Commercial Counsel at AssemblyAI in New York

About the role:

We are looking for a seasoned Commercial Counsel to join as the second hire on our legal team. Reporting directly to our Head of Legal, you will serve as the dedicated legal partner to our high-velocity enterprise sales organization and be the primary legal owner of Assembly’s entire commercial contracting lifecycle.

This role is hybrid, based out of our NYC office (2 days per week).

What You’ll Do:

• Draft, review, and negotiate enterprise-grade Master Services Agreements (MSAs), Data Protection Addendums (DPAs), Business Associate Agreements (BAAs), and other commercial arrangements under tight deadlines.
• Negotiate privacy and data protection terms across commercial agreements, including identifying, addressing, and, where needed, escalating key issues arising under GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA, and other privacy regulations.
• Advise directly on AI-specific contract issues, including model training, intellectual property ownership, and AI data governance.
• Apply exceptional business judgment to determine which risks and liabilities the company can absorb or push back on—minimizing unnecessary redlines while protecting the business.

To thrive in this role, you must possess a mastery of contract drafting mechanics, sharp risk calibration instincts, and the independence to drive MSAs, DPAs, BAAs, and other commercial agreements from initiation to execution with minimal guidance. You understand how to trade off non-critical redlines, hold the line on true company risk, and keep deal momentum moving at start-up speed.

What You’ll Need:

• Education & Admission: J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school and active membership in good standing with the New York bar.
• Core Experience: 3–5 years of hands-on technology commercial contracting experience at a top-tier tech law firm (Gunderson, Fenwick, Cooley, Orrick, Wilson Sonsini, or equivalents) or high-growth AI or SaaS startup.
• Mastery of Core Agreements: Deep expertise drafting and negotiating MSAs, DPAs, BAAs, and commercial agreements across from sophisticated enterprise counterparties.
• Commercial Pragmatism: Ability to balance risk against deal velocity, knowing exactly when to concede a point to close a deal and when to stand firm.
• Technical & Privacy Knowledge: Strong working command of global data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA) and a sharp, up-to-date grasp of commercial AI considerations (IP protection, training rights, regulatory trends).
• High Autonomy & Execution: Self-sufficient operator comfortable carrying a high deal volume with minimal supervision in a fast-moving environment.

Pay Transparency:

AssemblyAI strives to recruit and retain exceptional talent from diverse backgrounds while ensuring pay equity for our team. Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for our size, stage, and industry, and are one part of many compensation, benefit, and other reward opportunities we provide.

There are many factors that go into salary determinations, including relevant experience, skill level, qualifications assessed during the interview process, and maintaining internal equity with peers on the team. The range shared below is a general expectation for the function as posted, but we are also open to considering candidates who may be more or less experienced than outlined in the job description. In this case, we will communicate any updates in the expected salary range.

The provided range is the expected salary for candidates in the U.S. Outside of those regions, there may be a change in the range which will be communicated to candidates throughout the interview process.

Salary range: $190,000 - $225,000