Director, Legal

At Submittable, we are transforming how organizations create social impact. Our platform empowers thousands of mission-driven organizations, from nonprofits to government entities, to make a difference in their communities and beyond. In 2024, our innovative software helped organizations worldwide run 30,000 programs, welcomed 1.2 million applicants, and facilitated the distribution of more than $10 billion in funding through our products on behalf of our clients.

We are on a mission to help organizations accelerate their impact, so we are proud to partner with organizations focused on Equity & Social Justice, Children & Education, Creative & Arts, Health & Wellness, Economic Justice & Opportunity, and Environment & Climate. At Submittable, technology and purpose converge, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to meaningful change.

About the Role

Submittable is hiring a Director, Legal to lead our legal function as we scale our SaaS business. You'll be a hands-on legal leader, responsible for day-to-day legal operations, the legal team, and the policies and processes that let Submittable grow with confidence. You'll manage the legal team and serve as a primary resource on privacy law, customer contract negotiation, and product and technology intellectual property matters, while also advising on the broader range of legal issues a growing SaaS company faces. This role reports to the CFO and works closely with teams across the organization and with the executive leadership team.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the day-to-day legal function, setting priorities and standards for how legal work gets done across the company.

• Build, manage, and mentor a legal team, including hiring, workload distribution, and professional development.

• Serve as a primary resource on data privacy and security law (e.g., GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and other U.S. and international privacy regimes), including policy development and incident response.

• Negotiate customer contracts, including MSAs, order forms, DPAs, and enterprise procurement paperwork, balancing legal risk against deal velocity.

• Advise Product and Engineering on intellectual property matters, including IP ownership, licensing, open-source usage, and protection of proprietary technology.

• Partner with Sales and Revenue Operations to maintain contracting playbooks, standard terms, and approval thresholds that let deals move quickly without unnecessary escalation.

• Manage outside counsel relationships and legal spend across litigation, IP, and specialty areas.

• Advise company leadership on governance, risk, and compliance matters, escalating to the executive team as needed.

• Support employment law matters in partnership with People/HR, including policy review and workplace investigations as needed.

• Monitor the regulatory and legislative landscape relevant to SaaS, data privacy, artificial intelligence, and the sectors Submittable serves, and translate changes into practical guidance for the business.

• Manage the contract lifecycle management approach and legal operations tooling.

• Collaborate with the Finance team to address and collect overdue customer accounts, utilizing escalation procedures and legal remedies as appropriate.

• Establish and track key performance indicators for the Legal department to assess progress and fuel continuous process improvement, including the integration of AI-driven workflow automation.

• Support M&A, corporate transactions, and other strategic initiatives as they arise.

What We’re Looking For

• J.D. and active bar membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state.

• 8+ years of legal experience, including at least 3 years in-house at a B2B SaaS or technology company. Private equity-backed experience is a plus.

• At least 3 years of hands-on experience negotiating SaaS customer contracts, including MSAs, DPAs, and complex order forms.

• Experience managing or mentoring attorneys and legal professionals, with an interest in building and growing a legal team.

• Strong expertise in data privacy and security law, with hands-on experience supporting privacy programs and responding to regulatory change.

• Solid grounding in intellectual property law as it applies to software products, including licensing and open-source considerations.

• Experience advising business and senior leaders on governance, risk, and compliance matters.

• Sound business judgment and the ability to balance legal risk with commercial pragmatism.

• Excellent negotiation, communication, and cross-functional influence skills.

• Demonstrated ability to build and improve legal processes and policy in a fast-growing organization.

Location: This is a remote, U.S.-based role — you must live and reside in the U.S. full-time.

Salary Details: The annual salary range for this position is $180,000 - $225,000. Actual compensation is based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience. We also have a location-based compensation structure; there may be a different range for candidates in other locations.

We are interested in every qualified candidate eligible to work in the United States; however, we cannot accommodate scholastic or employment visas at this time. In addition, we are not able to consider applicants who reside in the following states: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Fraudulent Recruitment Advisory: Submittable will NEVER request bank details, payment, or personal information during the hiring process, nor extend offers without an interview. All legitimate communications come from official submittable.com email addresses. If you receive suspicious outreach, please report it to people@submittable.com. (Please do not submit applications, resumes, cover letters, or other candidacy materials to this email address. Emails of this nature will not be reviewed or considered.)

Why Submittable?

Joining Submittable means b