Commercial Legal Counsel, Public Sector

An overview of this role

As Legal Counsel, Commercial, you’ll help GitLab move faster by making commercial contracting clear, consistent, and scalable. Reporting to the Director, Legal, Commercial, you’ll partner with internal stakeholders and external counterparties to negotiate and review complex agreements, assess legal risk, and translate regional legal requirements into practical templates, policies, and processes. You’ll be a trusted advisor to teams across GitLab, helping them reach business goals while protecting GitLab’s interests, and you’ll contribute to the growth of the commercial legal function through mentorship, playbooks, and training. In your first year, you’ll take ownership of strategic contracting workstreams, strengthen how we manage risk in high-priority transactions (including technology and artificial intelligence-related agreements), and improve the systems and documentation that support efficient deal execution.

This role also supports GitLab’s Public Sector go-to-market strategy. You’ll advise on federal, state, local, and education (SLED) transactions, applying fluency in government procurement frameworks, compliance requirements, and data handling obligations to help GitLab close and structure public sector deals efficiently and in compliance with applicable law.

What you’ll do

• Negotiate, draft, and review complex commercial and technology agreements, including partnership, services, consulting, marketing, licensing, data privacy, and artificial intelligence related contracts.
• Independently manage strategic and high-priority matters tied to large-value and material transactions, partnering directly with internal stakeholders and external parties.
• Advise Sales and cross-functional GitLab teams on contract structure, risk allocation, and practical negotiation strategies that support business goals while protecting GitLab’s interests.
• Perform risk analysis on contractual documents and recommend mitigation options, including escalation paths and alternative terms.
• Benchmark, develop, and maintain contract templates, playbooks, policies, and supporting documentation, incorporating regional legal requirements and feedback from stakeholders.
• Monitor legal and regulatory changes, assess impact on GitLab’s contracting practices, and propose clear, actionable updates to templates and processes.
• Create and deliver training for contract managers and Sales team members to improve contracting consistency and day-to-day decision-making.
• Support the Public Sector sales team on federal, SLED, and government-adjacent transactions, including negotiation of agreements subject to FAR/DFARS requirements, GSA Schedule terms, and agency-specific flow-down clauses.
• Advise on FedRAMP-related contracting obligations, including data sovereignty commitments, government-specific data handling requirements, and authorized use restrictions applicable to GitLab’s compliant product offerings.
• Draft and maintain public sector contract templates, playbooks, and order form language that address government procurement requirements, including FedRAMP authorization conditions, SLED-specific terms, and applicable regulatory flow-downs.
• Partner with Sales, Security, and Compliance teams to assess and communicate the contractual implications of government certification and authorization programs, and ensure contract terms accurately reflect GitLab’s authorized configurations and service boundaries.

What you’ll bring

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership in at least one U.S. state.
• Experience at a major law firm and/or in-house legal department (focus on commercial and technology transactions preferred).
• Experience negotiating and drafting complex commercial and technology agreements, including software, SaaS, services, consulting, marketing, licensing, partnerships, data privacy, and artificial intelligence-related terms.
• Ability to independently manage high volume, strategic and high-priority matters and drive agreements to closure with internal stakeholders and external partners.
• Knowledge of regional legal requirements and comfort partnering with outside counsel to inform contract terms, templates, and policy enforcement.
• Practical risk-spotting and risk mitigation skills, with the ability to provide clear, business-focused guidance that protects GitLab’s interests.
• Experience improving or building templates, playbooks, processes, and documentation to support consistent contracting outcomes across teams.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, including the ability to influence and serve as a trusted advisor to sales and cross-functional leadership.
• Ability to create and deliver training for sales team members.
• Comfort working in a remote, globally distributed environment across time zones, with a willingness to learn GitLab and its products (including using GitLab in your work).
• Working knowledge of federal government procurement frameworks, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), with experience applying or negotiating flow-down clauses in commercial technology contracts.
• Familiarity with GSA Schedule contracting mechanics, including ordering procedures, pricing requirements, and compliance obligations applicable to software and SaaS vendors.
• Understanding of SLED procurement rules and the ways in which state, local, and education contracts differ structurally and legally from standard commercial agreements.
• Experience advising on or negotiating FedRAMP-related contractual obligations, including authorized use restrictions, data handling and sovereignty commitments, and agency-specific security requirements.
• Comfort with data sovereignty concepts as applied in government contracting contexts, including restrictions on data residency, processing, and access applicable to cloud services sold to government customers.

About the team

The Commercial Legal team partners with the Sales organization and other cross-functional stakeholders across GitLab to support how we sell and deliver our products and services. You’ll join our globally distributed team that works asynchronously and closely with internal clients, customers, and outside counsel to review, draft, and negotiate complex commercial and technology agreements, improve templates and playbooks, and provide practical guidance that helps teams move quickly while managing risk. Our focus includes scaling consistent contracting processes across regions, keeping pace with evolving legal requirements (including data privacy and artificial intelligence-related terms), and strengthening enablement through clear documentation and training. For more on how we work, see the Team Handbook Page.

How GitLab will support you

• Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being
• Flexible Paid Time Off 
• Team Member Resource Groups
• Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Growth and Development Fund
• Parental leave 
• Home office support

Please note that we welcome interest from candidates with varying levels of experience; many successful candidates do not meet every single requirement. Additionally, studies have shown that people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role, please apply and allow our recruiters to assess your application.