About Breather

Breather creates a network of beautiful, on-demand private spaces that users can reserve and unlock through the touch of a button. We’re a venture-backed company focused on giving people productive, professional space whenever and wherever they need it. We're growing quickly. We have big ambitions and we want you to help us achieve them!

About the Role

Breather is seeking a General Counsel to lead and build out our legal function. This position will be a key member of and advisor to the Executive team and will be responsible for all legal, regulatory and compliance matters at the company. The position is located in our New York City HQ and will report to the CEO.

Responsibilities

• Play a leadership role at the company: As the head of Legal, you will help define and execute the legal and corporate strategy behind all company initiatives. As a member of the Executive Team, you’ll be expected to speak to and on behalf of the company as a senior leader.
• Provide sound advice: You’ll be expected to advise all of our teams on issues related to best practices, corporate governance, risk, disputes, compliance, legal and (very often) non-legal matters. In particular, you’ll work very closely with the Finance team, HR team, Sales/BD team, Real Estate team, Executive team and the Board of Directors.
• Help us scale: To enable the company to scale quickly, it will be critical to partner with business teams to create and implement successful processes wherever necessary.
• Own Legal: You will be the point person on all things Legal. This means you’ll be expected to handle and/or manage everything from an equity financing or a venture debt deal to negotiating a partnership deal, an NDA or a sales agreement. You’re building a sophisticated legal department and that includes being ready to draft, review or negotiate any kind of contract that the company needs to put in place. Where appropriate, you’ll work with outside counsel and will be responsible for managing your team’s budget.
• Identify the risks and help mitigate them: It’s your job to identify, assess and work to mitigate legal risks across the business, especially with respect to consumer protection and privacy, the trust and safety of our users, labor and employment issues and landlord/tenant or other disputes.

Requirements

• You have at least 10 years of experience practicing at law firms and/or in-house (bonus: you’ve spent some of those years working at a high-growth startup so you already understand the culture, level of risk tolerance and priorities);
• You have a JD and are a member in good standing of the New York State Bar or are eligible to register as in-house counsel in New York;
• You have experience in building and managing a team;
• You are an effective communicator -- verbally and in writing. That means you can speak and write in plain English, not only legalese (bonus: you can also speak and write in plain French to help comply with Quebec laws);
• You’ve worked on and understand both consumer-facing (B2C) and enterprise (B2B) issues;
• You are detail-oriented and have strong organizational skills;
• You have excellent legal and analytical skills, as well as soft skills like the ability to negotiate and resolve disputes;
• You have the ability to multitask, manage your time effectively, and prioritize and re-prioritize based on changing business needs;
• You’re an independent self-starter; you can figure out what needs to be done without any hand-holding;
• You look to empower the company’s growth, while protecting us from liability; and
• You’re excited about working in a fast-paced environment and building something unique and amazing together.

If this sounds like you, please reach out right away. We can’t wait to meet you!

Great work deserves great perks!

• Be part of a well-funded, proven startup with big ambitions, competitive salary and company equity.
• The Breather crew has access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage.
• We’ll provide the digital toolset and whatever else that you need to do your best work.
• Free access to the Breather network of over 300 spaces (and growing, fast!).
• Company-funded travel to conferences & professional development events.
• Fun work environment and company culture with an upbeat, first-class team.