define how it operates, building the processes, templates, and frameworks that scale with the company. If you thrive as a pragmatic generalist who can move fast, exercise independent judgment, and wants to shape a legal function rather than inherit one, this role is for you.
What You'll Do
- Commercial contracts : Draft, review, and negotiate SaaS agreements, licensing deals, partnership agreements, and vendor contracts.
- Enterprise sales support : Review and negotiate customer enterprise agreements to accelerate deal velocity
- Employment matters : Oversee offer letters, separation agreements, equity grants, and day-to-day employment questions (CA + multi-state)
- IP coordination : Manage trademark and patent matters in partnership with outside counsel
- Privacy & data protection : Own DPAs, data subject requests, and cross-border data transfer requirements
- AI & product counsel : Advise product and engineering teams on legal implications of AI/ML features, including model licensing, training data usage, generated content rights, and emerging AI regulations
- Compliance & risk management : Track and support the company's compliance posture across key frameworks (SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA). Monitor regulatory developments affecting AI/ML products, flag emerging risks to leadership, and coordinate cross-functional responses. Own the compliance calendar: renewals, certifications, audits, and regulatory filings.
- Corporate governance :Support board minutes, equity plan administration, and consent actions
- Outside counsel management — Interface with outside counsel on complex matters (Fundraising, M&A, litigation, regulatory), managing scope and spend
- Build the legal function : Design and implement scalable legal processes from scratch: contract templates, playbooks, intake workflows, and a contract lifecycle management system.
What We're Looking For
Required:
- JD from an accredited law school; active member of the California Bar (or ability to waive in)
- 7-10 years of legal experience, including at least 2-3 years in-house at a technology or SaaS company
- Law firm background (BigLaw or strong mid-market) plus in-house experience
- Strong commercial contracts experience — you can run a deal end-to-end without supervision
- Working knowledge of employment law (California required, multi-state a plus)
- Familiarity with IP basics (trademarks, patents) and privacy/data protection (DPAs, GDPR, SOC 2)
- Experience building or maintaining a compliance program (SOC 2, privacy frameworks, or similar)
- Comfortable operating as a solo legal practitioner with outside counsel as a resource, not a crutch
- Pragmatic judgment — you know when to push back and when to move fast
Nice to Have:
- Familiarity with enterprise sales contracts and procurement processes
- M&A due diligence experience (even if not leading transactions)
- Experience at a company of similar stage (Series C-D, 100-500 employees)
Why Descript
- Build from zero — You're not inheriting a legal department; you're creating one. Define the processes, tools, and culture of Descript's legal function.
- Direct executive access — Report to and partner with the VP of Finance & Operations; advise cross-functionally across sales, product, finance, and engineering.
- AI at the core — Work on novel AI/ML licensing, product counsel, and regulatory questions that most legal roles never touch.
- Growth trajectory — This role can evolve into Head of Legal / General Counsel as the company scales.
- Mission-driven — We're democratizing video and audio creation for millions of creators
The base salary range for this role is $225,000–$275,000. Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, including prior experience, expertise, location, and may vary from the amount above.
