Legal Counsel

The role

The first in-house Legal Counsel will build the legal function from the ground up. This person will act as the legal partner for the company, covering commercial contracts, corporate matters, data privacy, intellectual property, and regulatory compliance across India and US entities.

What you will do

• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements including customer contracts, enterprise MSAs, vendor agreements, NDAs, and partnership deals
• Own data privacy and protection compliance across jurisdictions including India's DPDP Act and GDPR
• Advise on intellectual property strategy including trademarks, copyrights, open-source usage, and protection of proprietary technology
• Support corporate matters including fundraising, board governance, cap table management, and cross-border entity structuring
• Guide product and engineering teams on legal considerations around AI, user data, terms of service, and acceptable use
• Build scalable contract templates, playbooks, and internal processes
• Manage relationships with external counsel across India and the US
• Track evolving AI, technology, and employment regulations and translate them into practical guidance

Required qualifications

• 6 to 10 years of legal experience
• Strong foundation in commercial and technology law
• Qualified lawyer with an LLB
• Enrollment with the Bar Council of India
• Experience in-house at a technology or SaaS company, or at a top-tier law firm serving technology clients
• Strong command of commercial contracting, data privacy, and intellectual property
• Ability to operate in ambiguity, prioritize ruthlessly, and give clear, practical advice under time pressure
• Excellent communication skills
• High ownership mindset with a bias for action

Nice to have

• Exposure to US commercial law and cross-border transactions
• Experience with AI, data, or developer-focused products
• Familiarity with fundraising, venture financing, and startup corporate governance
• Prior experience building a legal function at an early-stage, high-growth company

Benefits

• Daily Meals: Lunch and Dinner provided
• Family Insurance: 5 Lakhs worth of coverage for you and your family
• Unlimited Paid Time Off
• Flexible Working Hours

About the company

Emergent builds autonomous coding agents that replace traditional software development by generating, testing, and deploying production applications directly from plain-language intent. The company has crossed $130M in Annualised Revenue and has over 10M users across 190+ countries.