Director of Legal, Product Foundations

About the Role:

Vercel is hiring a Director of Product Foundations to build the legal foundations that enable our product velocity at scale. The core priority for this role is leading privacy and regulatory matters on the legal team; you will also oversee IP and litigation.

You will report to Vercel’s VP of Legal and partner closely with Security, Trust & Safety, and GRC, as well as product, engineering and other teams.

This role is based in SF where we have a 3 day/week in-office requirement.

What You Will Do:

• Lead Vercel’s privacy program, regulatory strategy and frameworks, IP strategy, litigation, and the legal team’s incident response processes
• Translate complex requirements into business-oriented, actionable guidance so product teams can continue to ship fast
• Build scalable programs using policies, playbooks, templates, trainings, and AI

About You:

• California Bar admission or eligible for Registered In-House Counsel exception and in good standing.
• 12+ years of legal experience, including meaningful product counseling, privacy, and/or regulatory experience in-house at a high-growth technology company serving enterprise customers
• Strong understanding of AI, cloud services, and general b2b SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS business practices and relevant global regulatory requirements
• Strong judgment and creativity around risk-assessment and mitigation. Able to make decisions with imperfect facts, embracing Vercel’s speed and obsession with product innovation
• Deep technical literacy. Comfortable mapping technical architectures, data flows, and controls into legal risk frameworks. Excited to dig deep to understand Vercel’s evolving product suite.
• Exceptional communication and advocacy skills, particularly with non-lawyers
• Cooperative approach, willing to take on additional responsibilities where no job is too big or too small
• Experience managing legal teams, building strategic programs, and partnering with senior business and technical leaders.
• Fluency with AI tools

Bonus If You:

• Prior history leading litigation and IP (including familiarity with open source software)
• Experience supporting IPO readiness, M&A integration, and cyber incidents
• Hands-on experience with DMCA, Digital Services Act, HIPAA, FedRAMP, and other regulations and certifications applicable to Vercel

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation package, including equity.
• Inclusive Healthcare Package.
• Learn and Grow - we provide mentorship and send you to events that help you build your network and skills.
• Flexible Time Off.
• We will provide you the gear you need to do your role, and a WFH budget for you to outfit your space as needed.

The San Francisco, CA base pay range for this role is $310,000 - $340,000. Actual salary will be based on job-related skills, experience, and location. Compensation outside of San Francisco may be adjusted based on employee location. The total compensation package may include benefits, equity-based compensation, and eligibility for a company bonus or variable pay program depending on the role. Your recruiter can share more details during the hiring process. 

Vercel is committed to fostering and empowering an inclusive community within our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Vercel encourages everyone to apply for our available positions, even if they don't necessarily check every box on the job description.