Associate General Counsel

About the role

Mapbox is seeking an Associate General Counsel to join its compact and highly cooperative legal department in the United States. This position is responsible for managing the complete lifecycle of complex commercial transactions, with a specific focus on data in-licensing and sales or OEM agreements for a real-time location platform. The role demands a high degree of ownership over the deal process, from initial assessment through drafting, negotiation, and execution. You will function as a key business partner, translating technical product details into legally sound and commercially favorable agreements. The position requires comfort with substantial ambiguity and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, scaling environment. Success in this role means becoming the primary driver of risk mitigation and deal progression for the company.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Conduct in-depth analysis of intricate data in-license arrangements and commercial sales transactions to identify core legal and business risks.
• Serve as the primary legal owner for complex OEM and sales agreements, driving deals forward with minimal reliance on business-side reminders.
• Collaborate directly with product and engineering teams to understand technical implementations, ensuring agreements accurately reflect the specific use cases and data flows of the platform.
• Draft precise and adaptable legal documents that balance robust risk management with the flexibility required to close deals efficiently in a growth-stage company.
• Develop and maintain a deep working knowledge of Mapbox APIs and SDKs to provide contextually aware legal counsel that supports commercial objectives.
• Establish and execute process improvements within the legal department to scale operations and support the fast-moving needs of a pre-IPO technology company.
• Assume full responsibility for negotiation strategy, managing concessions, and protecting the company's interests without escalating routine issues to higher management.
• Evaluate and determine appropriate risk acceptance levels, making informed decisions that enable transactions to proceed without unnecessary delay.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to solve complex problems, acting as a trusted advisor rather than a purely transactional gatekeeper.
• Contribute to the evolution of legal templates and playbooks, ensuring they remain relevant as the company's product suite and go-to-market strategies evolve.
• Provide proactive legal guidance that anticipates future business needs, helping the company scale responsibly in diverse geographic markets.
• Act as a central point of coordination for external counsel and internal teams, ensuring alignment on priorities and legal positions.
• Assess new transaction types and emerging business models, applying prior experience to advise on novel legal challenges.
• Support the long-term goal of building a scalable legal function that can operate effectively with a flat organizational structure.

Requirements

• 7+ years of practicing attorney experience, with 2+ years at a top-tier law firm in any area and 5+ years in-house at a technology company in sales-side commercial transactions (not procurement or privacy/regulatory compliance).
• At least one of the following is required: a computer engineering, computer science or other similar technical degree; at least 2, but not more than 4, years experience in software patent litigation or patent prosecution at a top tier firm; extensive experience working with APIs and SDKs.
• Demonstrated experience working on complex sales deals involving substantial technical and commercial considerations.
• Excellent communication skills with a demonstrated ability to translate technical concepts into clear, concise legal language.
• A practical and customer-centric orientation and negotiation style focused on finding efficient resolutions that unblock business momentum.
• A sense of humor and the ability to maintain perspective while managing high-stakes legal work in a demanding environment.
• The legal team operates entirely remotely; while candidates near technology hubs are preferred, the company will consider remote candidates located anywhere in the US, with a preference for those in the Pacific time zone.
• Possession of a JD degree from a top-tier law school and active membership in at least one US state bar.
• Candidates whose resumes do not clearly demonstrate the required experience in the first two points must include a cover note explaining their interest and suitability for the role; resumes lacking this note will typically not be reviewed.

Practical notes

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