Head of Legal

DESCRIPTION

Summary of Role

As Head of Legal (remote- US based only) at Netchex, you'll lead our Legal function and serve as the senior legal voice in the room - owning commercial contracting end-to-end, directing litigation and outside counsel, and partnering closely with our Executive, Finance, Sales, and Product teams. Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, you'll manage a distributed legal team across the U.S. and India, stand up legal support for new products and lines of business, and build the playbooks that keep deals moving. This is a hands-on leadership role for an attorney who's equally comfortable negotiating an MSA, advising the ELT, and developing a team.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the Legal function and manage a distributed legal team across the U.S. and India
• Own commercial contracting end-to-end, from MSA drafting and negotiation through deal close
• Build, maintain, and drive adoption of the MSA playbook and consistent redline standards
• Manage litigation and direct outside counsel, including oversight of legal spend against budget
• Partner with the Chief Compliance Officer on regulatory matters (compliance and BSA/AML are owned separately by the CCO)
• Serve as legal advisor to Executive, Finance, Sales, and Product teams on day-to-day and strategic legal needs
• Stand up legal support for new products and new lines of business
• Direct AI agents across contract intake routing, metadata extraction, legal research synthesis, and matter status tracking - validating outputs and establishing AI-augmented processes for the legal team
• Coach, develop, and retain legal team members across time zones

What We're Looking For

• JD from an accredited law school and active bar admission in good standing
• 5-10 years of post-JD experience in corporate/commercial law firm practice or in-house legal
• Substantive commercial contracting experience, including MSA drafting, negotiation, and redline management
• Experience managing litigation and directing outside counsel, including managing legal spend against budget
• Experience leading or mentoring legal staff, including distributed or international team members
• PE-backed portfolio company experience strongly preferred
• Fintech, HCM, or financial services exposure preferred

About You

• You're comfortable being the senior legal voice with executive and sponsor stakeholders, and you say the hard thing when it needs saying
• You exercise sound judgment on privilege determinations, risk calls, and escalations - and you know which decisions are yours alone to make
• You translate legal risk into business terms, so partners across Sales, Finance, and Product understand the trade-off, not just the objection
• You're hands-on and comfortable building where structure doesn't exist yet
• You lead well across time zones and cultures, and you invest in developing the people on your team

Why You'll Love This Role

• Full ownership of the Legal function and its U.S. and India-based team
• End-to-end ownership of commercial contracting, not a narrow slice of the deal cycle
• A seat with the executive team and direct partnership with the CFO, CCO, Sales, Finance, and Product
• Deep domain expertise in payroll, HCM, and employment law
• The opportunity to build - playbooks, processes, and legal support for entirely new product lines
• Hands-on experience directing AI agents and designing AI-augmented legal workflows

• A clear path forward - this role is a direct runway to Chief Legal Officer

How We Show Up at Netchex

Our culture is built on behaviors we commit to every day, in every role:

• Win Together: We operate as one team with one mission. Collaboration over silos, always.
• Deliver Results: We own outcomes. No excuses - just accountability and impact.
• Raise the Bar: We pursue progress relentlessly. Better today; stronger tomorrow.
• Decide and Drive: We take action with clarity and confidence. Perfection isn't the goal - momentum is.
• Bring the Energy: We show up with positivity and intention. Because the right mindset fuels performance.

REQUIREMENTS

About Netchex

Netchex is a leading cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) platform trusted by thousands of small and mid-sized businesses across the U.S. We centralize the entire employee lifecycle - from recruiting and onboarding to payroll, time tracking, and benefits administration - into a single, intuitive, mobile-friendly system. Our mission is simple: make HR and payroll easier for the businesses that power America's workforce. We're a remote-first team of builders, problem-solvers, and people-focused innovators - and we're just getting started.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Netchex is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.