VP of Legal - Honeycomb Insurance

VP of Legal

Role Title: VP of Legal

Location: NYC (hybrid – 3 days from the office)

Reports to: COO

Position Summary

As VP of Legal, you will own Honeycomb’s legal strategy and lead the legal function end-to-end. You will be the principal legal advisor to the CEO, COO, and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) on governance, risk, and strategic transactions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic legal leadership: Serve as principal legal advisor to the CEO, COO, and SLT, on enterprise strategy, business initiatives, product launches, partnerships, regulatory/licensing matters, fundraising, fronting carrier and reinsurance arrangements, corporate governance, contracts, and material risk.
• Develop and lead the legal function: Structure and manage external counsel relationships; own the legal budget and ensure cost-effective, high-quality outcomes across commercial contracts, licensing, regulatory filings, corporate governance, IP, data privacy and security, employment law, and litigation management.
• Board & governance: Act as corporate secretary for the company; prepare Board and committee materials, manage minutes and resolutions, and advise on directors’ duties, equity administration, and entity governance across the corporate structure.
• Insurance & regulatory strategy: Own the regulatory strategy across all jurisdictions in which Honeycomb operates — state DOI relationships, multi-state licensing, MGA/agency model integrity, P&C filings, market conduct, and surplus lines compliance. Anticipate regulatory shifts in insurance, insurtech, and data/privacy and convert them into operating decisions.
• Growth enablement: Drive the legal workstream behind growth — entering new states, new product lines, and new jurisdictions; ensure legal readiness, sequencing, and enablement so the business can ship on time.
• Carrier, reinsurer & partner negotiations: Lead the legal posture in negotiations with carriers, reinsurers, MGAs, wholesalers, agencies, and distribution partners, resolve red lines pragmatically, and protect Honeycomb’s long-term economics.
• Strategic transactions: Lead legal execution on fundraising rounds (equity and debt facilities), M&A, strategic partnerships, and capital structure work; manage diligence, deal documentation, and post-close integration.
• Legal operating system: Build, scale, and mature Honeycomb’s legal infrastructure — playbooks, standard contract templates, approval workflows, KPI dashboards, and stakeholder service-level expectations — so the function compounds as the company scales.
• Risk & cross-functional partnership: Partner with the CISO, CFO, and CUO to ensure legal support for insurance-related programs and operations, cyber, privacy, and data-governance risks; partner with Finance on enterprise risk and insurance program design.
• Trusted advisor: Translate complex legal and regulatory issues into clear, business-friendly recommendations — enabling the business to move fast without compromising quality.
• Regulatory & legal horizon scanning: Monitor relevant regulatory and legal developments (insurance law, P&C regulations, insurtech legislation, data/privacy, AI) and proactively advise the business on emerging risks and opportunities.

Qualifications & Experience

• J.D. from a prestigious law school; admitted to practice in relevant U.S. jurisdiction(s) and in good standing.
• 10+ years of legal experience, including 3+ years leading an in-house legal function or a major sub-function at a regulated company; insurance or insurtech experience strongly preferred.
• Deep familiarity with U.S. insurance regulation — state licensing, MGA/agency models, P&C underwriting, fronting carrier and reinsurance arrangements, distribution and agent relationships — plus working knowledge of technology, data, privacy, and AI regulatory matters.
• Demonstrated experience advising a Board of Directors, serving as (or partnering with) the corporate secretary, and supporting fundraising rounds, M&A, or other strategic transactions.
• Track record of building and scaling a legal function and operating system at a growth-stage company — hiring, structuring external counsel, and embedding playbooks, templates, and approval workflows.
• Strong commercial mindset: thrives by partnering with business stakeholders (product, underwriting, marketing, operations, sales, partnerships, human resources) to enable growth while protecting the company.
• Excellent communicator (written and verbal); able to simplify legal risk into actionable business recommendations for executive and Board audiences.
• High integrity, strong sense of ownership, and the executive judgment to make timely, high-stakes decisions in a fast-paced, scaling environment.
• Comfortable operating globally (US + Israel base/resourcing) and cross-functionally across operations, marketing, HR, finance, and risk.
• Preferred: Prior experience as a General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, or Head of Legal at a startup/tech-enabled insurer or insurtech; multi-state licensing experience; reinsurance treaty negotiation; and experience standing up legal operations tooling.

Culture Fit / Behaviours

• Embraces our culture: takes full ownership, challenges the status quo, readily adapts (Flexibility), stays focused on what matters, prioritizes “we” over “I,” and acts with urgency.
• Executive presence: credible with the CEO, COO, SLT, regulators, carriers, and reinsurers; calm and decisive in high-stakes moments.
• Comfortable in a start-up/scale-up environment with ambiguity and rapid change.
• Collaborative; builds strong relationships across functions and geographies.
• Continuous improvement mindset: always looking to refine legal processes, enhance operational efficiency, and embed craftsmanship.
• Maintains the highest ethical standards — as an insurance business with regulatory/regime risk, trust and integrity are non-negotiable.
• Hybrid availability: Must be located in and able to work from our NYC office three days per week (Tuesday through Thursday).

Benefits

• Salary: $270,000 - $290,000 + 20% Bonus
• ISO stock options
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents
• HSA with company contributions
• 401(k) with employer match
• Flexible time off 
• 10 company-paid holidays
• Paid family leave

Honeycomb is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The base salary range listed in each job posting represents our good faith estimate of what we expect to pay for the role. Actual compensation may vary based on skills, experience, education, and location, as well as internal alignment and market factors.