Head of Legal

David AI
San Francisco, CA
On-site

Who this role is best for

Best suited to candidates with elite law firm experience and expertise in AI, data, or privacy matters working in a fast-growing tech startup in San Francisco.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with elite law firm experience and a track record in AI, data, or privacy matters
    — “5–12 years of post-JD experience, including experience at an elite law firm.”
  • Individuals who enjoy building legal functions from the ground up and are comfortable with ambiguity
    — “the ability to move quickly without sacrificing rigor.”
  • Legal professionals with a business-oriented mindset and interest in AI infrastructure
    — “genuine excitement about helping build a fast-growing AI company.”

Things to consider

  • This role involves significant responsibility and ownership across the company's legal strategy
    — “broad ownership across the company, navigating complex legal questions at the frontier of AI.”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience with AI, data, or privacy matters in your resume and interview narratives
    — “Experience with AI, data, or privacy matters, and strong commercial or transactional experience.”
  • Emphasize your ability to build and scale legal functions from the ground up
    — “Build and scale our legal function, including its processes, infrastructure, and eventually, team.”
  • Showcase your strategic mindset and how you've partnered with executive teams in prior roles
    — “Lead legal strategy across the business, serving as a strategic partner to the CEO and executive team.”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Company

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Led legal strategy
  • Navigated complex AI and data questions
  • Negotiated agreements with leading AI labs
Typical background
5-12 years of legal experienceElite law firm background

Skills & requirements

Required

AIDataPrivacyCommercial AgreementsTransactional WorkCorporate LawRegulatory ComplianceLegal Strategy

Preferred

In-house Legal ExperienceLitigationComplex Regulatory Matters

Stack & domain

AIDataPrivacyCommercial AgreementsTransactional Legal WorkCorporate LawRegulatory LawStrategic ThinkingLegal JudgmentAttention To DetailVersatilityBusiness-oriented MindsetLegal

About the role

Original posting from David AI via Ashby

ABOUT DAVID AI

At David AI, our vision is to bring impactful AI into billions of lives through voice. Our mission is to help the world's leading AI companies build better voice models and agents. We're building the data and evaluation infrastructure behind those models.

Founded in 2024, we're a fast-growing Series B company backed by NVIDIA, Meritech, First Round, YC, and others, with ~70 people across San Francisco and New York City.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

We're hiring a Head of Legal, our founding legal hire, working closely with our executive team.

Given the nature of our business, we view legal as a strategic function that can help us build a stronger competitive moat and accelerate our growth, not just a back-office function. You'll have broad ownership across the company, navigating complex legal questions at the frontier of AI while building our legal function from the ground up.

IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL

  • Lead legal strategy across the business, serving as a strategic partner to the CEO and executive team.
  • Navigate complex AI, data, and privacy questions related to data acquisition, AI model training, and evaluation.
  • Own commercial and transactional legal work, including negotiating agreements with the world's leading AI labs.
  • Advise across a broad range of corporate, regulatory, and legal matters, working with external counsel where appropriate.
  • Build and scale our legal function, including its processes, infrastructure, and eventually, team.

YOUR BACKGROUND LOOKS LIKE

  • 5–12 years of post-JD experience, including experience at an elite law firm.
  • Exceptional intellectual horsepower, attention to detail, and legal judgment.
  • Demonstrated versatility across legal disciplines, with the ability to quickly develop expertise in unfamiliar areas.
  • Experience with AI, data, or privacy matters, and strong commercial or transactional experience.
  • A bias for action, comfort operating in ambiguity, and the ability to move quickly without sacrificing rigor.
  • A business-oriented mindset and genuine excitement about helping build a fast-growing AI company.

BONUS POINTS IF YOU HAVE

  • Experience working in-house at a technology company, including through a secondment.
  • Exposure to litigation, disputes, or complex regulatory matters.

BENEFITS

  • Unlimited PTO.
  • Top-notch health, dental, and vision coverage with 100% coverage for most plans.
  • FSA & HSA access.
  • 401k access.
  • Meals 2x daily through DoorDash + snacks and beverages available at the office.
  • Unlimited company-sponsored Barry's classes.

VISAS

We sponsor international candidates across several visa types, including H-1B transfers, H-1B1, O-1, E-3, and TN. We also hire candidates on STEM OPT. If you’re on OPT, we’ll want to confirm you have a path to one of the visas listed above before your OPT ends. While we can’t guarantee any individual outcome, we’ve successfully sponsored teammates from all over the world.

Source: David AI careers (Ashby)

Similar roles

More roles at David AI