Associate Counsel

Associate Counsel

Newark, NJ, Full-Time, Onsite

Salary: $95,000 - $130,000

Description / Position Overview

This role owns the execution of transactional legal work that directly supports business operations.

The Associate Counsel is responsible for reviewing, structuring, and negotiating contracts across vendors, services, SaaS, and real estate. This role ensures agreements move quickly, risks are identified early, and the business is protected without slowing execution.

This is a hands-on, high-ownership role. You are the legal layer inside the business — not observing from the outside, but enabling deals to move forward cleanly and efficiently.

Responsibilities

Contracting & Legal Execution

• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements (vendor, service, SaaS, lease)
• Translate business terms into clear, enforceable contracts
• Reduce back-and-forth by producing clean, decisive contract language
• Own contract lifecycle from initial draft through execution

Risk Management & Legal Judgment

• Identify risk early and provide practical, actionable solutions
• Advise on trade-offs between legal protection and business speed
• Escalate only when necessary — operate independently by default

Business Integration

• Work directly with operations, finance, HR, and leadership
• Support deals, vendor relationships, and internal initiatives in real time
• Act as a problem-solver, not a blocker

Compliance & Structure

• Support internal policies, governance, and regulatory requirements
• Improve contract templates and standardization across the business
• Coordinate with external counsel when specialized support is required

Success in This Role

• Contracts move quickly with minimal revision cycles
• Legal risk is addressed early without slowing deals
• Business teams rely on you for clear, direct guidance
• Legal processes become structured, repeatable, and scalable

Requirements

• Juris Doctor (JD)
• Active U.S. bar license (NJ preferred or ability to obtain NJ in-house license)
• 3–7+ years of transactional or commercial law experience
• Strong experience drafting and negotiating contracts independently
• Ability to operate without heavy oversight
• Experience working cross-functionally with business teams

Must-Haves

• Proven ability to own contracts end-to-end without supervision
• Ability to balance risk with execution speed (not overly conservative)
• Strong communication translating legal → business clearly
• High attention to detail with structured, organized thinking
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment

Final Invitation to Apply

If you are a legal operator who takes ownership, moves quickly, and knows how to protect the business without slowing it down, this is a strong opportunity to step into a high-impact, embedded legal role.

Email Resume: View email address on jobs.crelate.com

Apply Online:

Refer a friend, get up to $1000!