Corporate Counsel (U.S.)

beehiiv is the all-in-one newsletter and creator platform powering the next generation of media companies and independent voices. We help creators and businesses launch, grow, and monetize newsletters—now serving tens of thousands of publishers and reaching hundreds of millions of readers monthly. As we approach $25M in ARR and continue to grow more than 100% YoY, our expanded product suite (featuring our ad network, website builder, and paid tiers) positions us for the next stage of hypergrowth.

We're looking for our first in-house counsel to own the legal function and drive operational velocity as we scale. You'll take ownership of commercial contracts and corporate compliance, moving critical work from external advisors in-house. This role is central to how we grow: faster deal cycles for customers and vendors, enterprise-ready compliance, and legal guardrails for new products. You'll work across teams to eliminate bottlenecks, flag risks early, and build the legal processes that don't slow us down. This person will report to the CFO.

Ideally, you will have:

• 5+ years of legal experience, ideally with at least 2 years in-house at a high-growth SaaS or technology company.
• Proven track record negotiating and closing a high volume of SaaS agreements (MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, DPAs).
• Working knowledge of GDPR, CCPA, content guidelines, and software data flows.
• Bar admission in good standing and a JD from an accredited law school.
• Experience in AdTech, Media, or the Creator Economy.
• Comfort making risk-based decisions with incomplete information and communicating trade-offs clearly.
• Familiarity with modern legal and business tools: Slack, Stripe, Google Workspace, contract management systems, HubSpot.
• Killer instinct in negotiations: you know when to push back, when to concede, and how to close deals without leaving value on the table.
• Workhorse mentality: you grind through volume without sacrificing quality, and you don't need hand-holding to stay on top of competing deadlines.
  

You’ll be responsible for:

• Serving as primary reviewer for all commercial agreements: customer MSAs, vendor contracts, partnership agreements, talent deals, and publishing agreements.
• Drafting and maintaining standard contract templates and terms (Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Publisher Agreements, Acceptable Use Policy, Data Processing Agreements).
• Managing the day-to-day contract negotiation process with the goal of 24-48 hour turnaround for enterprise customers and key vendor deals.
• Coordinating data privacy compliance across GDPR, CCPA, and CAN-SPAM, including managing DPAs, subprocessor lists, and DSARs.
• Handling incident response for general legal requests, data breaches, subpoenas, takedown requests, and trust and safety escalations.
• Reviewing new product features and business initiatives early to flag compliance and legal considerations.
• Partnering with People Ops on employment agreements, commission plans, and sensitive personnel matters.
• Managing relationships with external counsel (tax, IP, litigation specialists) and keeping specialized legal work on budget and on scope.
• Implementing and maintaining a contract management process to track renewals, obligations, key terms, and alerts for internal teams.

Why this role might be for you:

• Join a fast-growing start-up and a new team.
• High impact and high visibility.
• You're autonomous and excited about owning projects.
• Excited about new challenges and executing creative solutions. 

Why this role might not be for you:

• Not a traditional 9-to-5 position.
• Need to manage multiple priorities and stakeholders.
• Must be comfortable with rapid iteration and frequent context switching.
• High expectations for both speed and quality.

Why beehiiv?

• Bias towards action: Our first impulse is to act. We don’t get bogged down in unnecessary processes or bullsh**t. Perfection is the enemy of progress.
• Ownership mentality: This company is ours. We go the extra mile because that’s what owners do. Every day, people step up to take on tasks outside of their responsibilities and do whatever it takes for us to succeed.
• Building is in our DNA: We are obsessed with improving every aspect of our platform (and ourselves). Whether it’s our product, support, or partnerships, we never stop working to improve it.
• We answer to our users: Nothing matters more than serving our users. If our users fail, we fail.
• Ego comes second, but winning comes first: We put our egos aside to work collaboratively and build something special. It doesn't matter who's idea or who's vision, we're here to create the best outcome. We're here to win.

We'll take care of you:

• Competitive Salary
• Stock Options
• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) employer match
• Unlimited PTO (mandatory 10 days per year minimum)
• Annual in-person team retreat
• Unlimited book budget
• Monthly Wellness Days (every third Friday of the month!)