Role overview

Kong, an AI connectivity company, is building out its commercial legal team and seeking an experienced attorney to support strategic sales growth in the Americas East region. In this early-stage position, you will serve as a key legal advisor to the revenue team, handling contract negotiations with major enterprise customers across financial services, technology, e-commerce and other industries, while also supporting Kong’s federal government business.

Key responsibilities

Lead complex negotiations on SaaS and on-premises commercial agreements with large, sophisticated customers.
Review, draft, and negotiate a broad range of commercial contracts tailored to customer needs and legal requirements.
Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the Americas East sales team on commercial and legal matters.
Assess legal and business risks across areas including privacy, security, intellectual property, open-source software compliance, and artificial intelligence.
Partner with Finance, Revenue Operations, and Customer Assurance teams to support the complete contract lifecycle and deal closure.
Advise internal teams on legal issues and provide guidance on general commercial matters.
Contribute to developing Kong’s positions regarding artificial intelligence and how it applies to customer infrastructure.

Requirements

Juris Doctor degree and membership in good standing with an applicable state bar, or eligibility for registered in-house counsel status.
Seven to ten years of legal experience in both private practice and in-house roles, preferably with late-stage private companies or early-stage public technology firms.
Demonstrated success negotiating and closing complex SaaS and software contracts with large enterprise customers.
Practical experience with federal government procurement and customer relationships.
Working knowledge of intellectual property, data governance, and information security and privacy matters.
Strong judgment, collaborative approach, and ability to build professional relationships across the company and with external partners.
High standards of professionalism and a commitment to inclusive practices.

What makes this role worth considering

You will join Kong at an exciting growth stage as an early member of the commercial legal function, giving you significant influence in shaping how the team develops. The role offers flexibility in location, with options to be based in New York, Chicago, Austin, or Toronto, and you will report directly to Kong’s Senior Director of Global Commercial Legal.