As a Legal Counsel at Appian, you’ll act as a key advisor to the business, managing legal matters with autonomy and judgment. You’ll be the lead person for the sales teams within your assigned verticals or geographies, offering contract negotiation support and general legal advice. You will navigate complex legal scenarios, minimizing risk and escalating issues, when necessary, all while supporting Appian's growth and business goals.

This role will be 4 days office based from: Torre Emperador Castellana, Paseo de la Castellana, 259D, Level 12 North, Fuencarral-El Pardo, 28046, Madrid, Spain

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as a trusted legal advisor to the sales teams in your assigned verticals or geographies, acting as the primary point of contact on legal matters.
• Independently lead contract negotiations, ensuring terms align with company policies and mitigate potential risks for Appian.
• Participate in customer calls and negotiations, autonomously, working closely with legal subject matter experts, Sales, Information Security, Deal Management and Finance to close deals effectively.
• Escalate complex legal issues or deal-related risks to management, following departmental guidelines, and implement their guidance.
• Provide general legal advice as required, with a focus on language-specific and local law issues when applicable.

Qualifications:

• Qualified lawyer with experience in a fast-paced tech or SaaS company.
• Proven experience negotiating contracts, with a solid understanding of commercial law and, ideally, software and cloud services related master agreements.
• Experience working directly with sales teams on revenue-related master agreements.
• Preference for candidates with experience of English-law governed contracts.

Skills:

• Ability to balance legal risks with business needs, offering practical solutions to internal stakeholders.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build relationships across different teams and cultures.
•  A self-starter, capable of working independently while knowing when to escalate issues to senior management.
• Developed analytical, drafting and negotiation skills.
• A balance of strong attention to detail and commercial pragmatism.
• Fluent English and Spanish (ability to draft in both languages) essential. German, Dutch, French or Italian language skills would be an advantage.

Appian is seeking a Counsel, Public Sector to be a trusted business partner dedicated to Appian’s growing US and International government business. The Contracts Manager will support the full lifecycle of high value public contracts and will be responsible for providing contracting guidance from the initial solicitation phase onward, including proposals, contract negotiation, post-award administration, auditing, and monitoring.

This role is based at our HQ in McLean, VA. Appian was built on a culture of in-person collaboration, which we believe is a key driver of our mission to be the best. Employees hired for this position are expected to be in the office 5 days a week to foster that culture and ensure we continue to thrive through shared ideas and teamwork. We believe being in the office provides more opportunities to come together and celebrate working with the exceptional people across Appian.

In this role, you will:

• Negotiate, draft and advise on software platform licensing and professional services agreements with various government entities, worldwide and prime-contractors. Through cross-functional collaboration with finance, sales operations, product, support, infosec and others, ensure alignment across the enterprise and negotiate risk-mitigated contractual provisions. Agreement types include, without limitation, agreements executed through resellers and in partnership with systems integrators, prime contracts, subcontracts, OTA agreements, teaming agreements and NDAs. 

• Support public sector sales, capture, proposal stakeholders  with RFP analysis and response. 

• Implement best practices for contracting with Appian’s professional services subcontractors. 

• Advise on FAR/DFARS, ITAR and export control requirements. 

• Standardize Appian’s approach to providing requisite certifications to government entities or prime contractors.

• Support the Facility Security Office with compliance, including Industrial Security function and Insider Threat program.

• Perform impactful work with independence and exemplary business judgment.

Required Experience:

• U.S. citizen, holds or open to applying for security clearance.  

• J.D., or Bachelor’s degree in a related field.

• 5+ years as a Counsel, or Contracts Manager with significant public sector experience, including business with state and local governments.

• Deep experience navigating FAR/DFARs framework. 

• Proven track record of ability to draft and negotiate complex contracts with government entities and reseller/distribution agreements with commercial partners.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to explain legal concepts to non-legal stakeholders;

• Experience with IT-related legal issues (e.g., cybersecurity, software licensing, cloud services) preferred.

• Knowledge of CMMC 2.0 and National Industrial Security Program Operating manual  requirements.  

Preferred Experience:

• Experience with specific agency supplements to the FAR. 

• Experience navigating government procurement outside of the U.S.