Commercial Counsel

About us- Cognex is the largest, most successful and recognized global player in industrial machine vision! We are a financially strong, international company with no debt and have been in business for over 40 years. Using advanced optics, image sensors and artificial intelligence software Cognex vision and ID systems capture an image then analyze it to make sense of what’s being seen. We are deeply committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable work environment, guided by our "Work Hard, Play Hard, Move Fast" culture, which celebrates employee innovation, determination, and dedication in a dynamic, fun, and distinctive atmosphere.

This position is based in our Natick, MA office on a hybrid schedule, with 3 days in the office.

Reporting to the Director of Legal – Americas, this position works closely with the Americas sales team and has responsibility for customer agreements in the region. The Commercial Counsel will be part of a busy team that handles a wide variety of contracts for many business functions, including IT, product marketing, finance, employee services, and operations. This is an excellent opportunity to be a member of a sophisticated and collegial legal department supporting complex global operations. As such, this individual must be comfortable giving strategic, creative, and business-savvy legal advice and must independently own matters (i.e., prioritizing and driving tasks to conclusion) while operating under the general management and direction of the Director of Legal – Americas.

Essential Functions 

• Draft, review, negotiate and drive to conclusion customer and vendor agreements, as well as a wide range of other commercial agreements including nondisclosure agreements, license agreements, development agreements, office lease agreements, etc. with business priorities in mind and with a sense of urgency.

• Serve as an initial point of contact for internal clients, providing helpful, creative, pragmatic and timely business and legal counsel on a wide range of issues common to rapidly growing public companies.

• Provide education and training to Cognoids in the Americas in a helpful, “non-legal” way to ensure compliance with law and company policies. 

• Drive continuous improvements of forms, policies and processes to help streamline, simplify and automate Cognex’s contracting processes in a collaborative, cross-functional manner.

• Keep abreast of the rapidly evolving legal landscape affecting our business.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Creative, pragmatic problem solver who understands that his/her role is not only to identify legal issues, but to resolve issues quickly and achieve business objectives successfully.

• Ability to make sound decisions with excellent judgement, which includes knowing when collaboration or escalation is needed.

• Conscientious, detail-oriented self-starter who enjoys taking the initiative to drive projects successfully to completion.

• Exceptional and pragmatic organizational, project management, problem-solving and prioritization skills that elevate matters with the greatest risk and/or financial impact to Cognex.

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic work environment that changes frequently and forces a constant reassessment of priorities.

• Ability to manage a large, difficult workload across a wide variety of stakeholders with a positive, responsive and client-centric attitude. The ideal candidate works hard to get things done and helps Cognex “Move Fast.”

• Ability to understand, interpret and concisely explain contractual arrangements and legal risk to business clients in simple, easy-to-understand terms.

• Team player with a good sense of humor who can effectively build collaborative relationships across the department and cross-functionally at all levels of the organization, including senior management.

• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.

• Highest standards of ethics, professional integrity and discretion.

Minimum Education and Work Experience

• Minimum of 8 years’ relevant commercial law experience.    

• JD from an ABA accredited law school.

• Active member in good standing with the Massachusetts Bar.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cognex is an equal opportunity employer. Cognex evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, disability/handicap status or any other legally protected characteristic.