Director of Legal – Remote (US)

About the role

Emergence is hiring its first dedicated legal professional to build and lead the day‑to‑day legal function across its portfolio of software businesses. Reporting to a fractional General Counsel, you will serve as the primary legal point of contact for all portfolio companies, establishing processes, tools, and governance from the ground up.

Key responsibilities

• Serve as the first point of contact for legal questions across all portfolio companies, using an AI‑assisted intake and triage system.
• Design and operate centralized matter intake, tracking, legal playbooks, escalation protocols, and portfolio‑wide reporting.
• Coordinate contract template collection, organization, and ongoing administration, partnering with senior legal leadership and external counsel on design and negotiation.
• Develop and manage an outside‑counsel panel, handling matter routing, performance tracking, pricing, and engagement terms.
• Review and negotiate routine vendor and customer contracts within approved playbooks and escalation thresholds.
• Oversee entity and subsidiary governance across the holding structure and support post‑acquisition legal workstreams.
• Route specialized matters (M&A, IP, labor, litigation, tax, regulatory) to appropriate external counsel and determine escalation needs.
• Collaborate with HR on employment‑related legal matters, ensuring consistent documentation and approvals.

Required profile

• J.D. (law degree) required.
• Experience building or scaling a legal function in a fast‑growth environment.
• Ability to triage legal issues, resolve routine matters, and identify when to engage specialists.

Required skills