Deputy General Counsel

Sanas is pioneering the future of human communication. Founded by a team of Stanford researchers and entrepreneurs with deep industry experience, Sanas has developed the world's first real-time speech AI platform capable of accent translation, noise cancellation, speech enhancement, cross-language communication, and more.

Sanas makes conversations clearer, more inclusive, and more effective, removing barriers that prevent people from being understood, regardless of accent, background noise, or native language.

Sanas is currently one of the fastest growing startups in Silicon Valley, growing from $16M to $50M ARR in 2025. The company's core business is profitable and is on track to end 2026 with >$77M ARR. Our team combines deep expertise in model innovation and systems engineering with a design-minded product engineering culture to build and ship cutting-edge AI models and experiences — entirely in-house.

Sanas is a 130 person team, established in 2020. In this short span, we've successfully secured over $100 million in funding. Our innovation has been supported by the industry's leading investors, including Insight Partners, Google Ventures, Quadrille Capital, General Catalyst, Quiet Capital, and other influential investors. Our reputation is further solidified by collaborations with numerous Fortune 100 companies. With Sanas, you're not just adopting a product; you're investing in the future of communication.

If you’re looking to have a significant role in roadmapping and driving technical directions, if you’re looking to deploy challenging and big ideas without much overhead or slowness, if you're looking to leave your mark on an ambitious, generational mission to change how the worlds thinks about speech + AI, then Sanas is a well-suited place for you.

The Role

As we continue to scale, we are looking for a highly experienced, business-minded Deputy General Counsel to join our leadership team and serve as a strategic legal partner to the company. The Deputy General Counsel will report directly to the CFO and will be responsible for a broad range of commercial, corporate, intellectual property, compliance, international, and strategic legal matters.

This is a highly hands-on role for an attorney who enjoys working in a fast-paced, high-growth technology company. You will partner closely with executive leadership and cross-functional teams to provide practical legal guidance, manage risk, enable business growth, and support Sanas's continued expansion.

The ideal candidate has significant experience working with technology companies and can operate comfortably across commercial contracts, corporate matters, IP, compliance, litigation, financing, M&A, and international expansion.

What You'll Do

Commercial Legal

• Lead negotiation and management of complex commercial agreements with customers, suppliers, strategic partners, and other third parties.
• Draft and negotiate SaaS, licensing, services, partnership, vendor, customer, and technology agreements.
• Partner with Sales, Finance, Product, Engineering, Security, and other teams to identify and resolve legal and commercial issues.
• Provide practical, business-oriented advice that supports revenue growth while appropriately managing risk.

Corporate & Compliance

• Advise the company and executive leadership on corporate governance and general corporate matters.
• Support corporate compliance programs, policies, and processes.
• Advise on legal and regulatory requirements as Sanas expands into new markets and jurisdictions.
• Manage corporate due diligence and support strategic corporate initiatives.

Intellectual Property

• Oversee legal matters related to Sanas's intellectual property portfolio, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing, and IP protection.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and AI/ML teams to protect and commercialize Sanas's technology and intellectual property.
• Manage relationships with external IP counsel.

Litigation & Risk Management

• Manage litigation, disputes, claims, and other legal proceedings.
• Work with outside counsel on litigation strategy, case management, and resolution.
• Identify emerging legal risks and develop practical mitigation strategies.

Financing & Strategic Transactions

• Support fundraising activities, including equity financings, investor due diligence, and related corporate matters.
• Support M&A activities, including legal due diligence, transaction structuring, negotiation, and execution.
• Assist with debt financing transactions and related legal matters.
• Partner with the CFO and executive leadership on strategic transactions and corporate development initiatives.

International Expansion

• Provide legal guidance on international expansion and operations.
• Advise on jurisdiction-specific corporate, commercial, employment, regulatory, and compliance considerations in partnership with internal teams and external counsel.
• Help establish scalable legal processes as Sanas expands globally.

Outside Counsel Management

• Manage relationships with external law firms and specialized legal advisors.
• Oversee outside counsel strategy, budgets, and legal spend.
• Determine when matters should be handled internally versus through external counsel.
• Build a scalable and efficient legal function as the company grows.

What We're Looking For

• JD from an accredited law school and admission to at least one U.S. state bar.
• 8+ years of relevant legal experience, including meaningful in-house experience at a high-growth technology company and/or experience at a leading law firm.
• Significant experience negotiating complex commercial agreements.
• Strong experience across corporate law, compliance, intellectual property, and litigation.
• Experience advising executive leadership and partnering with business leaders.
• Experience managing outside counsel and multiple complex legal workstreams.
• Strong business judgment and the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to work independently and thrive in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.
• Experience in AI, SaaS, software, or other technology businesses strongly preferred.
• Ability to work from Sanas's Palo Alto office.

Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting venture-backed technology companies.
• Experience with fundraising and equity financing transactions.
• M&A experience, including due diligence and transaction execution.
• Experience with debt financing.
• Experience supporting international expansion and multi-jurisdictional compliance.
• Experience working with emerging technologies, particularly AI, Speech AI, SaaS, or enterprise software.