VP, Legal
$160,000–$210,000 year
On-siteLos Angeles, California, United States
Job Summary
Draft, redline, and negotiate agreements with customers, suppliers, contractors, partners, and third parties while reviewing RFPs, purchase orders, and agency requirements. Translate legal issues into clear business choices by identifying key terms early and determining what to accept, negotiate, escalate, or stop. Work closely with program management, engineering, finance, HR, security, and leadership to align contracts, customer obligations, and internal execution. Build practical contract templates, negotiation playbooks, and approval paths to enable faster deal closure. Manage outside counsel efficiently while retaining ownership of business context. Prepare risk summaries and decision materials for senior management, the board, and auditors. Support new business initiatives from early review through execution.
Required Qualifications
- J.D. from an accredited U.S. law school
- active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction
- 5+ years of legal experience at a law firm, in-house legal department, or both
- meaningful exposure to corporate, commercial, transactional, technology, or other business-facing legal matters
- At least 1 year of in-house legal experience at a venture-backed startup
- Strong contract judgment, including experience reviewing, interpreting, and advising on RFPs, purchase orders, customer terms, supplier terms, and other business-critical legal documents
- Ability to translate legal issues into practical business judgment, including what to accept, what to negotiate, what to escalate, and when to stop a deal
- Clear communication and strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to work directly with executives, engineers, program managers, finance, HR, security, customers, suppliers, and outside counsel
- Ability to manage outside counsel efficiently while keeping ownership of the business context inside the company
- High ownership and willingness to draft, redline, negotiate, organize, and close work directly
- U.S. citizenship
- eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance
- ability to participate in the full hiring process, including the one-month onsite temporary employment period
- currently authorized to work in the U.S.
- eligibility to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with technology, robotics, aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, government contracting, or another highly technical industry
- Experience reviewing RFPs, purchase orders, or contract documents from U.S. government agencies or defense-related customers
- Deep knowledge of U.S. foreign investment and export control rules, including ITAR, EAR, CFIUS-related issues, controlled technical data, foreign person restrictions, and technology access controls
- Experience with government contracts, commercial transactions, regulatory matters, litigation management, intellectual property, cybersecurity requirements, FAR/DFARS, data rights, or security obligations
- Experience owning or helping operate a compliance function in a company where legal, security, export control, and business execution had to move together
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