Associate General Counsel, Data Licensing

thetradedesk

Chicago; Irvine; Los Angeles; New York; San Francisco; San Jose

Posted Mar 9, 2026

Full-time
Attorneys

Job description

The Trade Desk is a global technology company and the world’s leading independent platform for digital advertising, with nearly 4,000 employees across more than 30 offices. Our technology helps advertisers reach the right audiences across the open internet — from streaming TV and podcasts to mobile apps, news, and more.

Advertising powers the content people love. By making it more transparent, effective, and responsible, we help support trusted journalism, quality entertainment, and creators worldwide. The world’s brands and agencies rely on us to reach their customers and grow their businesses responsibly.

The scale of our platform brings unique technical challenges — from processing massive datasets in real time to building systems that operate reliably on a global scale. When you work here, your impact is worldwide. We welcome diverse perspectives, encourage curiosity, and build teams that learn from one another. If you’re driven to solve meaningful challenges, we’d love to meet you.

What we do:

The Trade Desk is a dynamic, fast-growing technology company and we require excellent leadership at all levels. We are looking for an experienced commercial transactions attorney who has excellent judgement, loves to analyze complex legal issues, find creative solutions, and effectively negotiate deals. We are looking for someone able to collaborate cross-functionally and primarily support our Data Partnerships teams to structure, draft, and negotiate deals while also balancing competing demands, working independently, maintaining a positive attitude and, hopefully, contributing some humor to our legal slack channel. The Trade Desk is a company that will invest in its employees’ professional development— as we grow, we want our employees to grow with us.

What you'll do:

Exercise strong judgment to provide legal leadership on first impression global strategic data initiatives involving cutting edge areas such as retail data, measurement, and identity.
Gain deep technical understanding of adtech data flows and technology to advise on innovative commercial deal frameworks.
Structure, draft, and negotiate a variety of commercial agreements with the largest data suppliers in the world, with a particular focus on data licensing and all aspects of data rights and usage.
Collaborate with key leaders on our data partnerships, business development, product, privacy, and policy teams to advise on complex legal matters and develop creative solutions to contribute to the overall success of the company.
Continually improve our templates, playbooks, and legal processes to help us scale globally with a consistent but locally relevant approach and to help the company to move quickly and thoughtfully.
Work closely with cross-functional teams to help streamline, automate, and scale The Trade Desk’s global data processes.
Mentor other attorneys.
Provide practical advice on legal issues and risks, complex agreement structures, and company policies in a risk-tolerant, but compliance-oriented environment.
Identify, research, analyze, and work with cross-functional teams to address potential risks related to a wide range of relevant legal topics (e.g., licensing, intellectual property, commercial, data security, and privacy laws).
Keep abreast of legislative changes that may affect the company globally.
Distill and communicate complex legal concepts in layman’s terms.

Who you are:

8+ years in house or in combination with an internationally/nationally recognized law firm experience required.
Admitted to practice in New York, Illinois, or California or the ability to register as In-House Counsel in New York, Illinois, or California.
Juris doctorate required.
Experience in digital advertising and/or digital media strongly preferred.
Significant experience leading legal negotiations with large global companies.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interact with internal and external constituents at all levels and communicate complex legal concepts in layman’s terms.
Experience managing outside counsel.
Excellent business judgement, superior leadership skills, and strong commitment to providing timely and top-quality client service with superior work product.
Exceptional critical thinking skills and ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, while juggling competing, time-sensitive demands.
Excellent legal skills, including significant experience in structuring, drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of commercial technology agreements.
Strong business sense and ability to exercise good business judgement.
Excellent interpersonal skills (sense of humor is a big plus).

The Trade Desk does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm recruiters. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

The Trade Desk will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Ordinance No. 184652.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

In accordance with various US state laws, the range provided is the Trade Desk's reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount may differ based on non-discriminatory factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, and location. All employees may be eligible to become The Trade Desk shareholders through eligibility for stock-based compensation grants, which are awarded to employees based on company and individual performance. The Trade Desk also offers other compensation depending on the role such as variable compensation-based incentives and commissions. Plus, expected benefits for this role include comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with premiums paid in full for employees and dependents, retirement benefits such as a 401k plan and company match, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, well-being benefits, reimbursement for certain tuition expenses, parental leave, sick time of 1 hour per 30 hours worked, vacation time for full-time employees up to 120 hours thru the first year and 160 hours thereafter, and around 13 paid holidays per year. Employees can also purchase The Trade Desk stock at a discount through The Trade Desk’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

The Trade Desk also offers a competitive benefits package. Click here to learn more.

Note: Interns are not eligible for variable incentive awards such as stock-based compensation, retirement plan, vacation, tuition reimbursement or parental leave

At the Trade Desk, Base Salary is one part of our competitive total compensation and benefits package and is determined using a salary range. The base salary range for this role is

$151,100—$277,000 USD

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, The Trade Desk is committed to creating an inclusive hiring experience where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Please reach out to us at accommodations@thetradedesk.com to request an accommodation or discuss any accessibility needs you may require to access our Company Website or navigate any part of the hiring process.

When you contact us, please include your preferred contact details and specify the nature of your accommodation request or questions. Any information you share will be handled confidentially and will not impact our hiring decisions.