About the Company

Civis Analytics helps businesses use data to gain a competitive advantage in how they identify, attract, and engage loyal customers and employees. With a powerful combination of best-in-class data, cutting-edge software solutions, and an interdisciplinary team of data scientists, developers, and survey science experts, Civis works with Fortune 500 companies and the country’s largest nonprofits to make data-driven decision-making essential to how the world’s best companies do business.

Learn more about Civis at www.civisanalytics.com.

Civis is adding a highly-motivated attorney to our growing Legal, Privacy, Security, and Compliance team to help manage our high volume of wide-ranging and complex agreements. As Commercial Counsel at Civis, you will work on the cutting edge of the information age and tackle complex legal issues at the intersection of law, technology, and data science. This position reports to our General Counsel and is located in our Chicago headquarters.

We do game-changing work and we’re growing fast, so that means a fire hose of contracts for all the exciting new clients we work with. Your primary responsibility will be to help manage this contracting pipeline and navigate commercial contracting issues. This will include contracts involving technology (SaaS/PaaS) and data licensing, consulting, vendors, partnerships, non-disclosures, and a whole lot in between. You must be able to balance the needs of a fast-growing tech business with the legal and compliance risks presented in these agreements.

Civis embraces the individuality of our employees and we celebrate each other's differences. Our products, services, and culture benefit from and thrive on the unique perspectives brought by each person in our Civis community. We're proud to be an equal opportunity workplace, and we are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, age, sex, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship, marital status, disability, or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

About the Role

For this position, we strongly prefer candidates with a combination of a technology transactions background and experience contracting with federal, state, or municipal government entities.

You will also assist in tackling a dizzying but exciting array of business and legal issues that come up on a daily basis. The ideal candidate is someone who’s resourceful, has strong ethical and business judgment, has been in-house at a tech company, and has experience providing nuanced, practical, and actionable advice to business colleagues.

We think Civis will play a significant role in advancing data science and shaping the developing legal, ethical, and regulatory landscape that will define this new information age. This is a great opportunity to join a growing legal team to work on novel and complex issues in a fast-paced, exciting environment. If this is a challenge that excites you, we’d love to talk to you!

Responsibilities

• Co-lead structuring, drafting, and negotiation of a wide range of complex commercial agreements
• Respond promptly to contracting requests from internal clients
• Constantly explore opportunities to create efficiencies in our sales and contracting processes and to improve the experience of prospective clients when working with Civis
• Research issues on privacy, cybersecurity, numerous areas of compliance, and various U.S. and international laws and apply that to our commercial contracts
• Assist in developing and refining policies, templates, and other materials that will serve as a foundation for a growing legal department
• Keep up with the wide range of rapidly-evolving laws that affect Civis’ business

Minimum Qualifications

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school and member in good standing of at least one state bar
• 4-7 years of substantive technology contracting experience -- strong preference for candidates with federal, state, and municipal government contracting experience
• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills in PaaS, SaaS, and data licensing (in both product and services contexts)
• Sound understanding of cloud computing and cloud architecture
• Positive, collaborative attitude and an ego that’s always checked at the door
• Passion - We love what we do and the impact we make, and we want our colleagues to be as excited as we are about Civis’s mission and coming into work each day
• Sharp business judgment and instincts, with an ability to advise on and structure business terms in contracts, anticipate short and long-term impacts of deal terms on Civis’s business and operations, and balance risk versus business needs while getting deals done
• Exceptional writing, communication, and analytical skills with attention to detail
• Proven ability to multitask, juggle many high-priority tasks, and work well under heavy deadline pressure in a fast-paced environment
• Strong people skills, a good sense of humor, and someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously
• You'll be a great fit if you are a self-starter with superb ethical and business judgment, produce excellent work with little oversight, and welcome mentorship and constructive feedback

Preferred Skills

• Experience with federal, state, or municipal government contracting
• Experience with data analytics services and products (think “big data”) and machine learning
• In-house experience with a fast-growing B2B PaaS, SaaS, or analytics company
• Understanding of the legal, security, privacy, and operational issues of cloud computing, data, and machine learning
• Familiarity with federal, state, and international privacy and data protection laws

One small (but important) requirement

We want to know more about you than what's on your resume, so please include a cover letter to discuss what interests you about Civis, our work, and the analytics field in general. Please also use the cover letter to explain why you would be a great fit for Civis and this role.

Note to external recruiters

Civis does not accept resumes for this position from external recruiters. Please do not forward resumes to any recruiting alias or employee. Civis is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.