Senior Product and Commercial Counsel San Francisco

PlanetScale is growing rapidly and reinventing the database space. Our database platform offers developers the fastest and most reliable Postgres and Vitess/MySQL databases, enabling businesses to efficiently handle data and workloads of all sizes.

PlanetScale is backed by over $100M in venture financing from top-tier investors, including a16z, Kleiner Perkins, SignalFire, and Insight Venture Partners. We serve some of the most innovative companies in the world, including Block, Anysphere (Cursor), MyFitnessPal, Etsy, Kick, and thousands more. Our customers entrust us with what is often their most precious digital asset: their data.

We’re looking for a Senior Product and Commercial Counsel to help us build, sell, and scale responsibly. You’ll own important commercial negotiations, advise on product and privacy matters, and work directly with leadership on decisions that shape our business.

• You combine strong legal judgment with business understanding. You distinguish material risks from theoretical ones and find workable paths forward.
• You lead with empathy. You listen carefully, understand other people’s goals and pressures, and build trust with colleagues and counterparties.
• You communicate clearly. You explain complex issues in plain language and tailor your advice to the audience. Your colleagues know what you recommend and why.
• You enjoy ownership. You’re comfortable making decisions, moving work forward independently, and recognizing when to seek input.
• You’re curious about technology. You want to understand how our products work and are comfortable asking engineers questions, tracing data flows, and learning unfamiliar concepts.
• You thrive in a small team. You’re equally willing to negotiate a complex agreement, help a colleague work through a question, or improve a process.

What you will need

• A J.D. and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar, with eligibility to practice in your work location.
• At least 6 years of relevant legal experience, including substantial experience negotiating technology transactions.
• Experience advising technology businesses on customer and vendor agreements, privacy, and data protection.
• Strong drafting and negotiation skills, with the ability to translate technical and commercial details into clear contractual terms.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a demonstrated ability to build productive relationships across functions.
• The judgment and organizational skills to manage multiple matters independently in a fast-moving environment.

What else will help you be successful

• In-house experience at a SaaS, cloud infrastructure, or other technology company.
• Experience advising Sales, Marketing, Engineering, and Security teams.
• Familiarity with AI, open source software, intellectual property licensing, or international data protection requirements.
• Experience supporting enterprise customers, strategic partnerships, or new business models.

Why PlanetScale

At PlanetScale, legal work is closely connected to the technology we build and the businesses we serve. You’ll work with people who care deeply about their craft, tackle substantive questions, and see the impact of your advice.

We value small teams, strong judgment, and individual ownership. You’ll have direct access to leadership and the opportunity to shape both business decisions and the way our legal team operates. As the company grows, there is room to deepen your expertise, expand your scope, and build programs you can call your own.

Our mission is to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive company where people feel respected and valued, whether they are a candidate or an employee. We welcome applicants of any educational background, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, citizenship, socioeconomic status, disability, pregnancy status, and veteran status.

If you have a disability, please let us know how we can make the interview process better for you. We’re happy to accommodate.

Total Compensation and Pay Transparency

Total compensation consists of base salary, benefits, and equity. Our Talent Acquisition team will be happy to discuss the details during the interview process.

Base salary range: $180,000 - $250,000 USD