About Shopify

Opportunity is not evenly distributed. Shopify puts independence within reach for anyone with a dream to start a business. We propel entrepreneurs and enterprises to scale the heights of their potential. Since 2006, we’ve grown to 10,000 employees and generated over $496 billion in sales for millions of merchants in 175 countries.

This is life-defining work that directly impacts people’s lives as much as it transforms your own. This is putting the power of the few in the hands of the many, is a future with more voices rather than fewer, and is creating more choices instead of an elite option.

About you

Moving at our pace brings a lot of change, complexity, and ambiguity—and a little bit of chaos. Shopifolk thrive on that and are comfortable being uncomfortable. That means Shopify is not the right place for everyone.

Before you apply, consider if you can:

Care deeply about what you do and about making commerce better for everyone
Excel by seeking professional and personal hypergrowth
Keep up with an unrelenting pace (the week, not the quarter)
Be resilient and resourceful in face of ambiguity and thrive on (rather than endure) change
Bring critical thought and opinion
Embrace differences and disagreement to get shit done and move forward
Work digital-first for your daily work

About the role

Within the Shopify Legal Team, the Partnerships Legal Team is focused on supporting Shopify’s partnerships teams by negotiating strategic transactions and key partnership agreements, while identifying and mitigating critical legal risks. From providing legal support on innovative new partner integrations to negotiating with some of the biggest companies in the world, our work is challenging, varied and constantly evolving.

To be successful on our team, collaboration and engagement are key. Our team members regularly collaborate with each other and with internal stakeholders, effectively guiding business strategies and communicating legal risk. We build trust with the internal business team, and show up for our clients both proactively, to ensure our business teams don’t run into problems, and reactively, when issues do come up. Practicing at the top of your game with smart, dedicated, and highly-engaged colleagues and clients is incredibly fulfilling and a great catalyst for personal growth.

About you

Our team is looking for a strategic, passionate and driven commercial lawyer with experience and a strong interest in technology and deal-making. This role is all about partnerships to provide merchants with the best commerce tools they need, and to connect Shopify and its merchants with the world. You have to be a contracts geek and an effective and confident negotiator, with strong drafting skills and excellent attention to detail. You must have an aptitude for diving into the details of projects, whether it’s data flows in cross-platform product integrations, product offerings in cutting edge spaces, or outside of the box ways of working with some of the biggest companies in the world. You should be able to identify issues and propose practical, actionable solutions. And you must be adept at using a product-forward mindset, creativity, and collegiality (with both internal and external parties) to identify, explain and address legal risks in a way that propels your client’s business forward.

Success at Shopify requires intellect, humility, and a sense of humour (or humor if you’re in the U.S.). You need to take the work seriously, but not take yourself too seriously. The work is fast-paced and intense, so being able to balance that pressure with some levity is important. We care about our work but we also care about each other and having a positive and pleasant work environment. You need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, able to work with many different types of personalities, really connect with people and earn their trust, and enjoy working as a team player. You must be able to handle complex matters with empathy and professionalism, striking a balance between legal requirements and business needs, while maintaining our incredible workplace.

Here’s what will keep you busy:

Support our partnerships teams’ needs with: strategic partners, including developers, sales channels and apps, financial solutions partners, and access to Shopify's APIs
Advise on a spread of ecommerce features
Counsel on projects for discovering Shopify merchants on third-party marketplaces worldwide
Advise on technology integrations with partners, including in the financial solutions and payments spaces
Support our partnerships teams with the development of applications by large partners, such as social media and aggregators, to allow Shopify merchants to advertise and sell their products on these channels

Qualifications

A J.D. or LL.B
A license to practice law in any common law province in Canada or any U.S. state
5-7 years of relevant legal experience, ideally having started out at a law firm, followed by in-house experience
Proven experience with SaaS agreements, reseller and other partnership agreements
Substantial experience drafting and negotiating complex legal agreements, such as strategic partnerships, software and other licensing arrangements, including those related to SaaS and other cloud-based services, API, SDK and other technology-related offerings
A keen interest in creative legal problem solving, including researching novel and ambiguous areas of law
Experience leading and managing projects, and managing multiple priorities, stakeholders and deadlines
The ability to work collaboratively as part of a team and on an individual basis without a lot of guidance or oversight
The ability to thrive in a dynamic and entrepreneurial environment

Bonus Experience:

Experience with financial solutions and payments
Experience with privacy and data issues

We know that looking for a new role can be both exciting and time-consuming, and we truly appreciate your effort. We're looking forward to learning more about you and your interest in joining the team.