Founding General Counsel

About Starbridge

Starbridge is building the modern public sector VAR. Government software vendors need a fast technically credible way to sell through contract vehicles and todays distribution model is slow dated and stuck in old process. Were building the version that works: one platform for quoting contracting compliance and payment instead of paperwork scattered across distributors and resellers.

We also run a SaaS platform that surfaces government buying signals from council meetings budget documents RFPs and public records and turns them into pipeline. That business grew from $1M to more than $10M in ARR in under 12 months and its the customer base and distribution relationship were now building the transaction layer on top of.

About the role

You will be Starbridges first in-house lawyer reporting directly to the CEO. Your mandate is to build the legal contracts and public sector compliance function from a blank page and help Starbridge move fast and safely as we become a public sector software distributor first through partners contract vehicles and over time through more direct ownership of the transaction payment and compliance stack.

Weve raised $50M from leading venture firms including Craft. Beyond helping technology companies identify and win opportunities across state local and education markets were now building the transaction rails: helping vendors and OEMs use contract vehicles quote contract transact and get paid through one modern experience.

This is a builder role. You will negotiate live deals design our standard paper create our risk and approval system teach sales and finance how to move faster manage a focused outside counsel bench and work with product and engineering to turn legal logic into software.

We dont expect you to arrive knowing every answer. We expect exceptional judgment: own the recurring work identify gaps early use specialists selectively and retain the final business recommendation.

What youll do:

• Design the legal architecture for a four-party channel OEM Starbridge vehicle holder or distributor and government buyer including privity payment flow liability reporting and audit responsibility

• Own the core paper: OEM authorization and distribution agreements reseller and referral agreements public sector order forms and addenda EULA riders DPAs and security terms and enterprise SaaS agreements

• Build the government contracts operating system for federal and SLED transactions: vehicle eligibility flow-downs representations and certifications pricing and transaction reporting renewals records and audit readiness

• Stand up a fast trusted deal desk templates clause libraries approval thresholds fallback positions and service levels that sales and finance actually use

• Protect Starbridges economics across the chain: discounts fees markups renewals refunds non-appropriation credit tax insurance and indemnity

• Treat legal as product: work with engineering to encode vehicle rules required terms approvals and compliance evidence into the Starbridge platform

• Advise company-wide on commercial contracts privacy and AI cybersecurity IP employment and governance with specialists on call

What you bring:

• Active membership in a U.S. state bar in good standing

• Roughly 59 years of highly relevant legal experience (exceptional candidates outside that range are welcome)

• Youve personally handled multi-party public sector technology transactions involving some combination of OEMs distributors resellers contract vehicles and government customers

• Real depth in SLED procurement enough grounding to understand how federal differs and the learning speed to cover the rest quickly

• You negotiate commercial SaaS channel data security and IP terms as comfortably as government clauses

• You draft redline join the call make the judgment and give teams an executable path not a memo explaining why the answer is complicated

• Youre intellectually honest about what you dont know frame outside counsel questions tightly and never pay a firm to relearn our business

• Youre hungry for ownership excited by a blank page and eager to use AI to eliminate repetitive legal work

Bonus if you have:

• Experience in the public sector channel: distributor or reseller plus OEM software or scaled OEM managing channel

• Experience with pricing disclosures transaction reporting FAR and DFARS flow-downs and False Claims Act controls

• Exposure to high-volume distribution economics: payments credit collections insurance and channel conflict

Interview process

We move fast really fast. Getting back to someone today beats tomorrow and our interview process reflects that mindset. Please keep us posted on your timeline so we can move quickly and speed things up where needed. All interviews are conducted via Google Meet and onsite in our NYC office.

• Build Bridges to Help Customers Win - We pride ourselves on being obsessively customer-centric.

• Shooting Star Speed - We move with extreme speed. We value momentum decisiveness and the ability to accelerate when it matters.

• Fun Is a Feature - We intentionally design Starbridge to be an energizing place to do hard work. Joy humor and camaraderie make great teams faster sharper and more resilient.

• In the Arena - We believe the best ideas come from living close to the work feeling the friction hearing the nuance and experiencing the details firsthand.

Benefits include:

• Competitive salary early-stage equity

• Comprehensive medical dental and vision insurance

• Company-provided lunch in the office every day

• Gym stipend

• Pre-tax commuter benefits

• Unlimited PTO

• Regular offsites (NYC global locations)