Whatnot
Commerce
ProductCounsel(Director)
“Product Counsel (Director) at Whatnot. Skills: Product Counseling, Team Management, Strategic Leadership, Regulatory Compliance, Risk Management. Build and lead Whatnot's product legal function. Manage a small team”
What You'll Achieve.
enable anyone to turn their passion into a business and bring people together through commerce; scale legal processes, build playbooks, and create systems that enable the business to move with confidence; turn legal from a bottleneck into a force multiplier
Industry & Context.
Proven ability to provide practical, business-oriented legal counsel in a high-velocity environment – solutions-focused, not a bottleneck; comfortable operating on a small team and will get in the weeds to produce results in a highly ambiguous environment
Team members in this role must live within commuting distance of our New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, or Los Angeles hubs.
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership (or eligibility to register as in-house counsel) in at least one U. S. state, 12+ years of legal experience, including substantial time advising on product and technology matters at a top-tier law firm and in-house legal department at a technology company, Deep substantive expertise in at least several of the following: privacy and data protection (U. S. and international), consumer protection, platform/intermediary liability, intellectual property, advertising and marketing law, content moderation, and AI/ML governance, Proven ability to provide practical, business-oriented legal counsel in a high-velocity environment – solutions-focused, not a bottleneck, executive presence and communication skills – you can distill complex legal issues into clear, actionable guidance for technical specialists, business leaders, and executives alike, Experience working cross-functionally with product, engineering, and design teams throughout the full product development lifecycle, Demonstrated ability to scale legal processes, build playbooks, and create systems that enable the business to move with confidence, comfortable operating on a small team and will get in the weeds to produce results in a highly ambiguous environment, scrappy and no job is too small, Experienced people manager with demonstrated experience building or leading a product counsel or technology law function, ideally from an early or nascent stage
Nice to Have
Experience at a consumer marketplace, e-commerce, live streaming, social commerce, or two-sided platform company, Working knowledge of international product regulations, including the EU Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, and AI Act, Experience advising on artificial intelligence and machine learning products, including generative AI, recommendation systems, and automated decision-making, Familiarity with payments, financial services, or fintech regulation in the context of marketplace or consumer products, Experience engaging with regulators, government agencies, or in public policy or advocacy contexts
What You'll Do.
Build and lead Whatnot's product legal function
Advise on product launches
consumer-facing features
Build infrastructure for the team: playbooks
documentation practices
and scalable processes
Serve as the primary legal point of contact embedded throughout the product development lifecycle
and Trust & Safety teams from initial concept through feature release and post-launch iteration
and drive resolution of legal issues related to privacy
intellectual property
intermediary liability
and platform regulation
Review and advise on product features
Advise on novel and rapidly evolving legal areas
including artificial intelligence
recommendation systems
and live streaming regulation
and communicate the impact of evolving global regulations
Lead cross-functional responses to new or amended laws affecting product
Advise on data governance
privacy-by-design practices
and data protection impact assessments
Develop and maintain internal legal guidance
and educational resources
Manage outside counsel relationships and external legal resources efficiently and strategically
Build relationships with stakeholders at all levels
enabling early legal integration into roadmap planning and strategic decision-making
Collaborate with Trust & Safety
and Policy teams on platform integrity
and abuse prevention initiatives
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Marketing, Policy, and Business Development; Represent the legal function as a credible, trusted voice in executive-level and cross-functional discussions; Serve as a strategic business partner and trusted advisor to senior leaders across product, engineering, operations, and marketing; Build relationships with stakeholders at all levels, enabling early legal integration into roadmap planning and strategic decision-making; Collaborate with Trust & Safety, Security, and Policy teams
Communication Scope
executive presence and communication skills – you can distill complex legal issues into clear, actionable guidance for technical specialists, business leaders, and executives alike
Process & Methodology
Co-develop playbooks, frameworks, and scalable processes, Build the infrastructure that makes the team scale: playbooks, templates, risk frameworks, and the documentation practices
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