Senior Legal Counsel, CTO Office

Overview

The organization is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to support its Chief Technology Officer organization (CTOO). This role serves as an innovation laboratory focused on enterprise AI, hybrid AI platforms, and next-generation technology development. The position reports to the Vice President of Intellectual Property and Litigation and will work closely with CTO executives, researchers, engineers, product leaders, and their teams.

This role is designed for a lawyer who can act as an embedded business and technology advisor—supporting teams from early-stage research and incubation through platform development, commercialization, ecosystem partnerships, and responsible deployment.

Preferred locations are Morrisville, NC or Chicago, IL; remote candidates may be considered.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic legal advice and counsel to global business teams across areas including enterprise AI agents, model and agent platforms, strategic alliances, university collaborations, technology innovation labs, product development, M&A, complex transactions, and regulatory compliance
• Help CTOO teams identify and manage legal issues arising through the development pipeline
• Serve as an interface and liaison to CTOO for other corporate legal functions, including litigation, AI governance, IP, ethics and compliance, data privacy, marketing, contracting center of excellence, and government relations, as well as regional legal teams
• Maintain knowledge and understand the mechanics and economics of technology innovation laboratories, AI software platforms, ecosystem partnerships, and electronics manufacturing companies
• Provide proactive guidance by flagging risk areas and offering legal opinions to support business owners in achieving desired outcomes
• Act as a trusted business advisor and team member for key global business initiatives

Qualifications

• JD from a top tier law school; strong academic credentials preferred
• 10+ years of law firm and/or in-house experience, ideally supporting technology, software, AI, data, infrastructure, or electronics businesses
• Business, technical product, software, AI/ML, data platform, or engineering-adjacent background strongly preferred
• Knowledge of legal topics relevant to technology businesses, including IP, commercial contract negotiations, software, licensing, open source, data rights, privacy, cybersecurity, AI governance, regulatory matters, complex transactions, and alliances
• Ability to balance risk allocation and develop pragmatic mitigation strategies for fast-moving R&D, incubation, and commercialization efforts
• Strong and confident communication skills, including the ability to advocate legal positions and simplify complex legal and technology issues into coherent, actionable business requirements
• Experience advising senior executives of a large multinational corporation on strategic technology initiatives
• Excellent collaboration, project facilitation, and negotiation skills across legal, engineering, product, privacy, security, IP, policy, and regional teams
• Curiosity and willingness to learn, with comfort engaging in a variety of legal issues
• Experience engaging with colleagues and clients globally preferred, including comfort with cross-border collaboration
• Combination of in-house and outside counsel experience preferred; experience with strategic alliances, university or research collaborations, standards bodies, or technology ecosystem partnerships is a plus
• Experience working in an R&D organization preferred

Basic Requirements

• Doctor of Law (JD)
• 10+ years of legal experience

Compensation & Benefits

• Not specified in the provided job description.

Location

• Preferred: Morrisville, NC or Chicago, IL
• Remote candidates may be considered.

Equal Opportunity Statement

The organization is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, status as a veteran, basis of disability, or any federal, state, or local protected class.