Overview
A rapidly growing AI infrastructure company is seeking its first General Counsel to establish and lead the legal function during its next phase of growth. This role involves serving as a strategic partner to the executive team, managing legal risk, overseeing outside counsel, and building the systems and team necessary to support a fast-paced technology business.
Responsibilities
Executive Leadership & Strategy
- Act as a trusted advisor to the CEO, COO, executive team, and Board.
- Identify, prioritize, and manage legal, regulatory, and business risks.
- Build the legal function from the ground up.
- Translate complex legal issues into practical business guidance.
- Enable rapid decision-making while ensuring informed legal oversight.
Commercial & Enterprise Contracting
- Lead legal support for customer contracts, focusing on complex enterprise agreements.
- Collaborate with go-to-market, finance, product, security, and operations teams to accelerate enterprise deals.
- Ensure legal processes facilitate revenue growth rather than hinder it.
Provider, Vendor & Strategic Partner Agreements
- Manage contracting with model providers, infrastructure providers, labs, vendors, and strategic partners.
- Standardize agreements across a growing provider ecosystem.
- Partner with business teams to manage legal risk on both supply and demand sides.
- Oversee vendor, technology, software, infrastructure, and third-party commercial agreements.
Compliance, Trust & Safety & Platform Governance
- Own the legal and compliance roadmap for a rapidly evolving AI platform.
- Collaborate with Trust & Safety, Security, Product, and Operations teams on platform policies and enforcement.
- Oversee terms of service, privacy policies, acceptable use policies, sanctions/export controls, jurisdictional restrictions, and related compliance matters.
- Develop practical compliance processes aligned with the company’s stage, speed, and risk profile.
- Monitor emerging AI regulatory developments and translate them into operational guidance.
Corporate, Financing, Governance & M&A
- Manage corporate governance, Board matters, subsidiary structures, and investor-related legal work.
- Lead coordination for future financings and strategic transactions.
- Oversee legal aspects of acquisitions, including due diligence, negotiation, closing, and integration.
Employment & People Operations
- Serve as the primary legal partner to the People team and leadership.
Legal Operations & Team Building
- Establish clear intake, prioritization, and ownership models for legal work.
- Manage existing contractors and outside counsel.
- Build a responsive, trusted, practical legal team embedded in the business.
Requirements
Required
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree and active bar membership.
- 10+ years of relevant legal experience.
- Significant experience with technology or venture-backed companies, commercial contracting, corporate transactions, M&A, or financing.
- Proven ability advising executives on strategic legal and business issues.
- Strong commercial judgment balancing speed, risk, and business outcomes.
- Capability to manage multiple legal domains without a large team initially.
- Excellent communication skills and ability to build trust across functions.
Preferred
- Prior experience as General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, or senior in-house legal leader.
- Experience building or scaling a legal function.
- Familiarity with AI, software infrastructure, marketplaces, developer platforms, cloud, data, or emerging technologies.
- Experience managing complex enterprise customer negotiations.
- Knowledge of provider, vendor, or platform ecosystem agreements.
- Understanding of trust & safety, privacy, sanctions/export controls, AI regulation, or platform compliance.
- Experience with M&A, venture financings, Board governance, and post-acquisition integration.
Location
Not specified.
Compensation & Benefits
Not specified.