Associate General Counsel, Commercial & IP

Arena is the platform for evaluating how AI models perform in the real world. Founded by researchers from UC Berkeley's SkyLab, we're on a mission to measure and advance the frontier of AI for real-world use, and to build the foundation for everyone to understand, shape, and benefit from it.

Tens of millions of people use Arena each month to evaluate how frontier systems handle the work they actually do. The preferences they share power the most transparent, rigorous, and human-centered evaluations in AI. Leading AI labs, enterprises, and independent researchers rely on our work and open datasets to understand how models behave in real workflows: agentic coding, creative generation, professional productivity, and beyond. We go beyond leaderboards and decompose what human experience reveals about AI, so models advance toward the work people actually do.

We're a team of researchers, academics, builders, and creatives from UC Berkeley, Google, Stanford, and DeepMind. We seek truth, move fast, and value craftsmanship, curiosity, and impact over hierarchy. We're building a company where thoughtful, curious people from all backgrounds can do their best work together, in an office culture that radiates excellence, energy, and focus.

About the Role

Come join our legal team to work on the most exciting commercial, intellectual
property, and operational issues at the leading edge of AI. We're seeking a strong, business-minded lawyer with deep expertise in both commercial contracting and intellectual property law.

As Associate General Counsel, Commercial & IP, you will be the second member of the legal team and have an opportunity to advise across the business, but with a focus on enterprise sales, data licensing, IP transactions, and trademark and patent portfolio management.

The ideal candidate will have a demonstrable history of providing practical counsel to solve complex, time-sensitive problems in close partnership with Sales, Product, and Engineering teams. You will act as a strategic partner to the business, ensuring we can close enterprise deals efficiently while safeguarding Arena Intelligence’s critical intellectual property.

You'll

• Drive Commercial Agreements: Lead the drafting, review, and negotiation of complex enterprise agreements, including Master Services Agreements (MSAs), Data Processing Agreements (DPAs), software licenses, vendor agreements, and strategic partnership contracts.

• Strategic IP Advice: Lead IP strategy for our product development and machine learning teams, including advising on open source and IP considerations with respect to AI model training.

• Process & Technology Optimization: Build and scale our commercial legal processes, creating playbooks, standardizing templates, and implementing systems to support a high-growth sales organization. Build agents and internal software to support our operations, and procure cutting-edge legal tech tools that allow us to integrate home- grown and vendor-built software with ease.

• IP Portfolio Counsel: Support the management of Arena Intelligence's worldwide IP portfolio including patents and trademarks; assist with patent prosecution, trademark registration, and enforcement.

• Specialized Expertise: Provide counsel on machine learning, generative AI, and other technical areas, with the ability to engage effectively with technical teams on complex engineering and data evaluation issues.

You'll have

• Experience: 8+ years of legal experience in intellectual property law and commercial transactions at a top-tier law firm and/or in-house legal department (ideally acting as commercial/IP counsel within a high-growth software or technology company).

• Education: JD and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar (California
  preferred) in good standing.

• Enterprise Contracting Expertise: A proven track record of independently drafting and negotiating complex enterprise sales agreements, data licenses, and data privacy addendums.

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to think strategically at a high level and from deep in the details to drive complex problem-solving and develop creative, business-forward solutions.

• Risk Calibration: Ability to calibrate risk, distinguish business from legal risk, and communicate it clearly to executive, sales, and technical audiences.

• Collaboration: Roll-up-your-sleeves attitude to tackle projects large and small with a low ego, collaborative approach across the organization.

• Agility and Organization: Ability to think quickly in a fast-paced environment with excellent organizational and communication skills, particularly under quarter-end sales pressure.

• Technical Fluency: Deep interest in artificial intelligence, generative AI, and machine learning technology, with the ability to engage effectively with technical teams.

• Vibe Coding Experience: Ability to build and iterate on your own tools and a creative problem solving approach to building human-in-the-loop workflows that allow us to scale legal advice and work product. Experience working with tools like Cursor, Claude Code, Replit, Loveable, and/or Retool.

Bonus Points

• Experience specifically negotiating deals involving software and/or data licensing.

• Deep familiarity with data privacy regulations (e.g., CCPA, GDPR) and negotiating
  complex privacy frameworks within enterprise MSAs.

• We offer competitive compensation and equity aligned to the markets where our team members are based. The base salary range will depend on the candidate’s permanent work location.

• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and additional support programs.

• The opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI with a small, mission-driven team

• A culture that values transparency, trust, and community impact

Come help build the space where anyone can explore and help shape the future of AI.

Arena Intelligence provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce and welcome people from all backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and abilities.