Lead Counsel, Strategic Alliances (AI)

Location: Hybrid role with in-office expectations in Seattle or Bellevue, Washington; San Francisco or Mountain View, California.

Salary: $274,200–$377,100 USD for Zone 1 locations; $246,800–$339,350 USD for Zone 2 locations. Compensation may also include an annual performance bonus, equity, and benefits.

Company

Databricks is a Data and AI company providing a unified platform for data, analytics, applications, agents, and AI technologies.

What you will do

• Lead legal support for selected strategic alliance technology transactions, including term sheets, deal processes, drafting, review, and negotiation.
• Coordinate contributions from Product, Finance, Security, Procurement, Commercial Legal, Product Legal, GTM Legal, and internal and external experts.
• Facilitate agreement closings and coordinate Board approvals with Corporate Legal and Finance where needed.
• Provide business-focused legal advice throughout strategic deals and address post-signing integration and advisory matters.
• Support strategic transactions and develop new partnering motions, processes, and templates to scale the strategic partner practice.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of experience at a nationally recognized law firm and/or in-house legal department at a high-tech company.
• J.D. from a top-tier law school and membership in good standing of a state bar.
• Deep experience negotiating complex, operational agreements with technology partners, including AI model providers and global hyperscalers.
• Understanding of AI and foundation model platform technology, related contract models, open source and proprietary technologies, and cloud or data-platform partnerships.
• Familiarity with open source licensing models, including Apache 2.0, MIT, and model-specific community licenses, and their use with open-weight models.
• Experience with OEM, resale, and marketplace-driven transactions and related quote-to-cash implications.
• Ability to work directly with cross-functional teams, communicate complex legal concepts clearly, assess risk, and provide concise, pragmatic recommendations to senior leaders.
• Programmatic mindset with experience managing multifaceted projects and developing and simplifying processes.
• Strong collaboration, relationship-building, organizational, independent execution, and self-starter skills in a fast-paced environment with minimal supervision.

Culture & Benefits

• Fast-paced, dynamic environment focused on practical, business-oriented legal solutions and direct business impact.
• Close collaboration with stakeholders across geographies and functions, including senior leadership.
• Comprehensive employee benefits and perks, varying by region.
• Commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity.
• Access to export-controlled technology or source code may require a U.S. government license at the employer’s discretion.