Finance / Legal (Fractional)

About the Role

We’re an early-stage technical company doing pilots with enterprise operators and partners. We need contracts that are fast to execute, protect IP, handle data/security expectations credibly, and don’t accidentally sign us up for unlimited liability. We also need lightweight finance discipline: clean books, vendor/payment workflows, and pilot economics that make decisions obvious.

This is a fractional role (law + finance, or two fractional specialists) that establishes baseline infrastructure so the team can move quickly without stepping on landmines.

What You’ll Do

Legal / Contracting

• Draft and negotiate pilot agreements & SOWs with clear scope, success criteria, deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities.
• Set up standard MSA terms: limitations of liability, warranties, disclaimers, indemnities appropriate for measurement/monitoring products.
• Protect IP: contractor agreements, IP assignment, invention assignment, patent vs trade secret guidance.
• Data & security terms: ownership, retention/deletion, confidentiality, audit logs, security commitments, enterprise addenda.
• Partner agreements: referral/reseller/rev-share/OEM structures; avoid “free engineering forever” traps.

Finance / Operations

• Establish basic finance infrastructure: bookkeeping, chart of accounts, expense policies, vendor payment workflows, reporting cadence.
• Pilot economics: track pilot costs (hardware, install labor, travel, calibration) and build pricing models that don’t lose money silently.
• Budgeting & runway visibility: monthly burn tracking, scenario planning, clear “what changes runway” levers.
• Revenue mechanics: invoicing, collections, milestone billing, subscription vs services separation.
• Risk control: contract redlines that affect financial exposure; insurance needs identification (GL, E&O/cyber).

Concrete Deliverables

• Standard Pilot Agreement + SOW templates (with modular add-ons: install responsibilities, acceptance tests, commissioning workflow, success metrics).
• A lightweight MSA + baseline Data/Security addendum suitable for enterprise conversations.
• Contractor agreement pack (NDA, IP assignment, consulting agreement).
• Partner agreement templates (referral/reseller/integrator/OEM options).
• Pricing + billing playbook for pilots (milestones, deposits, hardware handling, travel reimbursement).
• Monthly finance packet: P&L, runway, pilot unit economics, upcoming obligations.

Engagement Shape (Fractional)

• Startup baseline sprint: 2–4 weeks to produce templates + policies + finance setup.
• Ongoing support: weekly/biweekly cadence for redlines, negotiations, invoicing, reporting.
• On-demand: timed to pilot contracting cycles and partner negotiations.

Required Qualifications

• Experience supporting early-stage B2B/enterprise startups (hardware/IoT or industrial a plus).
• Ability to draft/negotiate contracts quickly with practical risk judgment (“fast but safe,” not perfection theater).
• Familiarity with data/security contracting concepts: confidentiality, ownership, retention, breach notification, audit rights.
• Finance ops competence: bookkeeping systems, vendor payment workflows, basic modeling, runway reporting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with pilots/POCs in facilities/data center contexts and their liability sensitivities.
• Familiarity with enterprise procurement patterns, MSAs, and vendor onboarding.
• Experience structuring partnerships (integrators/OEMs/resellers) without unbounded obligations.
• Background in IP strategy for technical products (patent vs trade secret, contractor IP risk).

How You’ll Be Measured (First 60–90 Days)

• Deals move faster: pilots can be signed with standardized templates and predictable negotiation outcomes.
• IP and contractor risks are controlled: every contributor has the right agreements in place.
• Data/security posture is credible and consistent across customers.
• Finance reporting is clean: runway is visible, pilot economics are tracked, billing/collections are disciplined.

Working Style

• You optimize for “fast but safe,” not “perfect but slow.”
• You write terms operators and procurement teams can accept without endless back-and-forth.
• You keep templates modular so we don’t renegotiate the universe every time.

Title & Engagement

Fractional Finance / Legal Lead (or two roles: fractional counsel + fractional finance ops/CFO), scoped to the company’s pilot and partner contracting cycles.