Associate Principal Legal Counsel (Commercial)
Location: Hybrid, Chicago
A major financial market utility is seeking an Associate Principal Legal Counsel to join its commercial legal team. This is an opportunity to work within a mission critical organization that plays a central role in the U.S. financial system while supporting a range of commercial, procurement, and technology related matters. The company continues to evolve positively, modernizing its internal processes and refining its legal and operational structures.
You will work closely with the Director and Assistant General Counsel (Commercial) and partner with sourcing, security, and risk teams across the business. The role requires strong drafting skills, comfort operating in a fast moving environment, and the ability to provide practical guidance in situations where not every question has a clear answer.
Key Responsibilities
- Review, draft, and negotiate commercial agreements, including SaaS, software licensing, hardware, and technology related services
- Support vendor procurement activity and manage confidentiality agreements
- Assist with internal policies, procedures, and controls related to commercial legal operations
- Conduct legal research on commercial, operational, and technology matters
- Evaluate AI or CLM assisted workflows while ensuring all final legal work is attorney driven
- Collaborate with strategic sourcing, third party risk management, and security teams
- Support senior attorneys on projects, research, and broader advisory needs
- Contribute to ongoing improvements in team processes and legal operations
Candidate Profile
- J.D. with active admission to the Illinois bar
- 3 to 5 years of commercial legal experience in house or at a law firm
- Strong drafting skills with the ability to produce precise and detailed work
- Experience with vendor and customer contracts, SaaS agreements, NDAs, and policy administration
- Experience with CLM systems, AI assisted tools, or workflow automation is helpful
- Collaborative, grounded, and steady with a solutions oriented mindset
- Cross functional stakeholder experience is helpful but not required
Compensation
The base salary range for the position is $145-$160K.
