Associate General Counsel | Hybrid | Reston, VA

Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with approximately 3,000 customers across 50 countries, serving more than 21 million students. Ellucian's AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for all students, faculty and staff. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

Ellucian is seeking a proactive, business-oriented, and tech-savvy Associate General Counsel to join our growing Legal team. This is a critical leadership role, reporting to the Chief Legal Officer (CLO), responsible for helping shape and execute the company’s legal strategy while leading and modernizing our global commercial contracting function.
In this role, you will oversee high-impact commercial transactions across our global SaaS business and drive the adoption of legal technology to increase scalability, transparency, and contracting velocity. You will serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and partner cross-functionally with Sales, Product, InfoSec, Engineering, Finance, and Operations to enable revenue growth while managing legal, regulatory, data protection, and governance risk.
This role offers the opportunity to shape and scale a modern, technology-enabled legal function while serving as a strategic partner to executive leadership and driving meaningful business impact across Ellucian’s global operations.
Where you will make an impact: 

• Strategic Leadership 
  
  • Serve as a key leader, reporting to the CLO, helping to oversee and run the commercial contracting function across the enterprise fostering a high-performing, solutions-oriented team culture.
  • Drive modernization across the legal function, including implementing and optimizing Legal Tech solutions, contracting workflows, templates, playbooks, and automation tools to increase efficiency and velocity.
  • Drive cross-functional legal initiatives that enhance operational excellence, compliance, and revenue enablement.
  • Advise senior executives and business leaders on legal risks, opportunities, and strategic decisions.
  • Translate complex legal and regulatory requirements into clear, business-ready guidance to support practical and compliant decision-making.
• Commercial Transactions & Contracting
  
  • Draft, structure, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of complex commercial agreements, including:
    • SaaS subscription and cloud services agreements
    • Licensing, development, and strategic partnership agreements
    • Data Processing Addendums (DPAs) and AI addendums
    • NDAs, content licenses, and vendor/supplier agreements
  • Lead end-to-end negotiations for high-value, strategic transactions, balancing legal risk with business objectives to close impactful deals.
  • Oversee scalable contracting frameworks that accelerate deal cycles while maintaining appropriate risk controls.
  • Partner with M&A integration teams to streamline contracting processes, harmonize terms, and align legal frameworks post-acquisition.
• Regulatory, Compliance & Governance
  
  • Advise on corporate, intellectual property, governance, and compliance matters.
  • Provide guidance on complex regulatory issues affecting global SaaS providers, including data privacy, AI governance, and information security.
  • Support compliance with GDPR, CCPA, EU AI Act, FERPA, and other applicable regulations.
  • Assist with business development transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, including post-acquisition integration.
  • Uphold the company’s ethical standards and demonstrate sound professional judgment in all legal and business matters.

What you will bring: 

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.
• 10+ years of legal experience, including in-house experience in commercial contracting, IP, M&A, and corporate governance matters.
• Experience leading commercial legal initiatives as a strategic business partner, improving efficiency and supporting revenue growth.
• Proven experience managing multiple complex projects and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced, global environment.
• Experience working cross-functionally across Sales, Product, InfoSec Engineering, Finance, and Operations teams.
• Experience modernizing contracting and Legal Operations functions.
• Exceptional business judgment and the ability to balance legal risk with strategic objectives.
• A collaborative, solutions-oriented mindset that builds trust and drives alignment across stakeholders.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation, and communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex legal concepts for non-legal audiences.
• Adaptability, resilience, and a commitment to continuous improvement in a dynamic, global environment.

• Comprehensive health coverage: medical, dental, and vision 
• Flexible time off 
• Thrive Flex Lifestyle Account (LSA) that allows you to contribute towards your health, financial or learning interests
• 401k w/ match & BrightPlan - to help you save for the future
• Parental Leave
• 5 charitable days to support the community that supports us
• Telemedicine
• Wellness
  • Headspace Care (mental health)
  • Wellbeats (virtual fitness classes)
• RethinkCare & Wellthy– caregiver supporq
• Diversity and inclusion programs which provide access to internal employee resource groups 
• Employee referral bonuses to encourage the addition of great new people to the team
• We Foster a learning culture with:
  • Education Assistance Program 
  • Professional development opportunities

#LI-AC1

#LI-HYBRID