Counsel (Commercial)

One platform a whole world of opportunity

Right now the best jobs are limited to people in a handful of the worlds wealthiest cities yet brilliant people are everywhere. Driven to overturn the status quo and distribute opportunities equally around the world Oyster launched its global employment platform to help companies hire pay and care for talent anywhere.

When it comes to global employment we walk the walk. Were proof that companies dont need an office to create a highly-engaged culture. Since the companys inception in January 2020 Oyster has:

Created a fully-distributed vibrant team of 400 employees across 60 countries

Featured in Forbes having ranked #9 in Flexjobs Top 30 Companies for remote jobs

Established a diverse leadership team and an employee base thats 60% female

Achieved one of the highest employee engagement scores in its class

Raised $286 million to date with a current valuation of $1.2 billion!

B Corp status achieved in 2023

Our momentum speaks to the power of global employmentand were just getting started! If you want to change the world with Oyster and be empowered to work remotely while doing so wed love for you to apply!

Location: While this position is posted in a specific location all of Oysters positions are fully remote and you can work from home. Forever. To ensure the best experience for our new hire this role requires you to be based within EMEA.

Oyster is on a mission to become the world leader in global distributed work and were looking for a Commercial Counsel to join us on that journey. Reporting to the Director and Senior Managing Counsel youll be the go-to legal partner for our business teams helping us grow while keeping risk in check.

Youll work on a wide range of commercial mattersfrom negotiating contracts with vendors and partners to creating templates and playbooks that streamline our processes. Your guidance will directly impact Oysters business decisions helping us protect our IP manage compliance and unlock opportunities for growth.

This role is perfect for someone who loves solving complex legal challenges thrives in a fast-moving environment and can translate legal concepts into clear actionable advice for non-legal colleagues.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide pragmatic business-focused legal advice on commercial contracts vendor agreements regulatory compliance intellectual property and data privacy.

• Draft review and negotiate a variety of agreements including MSAs SOWs SaaS/PaaS/IaaS contracts licensing agreements consulting and professional services contracts and marketing/sponsorship agreements.

• Negotiate critical clauses such as limitations of liability indemnification warranties data rights and IP ownership balancing risk with commercial goals.

• Lead initiatives to improve our contracting processes including templates playbooks AI-powered reviews and risk matrices.
  Partner closely with procurement finance IT and other teams during vendor selection and RFPs helping drive cost savings and value creation.

• Ensure vendor agreements comply with global regulations like GDPR CCPA/CPRA and other relevant frameworks.

• Mentor junior attorneys contract managers and commercial legal specialists sharing knowledge and fostering growth.

• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders to make sure legal guidance is practical collaborative and aligned with business priorities.
  

Core Requirements

• Juris Doctorate or equivalent law degree and at least 5 years of experience as a fully licensed practicing attorney.

• Experience drafting reviewing and negotiating a broad range of commercial agreements.

• Ability to explain complex legal concepts in simple actionable terms for business partners and third parties.

• Proven experience developing and implementing contract negotiation playbooks and improving contract processes.

• Strong analytical communication and research skills.

• Curiosity and commercial mindset to understand Oysters goals and provide practical value-driven legal solutions.

• Strong business acumen with the ability to distill complex legal concepts into clear practical and actionable guidance for non-legal stakeholders.

• Ability to work independently take initiative and create new processes to drive efficiency.

• Positive attitude high level of organization and ability to thrive in a fast-paced collaborative environment.

• Experience with remote work

Bonus

• Prior experience supporting partnerships strategic white-label or embedded relationships.

• Experience in tech or SaaS companies.

• Familiarity with Contract Lifecycle Management systems (e.g. Ironclad SAP CLM Avvoka Conga Spotdraft).

• Electronic signature software experience preferred (e.g. HelloSign DocuSign)

Youll also need

• A reliable home internet connection (or be able to get one)

• Fluent English language skills

How we work together at Oyster

Our values guide the work we do the decisions we make and the culture that makes us special. We elevate talent. We build trust. We thrive together.

Our mission is to create a more equal worldone global hire at a time. Everything we do ladders up to our missionand that doesnt just mean building software. We develop programs participate in workshops and create dedicated teams to ensure we successfully support companies and knowledge workers in this new world of work.

We embrace asynchronous communication and collaborative workand we share how we work in the Oyster Public HQ to help other global teams learn from our experiences.

How YOU work

Different countries have different statutory benefits different cultures have different norms and different people have different needs! In order to best support and encourage our diverse team weve created How YOU Work; a program of policies practices and perks to support your whole human experience as an employee at Oyster.

• Work from anywhere: Oyster is a borderless HQ-less company. As long as your work gets done on time your team has the support they need and youre authorized to work where you live the world is truly your Oyster.

• Paid time off: Were all about taking breakswe all need it. Oyster provides employees with 40 days off each year which includes public/bank holidays and vacation/holiday leave (unless your country mandates more).

• Mental health support: We consider your mental health a top priority. We offer access to Plumm a mental well-being service to support your mental health.

• Wellbeing allowance: Each month Oyster will top up your ThanksBen wallet with a wellbeing allowance. You can get pretty much anything that your heart desires! ThanksBen offers a wide array of options for spending your wellbeing allowance. Check out their benefits cataloguehere for inspiration.

• Flexible parental leave: Families are created in lots of different ways. Our parental leave policy applies to all employees who are becoming parents regardless of how they become a parent. Oysters are eligible for a minimum of three months of paid parental leave and your job will be held for 12 months (or longer if required by local jurisdiction).

• WFH stipend: Stipend to spend on your laptop and any other equipment you need for your home office; well get you up and running in no time!

The best jobs should be available to everyone

At Oyster we celebrate a variety of perspectives and experiences and weve intentionally built our product and our company with an inclusive global mindset. We know from experience that people from underrepresented groups often dont apply for roles they dont feel they meet all the criteria for. Were committed to elevating talent by creating a trust-based environment where we can all thrive together. So if you think you have what it takes but dont necessarily check every single box please consider applying. Wed love to hear how you might contribute to our mission and our team.

Oyster is committed to ensuring equal opportunity of employment for qualified persons with disabilities and actively fosters an inclusive work environment. If you require reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process please email with the subject line: Interview Accommodations.

Our available positions are published on our careers page and should you be invited to interview with us our recruitment team will only ever contact you directly from an @ email address. We will never ask you to send us money as part of a job offer. If you receive a suspicious email relating to opportunities at Oyster from any other email domainwhere someone is claiming to be a part of our recruitment team or are directed to anywhere other than to view our available jobswe encourage you to submit a report through ourCompliance and Ethics Helpline.