Legal Counsel

Senior Legal & Compliance Counsel (AI/SaaS Startup) – Individual Contributor Location: Gurgaon Experience: 8–10+ years Employment Type: Full-time About the Role We are looking for a highly experienced and self-driven Senior Legal & Compliance Counsel who can independently handle all legal, regulatory, and compliance matters for our fast-scaling AI/SaaS startup. The ideal candidate has deep experience in startup legal frameworks, technology contracts, funding processes, IP protection, and regulatory compliance, with the ability to later build and lead a legal team. Key Responsibilities 1. Legal & Compliance Ownership - Lead all legal and compliance processes end-to-end for the organization. - Ensure full compliance with Indian laws relevant to tech startups including: - Company Law - Labor laws - Data privacy & data protection (DPDP Act, GDPR familiarity preferred) - IT Act / digital regulations - Contract Act & commercial regulations - DPIIT startup compliances 2. Contracts & Agreements - Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of agreements such as: - SaaS agreements - MSAs, NDAs, licensing contracts - Vendor & partner contracts - Employment and consultant agreements - Customer and enterprise-level contracts - Ensure all contracts protect the company’s interests and minimize risk. 3. Funding & Corporate Governance - Manage legal aspects of fundraising rounds (Seed to Series stages): - Term Sheets - SHA, SSA, Cap Table alignment - Due diligence responses - Investor compliance - Handle Board resolutions, ROC filings, statutory registers, and governance documents. 4. IP & Innovation Protection - Ensure protection of proprietary technology, AI assets, algorithms, and brand IP. - Manage trademark, copyright, trade secret, and patent-related matters where required. - Advise product and tech teams on compliance-sensitive feature development. 5. Risk, Policy & Regulatory Alignment - Build internal policies related to data protection, AI governance, cybersecurity, usage of LLMs, etc. - Identify and mitigate legal and regulatory risks proactively. - Stay updated with global AI regulations and technology-specific legal developments. 6. Future Leadership - Initially operate as an individual contributor. - As the company scales, take ownership of building and leading the legal function. Required Experience & Qualifications - 8–10+ years of legal experience, ideally with exposure to AI, SaaS, or technology startups. - Strong background in contracts, compliance, corporate law, and startup legal frameworks. - Proven experience handling funding rounds and investor-driven legal processes. - Experience with IP protection and regulatory compliance for tech products. - Excellent negotiation, analytical, and communication skills. - Ability to work independently, act as an advisor to founders, and handle fast-paced environments. Preferred Attributes - Startup-first mindset; thrives in ambiguity. - Proactive, solution-oriented, and detail-driven. - Ability to act as the sole legal advisor and scale into a leadership role. - Familiarity with global AI governance and cross-border SaaS compliance regulations. Why Join Us - Opportunity to shape the entire legal and compliance function of a fast-growing AI startup. - Work directly with founders and leadership on strategic decisions. - High ownership, autonomy, and future team leadership opportunity.