About Us

Always open. Our code, our culture, our opportunities. Leading open innovation without limits. We are SUSE.

SUSE is a global leader in innovative, reliable and secure enterprise open source solutions, including SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE), Rancher and NeuVector. More than 60% of the Fortune 500 rely on SUSE to power their mission-critical workloads, enabling them to innovate everywhere – from the data center to the cloud, to the edge and beyond. SUSE puts the “open” back in open source, collaborating with partners and communities to give customers the agility to tackle innovation challenges today and the freedom to evolve their strategy and solutions tomorrow.  

We are open in our roots and open in our approach, striving to be the most trusted open innovator in the World. Openness extends beyond our technology. Our vibrant community thrives on diversity and connectivity without borders.

Junior Legal Counsel - Commercial

  

Job Description

   

The Role 

 

SUSE Legal is seeking to engage a Junior Legal Counsel – Commercial to join our growing team in the Americas. We are building a best-in-class legal team, partnering effectively with the business and further positioning for growth as SUSE continues its journey as a mature and successful key player in the infrastructure management space. In this role, you will work as part of a team of lawyers and contract negotiators around the globe to provide efficient and high-quality legal support to SUSE sales, product and engineering teams. 

 

As Junior Legal Counsel – Commercial, you will play a pivotal role in shaping our strategic technology initiatives. Working with guidance and mentorship from more senior members of the team,  you will be responsible for negotiating, drafting, and managing global, complex technology transaction agreements that help drive our rapid sales growth. You will stay up to date on the open source technologies that govern our product development and participate in the development of our commercial contract templates and playbooks, while also collaborating with our product groups for the development of our open source distributions. Reporting directly to the Divisional General Counsel, Americas, your role will include the following: 

Responsibilities:

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements.

• Advise business teams on legal risks and obligations related to commercial transactions and business operations.

• Support sales, procurement, and business development teams in structuring deals and resolving contract-related issues.

• Provide practical, solution-oriented legal advice on a wide range of issues

• Advise on the use and distribution of open source software, including license compatibility and compliance

• Contribute to the development of contract templates and playbooks to improve efficiency and compliance.

• Monitor and ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and company policies in all commercial activities.

• Manage and help resolve disputes or claims arising from commercial relationships, including pre-litigation matters.

• Collaborate with finance, operations, and other internal stakeholders to align legal support with business objectives.
   

Collaboration with Stakeholders 

• Work closely with internal stakeholders, including sales, engineering, product, and compliance teams, to ensure alignment on business objectives 

• Work closely with the business to assist in the ongoing contract and relationship management to support business objectives and drive revenue growth

• Work closely with colleagues in SUSE Legal as you develop greater subject matter expertise relative to our business 

• Keep abreast of latest regulatory developments impacting strategic technology partnerships, including customer and supplier businesses 
   

Qualifications 

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school 

• Admission to the bar in the US state in which you reside

• 2-5 years of post-bar experience as a practicing attorney

• Strong knowledge of contract, intellectual property, data and cyber laws, as they customarily relate to technology contracts, or a committed willingness to develop such knowledge 

• Excel