Director, Commercial Legal at Navan in New York City, NY

Navan Legal is expanding, and we’re on the hunt for an exceptional, strategic, and collaborativeDirector, Commercial Legal to lead a high-impact team. This is a pivotal leadership role at a category-defining company that is growing like crazy and bringing on the largest global customers in the world. If you are a seasoned legal leader who thrives in fast-paced environments, is passionate about cutting-edge technology, and is ready to help redefine travel and expense, we want to hear from you. As a Director, you will not only oversee the work of the excellent attorneys managing our pipeline, but you will also serve as a key business accelerator by owning relationships with key revenue leaders and scaling our mid-market and commercial transaction engines. What You’ll Do: Deal Execution: Draft and negotiate complex commercial contracts (sales and services agreements, data processing agreements, and ancillary documents) with enterprise customers. Lead customer-facing legal negotiations in partnership with the Sales, Privacy, Finance and Product teams Team Leadership & Supervision: Supervise, mentor, and elevate a high-impact team. You will guide attorneys as they draft and negotiate complex enterprise sales agreements, services agreements, data processing agreements, and ancillary documents. Sales Leadership Alignment: Own executive-level relationships with key sales leaders to align legal strategy with business growth, serving as a trusted advisor to senior revenue stakeholders. Workstream Management: Directly manage and optimize the legal workstream for mid-market and commercial transactions, ensuring velocity, operational efficiency, and scalable deal execution. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Sales, Privacy, Finance, and Product teams to unblock complex, customer-facing legal negotiations. Operational Excellence: Oversee the development and optimization of legal templates, forms, and playbooks to continuously improve collaboration and support the enablement of the global Sales team. Escalation & Strategic Advice: Serve as the escalation point for highly complex or non-standard matters, including procurement contracts , supply and channel partnerships, feature licensing, and inbound license agreements. Prioritization under Pressure: Effectively manage multiple high-priority initiatives and deal flows under tight deadlines, strengthening the connection between the legal team and the broader business. What We’re Looking For: Credentials: Qualified lawyer in your practice jurisdiction. Experience: 8+ years of experience as a practicing attorney, with a proven track record of supervising, managing, or mentoring other commercial transaction attorneys. Industry Background: Significant experience managing and negotiating complex commercial agreements with Fortune 500 companies , ideally within a fast-paced SaaS, fintech, or technology company environment. Global & Regulatory Acumen: Strong familiarity with global commercial contracting—particularly with nuances involving customers in regions like Australia —as well as an understanding of GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and relevant SaaS privacy laws. Fintech Expertise: Deep familiarity with financial regulations and fintech contracting is strongly preferred. Tech-Savvy Leadership: Exceptional understanding of software, cloud services, generative AI, associated business models, and emerging technology industry trends. Communication & Presence: Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills are essential; you must be comfortable, confident, and highly capable of explaining complicated legal and commercial issues at the appropriate level of detail for executive audiences. Pragmatic Mindset: A reputation for providing pragmatic, business-minded guidance on customer and contract-related issues, balancing risk management with revenue velocity. EQ & Resilience: A deep commitment to client service, paired with high emotional intelligence and the ability to maintain composure and perform exceptionally well under pressure.