Commercial Counsel

About the role

About Vinci Vinci is building the future of engineering intelligence. We created the first AI-native computational platform built on Foundation Models for Physics, enabling engineering teams to bring deterministic physical reasoning into every stage of semiconductor and electronics design. By combining AI, physics, and high-performance computing, Vinci is making it practical to explore vastly more design alternatives, uncover insights that were previously impractical to obtain, and optimize products in minutes instead of days. Leading semiconductor and electronics companies already use Vinci to solve some of the world's most computationally demanding engineering problems. As we continue to grow, we're building the team that will define the next generation of engineering infrastructure. The Role Vinci is entering a new stage of growth. As we expand with many of the world's leading semiconductor, electronics, cloud, and AI companies, the pace and complexity of our commercial relationships are increasing rapidly. Customer agreements, strategic partnerships, OEM relationships, cloud collaborations, licensing, procurement, and international expansion all require thoughtful legal guidance—but they also require speed. We're looking for Vinci's first Commercial Counsel to build the commercial legal foundation that allows the company to scale. This is not a traditional in-house legal role. You won't inherit an established commercial legal department or spend your time simply redlining contracts. You'll build Vinci's commercial legal function from the ground up, working directly with the executive team to create scalable contracting processes, establish legal playbooks, and enable the business to move quickly while making intelligent decisions about risk. The right person is as comfortable negotiating a strategic enterprise agreement as they are designing a repeatable contract review process that removes friction from every future deal. You'll become a trusted advisor to Sales, Product, Engineering, Finance, Operations, and the executive team, helping Vinci grow from an early commercial company into a global enterprise software business. We're looking for someone who sees legal not as a control function, but as an enablement function. The best legal organizations don't slow great companies down—they accelerate them by creating clarity, repeatability, and sound judgment. If you believe legal should be a strategic partner that helps the business move faster while making intelligent decisions about risk, you'll thrive at Vinci. What You'll Do - Partner with Sales to structure and negotiate strategic commercial agreements. Lead the legal strategy, negotiation, and execution of enterprise customer agreements, strategic partnerships, OEM relationships, cloud partnerships, licensing agreements, procurement contracts, NDAs, and other commercial agreements—working alongside Sales to help close business while appropriately managing legal risk. - Partner with Product, Engineering, and Customer Success on support and technical aspects of our commercial agreements. Ensure that SLAs, uptime commitments, support obligations, and other technical or service-related provisions in our commercial contracts are realistic, achievable, and grounded in how our products and teams actually operate. Balance customer expectations against operational capacity and risk, negotiating terms that build trust with customers while protecting the company from commitments it can't consistently deliver. - Build Vinci's commercial legal operating system. Design scalable contract templates, negotiation playbooks, clause libraries, approval workflows, and contracting processes that enable the company to close increasingly complex agreements with speed, consistency, and confidence. - Enable faster business decisions. Provide practical legal guidance that helps executives and cross-functional teams make informed decisions quickly by balancing commercial objectives with thoughtful risk management. - Advise on strategic partnerships and new business models. Support executive leadership as Vinci develops new commercial relationships, pricing models, licensing approaches, ecosystem partnerships, and international expansion opportunities. - Establish governance for legal risk. Develop clear policies, decision frameworks, and escalation paths that help teams understand acceptable risk while maintaining consistency as the company scales. - Collaborate with external legal resources. Determine where outside counsel creates unique value, foster those relationships effectively, and progressively bring routine commercial legal work in-house. - Support corporate growth. Partner with Finance and executive leadership on select corporate governance, board matters, intellectual property coordination, employment matters, and other company-wide legal initiatives. - Establish the legal function. Help define how Legal operates at Vinci—its priorities, processes, systems, tools, metrics, and cross-functional partnerships—creating the foundation for a world-class legal organization. What We're Looking For - J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar. - 5–10 years of experience negotiating complex commercial technology agreements. - Demonstrated success supporting enterprise software, AI, semiconductor, cloud infrastructure, or other deep technology companies. - Strong commercial judgment with the ability to balance business objectives and legal risk while keeping transactions moving efficiently. - Experience negotiating enterprise AI, software licensing, OEM, cloud infrastructure, strategic partnership, procurement, and other complex technology agreements. - Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain complex legal issues in clear, practical business language. - Comfortable operating independently in a high-growth startup environment where ambiguity is common and priorities evolve quickly. - A builder's mindset—you enjoy creating systems, processes, and operating models rather than simply inheriting them. - Collaborative by nature, with a reputation for building trusted relationships across Sales, Product, Engineering, Finance, and executive leadership. What Success Looks Like You will: - Establish a scalable contracting process. - Create standard agreements and fallback positions. - Implement a contract intake and approval workflow. - Develop a framework for prioritizing legal risk. - Build relationships with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Finance. - Take the majority of routine commercial work in-house. - Establish a framework for when outside counsel is necessary Compensation & Benefits - Salary range: $200k - $240k + equity - In-office or hybrid (3 days) to our Palo Alto office (Cal-Train friendly) - Reporting to Head of Business Operations Why Join Vinci? This is a rare opportunity to build a legal function from the ground up at one of the most technically ambitious AI companies in the world. You'll work alongside engineers, researchers, and business leaders who are defining a new computational category while partnering with many of the world's leading semiconductor, electronics, cloud, and AI companies. If you're excited by the idea of helping build an enduring company—and believe legal should be a strategic force that enables innovation rather than slows it down—we'd love to meet you.