Corporate Counsel

About Middesk

Our goal is to make it easier for businesses to work together. Since 2018, we have been a leading disruptor in the business identity market. While consumer identity technology has seen significant modernization and digitization over the past decade, business identity and verification largely continues to be a manual process, specifically in the context of onboarding businesses to receive access to financial products and services. Our best-in-class business identity platform provides access to complete, up-to-date information that financial services institutions and fintechs need to make educated decisions about their customers and facilitate rapid onboarding and transacting. Our vision is that every company can instantly gain access to all the data, products, and services they need to establish and grow their business with ease. Middesk came out of Y Combinator, is backed by Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners, and was recently named to Forbes Fintech 50 List and cited as an industry leader in business verification by digital identity strategy firm, Liminal.

 The Role

As a founding member of Middesk’s Legal team, you’ll have the chance to make a big impact on a company that deeply values having a strategic legal partner. You will work closely with our Leadership team, Sales, Partnerships, Product teams in connection with reviewing, drafting, strategizing, and negotiating contracts, partnership agreements, and advising on a broad range of legal matters including data privacy considerations and regulatory developments impacting the business.  By establishing strategic legal frameworks and being deeply embedded with the business, you’ll be key to driving business outcomes and sustainable growth across the organization.

Our Corporate Counsel will work with outside counsel and cross-functionally to maintain Middesk’s focus on ensuring customer contracts are aligned with the company’s business strategy and we deliver on our commitments to our customers and partners. A successful candidate will have a strong passion for all issues concerning contracts, commercial negotiations, and the delivery of best-in-class products, as well as a service-oriented approach and a demonstrated ability to problem solve, negotiate complex matters and think out-of-the-box to enable growth.

What You'll Do:  

• Review, draft, and negotiate various commercial contracts, including services agreements; NDAs; vendor agreements; data processing agreements; and channel and strategic partnership agreements. 

• Lead efforts to scale legal processes by optimizing and improving standard agreements, ensuring that Middesk’s growth is legally supported and agile

• Deliver pragmatic, business-oriented advice across internal functions including Product, Engineering, Revenue, and People

• Stay abreast of changes to law and regulations, advising on their impact on the business and operations

• Collaborate with a wide variety of stakeholders on an array of legal issues ranging from product compliance to data privacy to employment matters, and be comfortable making risk-calibrated decisions

What We’re Looking For:

• J.D. from an accredited law school.

• Licensed to practice law in a state within the United States.

• 7+ years of combined experience in-house at a SaaS technology company and in a law firm.

• Experience with B2B commercial transactions and a genuine interest in learning about regulations that impact Middesk’s business.

• Expertise in drafting and negotiating, critical thinking, strong communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively interact and build relationships with executives and employees at all levels of the business.

• A proactive “doer” who wants their contributions to materially influence Middesk’s trajectory.

• Adaptable and comfortable operating in early stage/fast paced environments 

• Ability to work cross-functionally in a collaborative manner that is centered around enabling the business to take calculated risks. 

• Eagerness to work in a rapidly-changing startup environment.

• Self-motivated, self-disciplined, and results-oriented, with the ability to work independently and manage priorities and substantial workflow in a fast-paced environment with evolving business and legal objectives.