About Semgrep
Semgrep, the leader in code security for builders, empowers invention without friction. Teams catch, flag, and fix real issues before they ship, powered by security that learns as they build. Semgrep secures code as it’s written and provides guardrails that pave the road for developers to move fast and stay secure. Built for builders and trusted by security, Semgrep lives where developers work, delivering fixes without breaking flow and giving security teams visibility, control, and confidence. Semgrep gets smarter as you build, with AI that learns your context to cut false positives and prioritize reachable vulnerabilities, validated by 95% of security reviewers across 6M+ findings. Semgrep makes zero false positives a reality with AppSec teams triaging 80% fewer false positives across Code and Supply Chain, dramatically shrinking the backlog.
Founded in San Francisco and backed by Menlo Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and Sequoia Capital, Semgrep is recognized by Gartner in Application Security Testing and is trusted by leading organizations, including Vanta, Lyft, and Dropbox. Learn more at semgrep.dev.
About the Role
Semgrep is hiring a Lead Counsel, Commercial to be an integral part of the company’s legal function during a pivotal stage of growth.
This role will own and drive commercial transactions across the business, partnering closely with stakeholders to support a fast-moving, highly technical organization. This role will report to the COO and work closely with Semgrep’s Fractional General Counsel and the Legal Innovation and Contracts Manager to build scalable legal processes, improve contracting velocity, and shape how legal supports the business as the company grows. This is a hands-on, execution-oriented commercial legal role.
The ideal candidate is excited to work at a leading technology company and will thoughtfully leverage technology and AI automation to improve legal workflows, contracting efficiency, and legal operations.
The right person takes ownership, is highly responsive, business-minded, and comfortable operating independently.
Responsibilities
- Lead negotiation and execution of customer and vendor agreements, including SaaS agreements, MSAs, DPAs, NDAs, procurement agreements, and related commercial contracts.
- Serve as a practical, solutions-oriented advisor to internal stakeholders, balancing legal risk with business priorities.
- Help define how commercial legal operates at Semgrep, including contracting workflows, templates, playbooks, and approval processes.
- Evaluate and implement practical uses of AI within legal workflows, including contract review, playbook development, knowledge management, and process automation.
- Advise internal teams on legal issues related to SaaS, data privacy, data security, AI, and intellectual property.
- Support Product, Security, and Engineering teams on customer-facing legal and compliance considerations.
- Stay current on evolving legal and regulatory developments affecting AI, developer tools, cybersecurity, and open-source software.
- Build strong cross-functional relationships and become a trusted advisor across the organization.
- Bring a generalist mindset and the ability to flex across legal disciplines as needed.
Requirements
- Hold a J.D. and have an active membership in at least one U.S. state bar, with a preference to practice law in California.
- Have 4-6 years of legal experience with a mix of law firm and in-house, preferably in a high-growth SaaS or technology company.
- Having experience with legal technology tools, including AI-assisted review and workflow automation, is a must
- Understand legal issues related to data privacy, data security, software development, AI, and intellectual property.
- Have experience in developer tools, cybersecurity, infrastructure software, IP, and open-source software
- Are a self-starter, solutions-oriented, problem solver, not a task manager, and comfortable operating independently while taking ownership of outcomes and driving agreements to execution.
- Are highly responsive, move swiftly, curious, and communicate clearly.
- Have strong business judgment and provide pragmatic, actionable guidance in fast-moving environments.
- Enjoy building processes and improving systems rather than simply maintaining them.
- Are naturally intellectually curious, thoughtful, and detail-oriented
- Thrive in environments with ambiguity, rapid growth, and evolving priorities.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-moving organization and partnering cross-functionally to support the company’s fast growth while managing risk.
Why This Role
- Opportunity to help shape the legal function at a category-defining code security for builders company.
- Direct partnership with a fractional general counsel and company leadership.
- Meaningful ownership and autonomy from day one.
- Exposure to cutting-edge legal issues at the intersection of AI, security, and developer tools.
- Collaborative, thoughtful, and high-agency culture.
Compensation & Benefits
- $290,000-$310,000 annual base salary + equity.
What We Offer (FTE Only)
Our goal is to competitively and fairly compensate every Semgrep employee with a system that equally rewards those who are vocal and those who are less comfortable making demands during the final steps of the hiring process. To that end, we generate internal compensation bands for use in discussing and negotiating salaries. We update these based on market data to make sure they’re above the average for comparable roles.
We invest in our employees’ well-being and long-term success through a competitive, market-aligned benefits program that meets or exceeds local market standards across all of the regions in which we hire. Benefits offerings vary by location to reflect local requirements and norms. For more detailed, location-specific information, please visit Semgrep Benefits.
Who We Are
We bring together people from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines, from physics and philosophy to formal methods research and full-fledged corporations. We’re new parents and new grads, dog lovers and dogfooders. We get together often to bike, bake, and meet up in parks. In our interactions, we believe respect and honesty go hand in hand, and prioritize both.
Semgrep is an equal-opportunity employer seeking a diverse range of backgrounds. We value who you are, including your cultural heritage, your socioeconomic status, your age, your race, your gender, your sexual orientation, and your disabilities. We value what’s vitally important to you, your family, your religion, and your politics. We value what you love in this world, your music, your weekend pursuits. We believe in welcoming varied professional backgrounds, education, and interests. If you’re exceptional in your role, believe in Semgrep’s mission, and treat Semgrep’s values as your own, you belong here.
Semgrep has exclusively engaged Kerwin Associates to conduct this search. Any resumes sent directly to Semgrep will be forwarded to Kerwin Associates. If interested in this role, please contact Spencer Britschgi (spencer@kerwin.com) and Anne Kerwin Payne (anne@kerwin.com) at Kerwin Associates.