Commercial Legal Director, IonQ

• 6-10 years of experience in relevant work gained from law firms and in-house positions
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Excellent drafting skills
• The ability to effectively collaborate with all levels of management, including senior leadership, to drive business results
• A demonstrated ability to manage outside counsel and to work efficiently and effectively independently and/or with limited resources
• The ability to concurrently manage multiple timely projects/issues
• A J.D. from an accredited law school and admitted to the bar of (and in good standing in) at least one state/district (preferably New York, California, Washington, Delaware, DC, or Maryland)

Desirable

• We are looking for a Commercial Legal Director to support our Go-to-Market and Sales team
• This is an individual contributor role and will be part of a cross-functional team whose mission is to lead IonQ on its journey to build the world’s best quantum computers to solve the world’s most complex problems
• This role will own and lead the negotiation of contracts with IonQ’s cloud customers and providers
• This attorney will bring technical knowledge and curiosity to partner deeply with IonQ’s Go-to-Market teams on cloud access and integration agreements in the field of quantum computing
• This role will ensure all contractual terms are legally sound and in the best interest of IonQ’s business objectives
• Cloud selling could include cloud integration, storage, and computing solutions for cloud-based applications and services
• Create Legal Agreements: Draft a wide range of revenue contracts, namely cloud access agreements (e.g., with large multi-national enterprises), cloud provider integration agreements (e.g., with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft), and MOUs/proposals to facilitate negotiations for these contracts. While these will be the primary focus of this roles, more revenue contract types should be expected as IonQ continues to evolve and scale rapidly
• Tailor to Client Needs: Customize contracts to fit unique technical needs, ensuring contracts facilitate achieving the company’s strategic business objectives. This includes drafting proposed modifications to revenue contracts on third party paper
• Negotiate Terms: Work on behalf of the company to negotiate favorable terms, including pricing, timelines, deliverables, liabilities, penalties, and IP ownership/licensing
• Facilitate Productive Discussions: Act as a collaborative problem solver in negotiations to ensure productive discussions and conflict resolution, leading to outcomes designed to achieve the company’s strategic objectives
• Review: Review contracts to ensure accuracy, completeness, and alignment with applicable IonQ’s business objectives, and applicable laws and regulations
• Assess: Identify potential risks, liabilities, and ambiguities in contract terms, and ensure the company is informed of potential risks; help clients understand complex legal language and the implications of specific clauses or terms in contracts
• Advise: Offer legal advice on handling specific provisions or scenarios, such as intellectual property protection, liability, and indemnity clauses with recommended options to proceed
• Monitoring Compliance: Follow up to ensure both parties adhere to the terms of the contract and take appropriate action if breaches occur
• Amendments and Renewals: Assist in modifying or renewing contracts when circumstances change or when contracts are due for renewal
• Ensure Compliance: Ensure contracts comply with local, state, and federal laws, as well as industry-specific regulations in partnership with IonQ’s Compliance & Regulatory Legal Director
• Legal Research: Stay informed about changes in contract law, industry regulations, and judicial rulings that could impact the enforceability or structure of contracts
• Advising on Legal Changes: Inform clients of relevant changes in the law that may affect prior risk assessments or require contract revisions or renegotiations

Total funding: $82m

IonQ is a quantum computing company, its current quantum computer, the IonQ Quantum Cloud is accessible through the cloud. An offshoot of the co-founder's 25 years of academic research in quantum information sciences, IonQ hopes to build the world's best quantum computers that can solve complex problems at a much faster rate than that of traditional computers.