Tools for Humanity

AI

DeputyGeneralCounsel,ProductandIP

$319–375k San Francisco, California, United States FULL TIME
The Brief

“Deputy General Counsel, Product and IP at Tools for Humanity. Skills: Product Counseling, Intellectual Property Strategy, Digital Identity, Biometrics, Blockchain, DeFi, AI. Lead and scale Tools for Humanity’s product counseling and intellectual property legal functions globally. Serve as the senior legal advisor to product, engineering, AI, and security teams across the full product lifecycle”

Industry & Context.

AI

What They're Looking For.

Must Have

Juris Doctor from a top-tier law school, Membership in at least one U. S. state bar, 10–20+ years of experience as a product, technology, intellectual property, or privacy attorney at a leading law firm and in senior in-house legal roles supporting consumer technology or highly regulated technology platforms, Significant experience advising on complex product counseling issues, intellectual property background, including substantial experience with patents, trademarks, copyright, licensing, and open source, Experience supporting globally distributed products and navigating multi-jurisdictional legal and regulatory issues

Nice to Have

Ability to engage deeply with technical teams and understand complex systems, architectures, and product tradeoffs, business judgment and ability to balance legal risk, user experience, operational realities, and product velocity, Comfortable operating in highly ambiguous and rapidly evolving legal environments where clear precedent may not exist, Proven ability to build trusted relationships across engineering, product, research, security, executive leadership, and external stakeholders, Excellent communicator capable of translating highly technical or legal concepts into practical, business-oriented guidance, Experience building or scaling legal processes, teams, and operational frameworks in fast-growing organizations, A collaborative, low-ego working style

What You'll Do.

Lead and scale Tools for Humanity’s product counseling and intellectual property legal functions globally

Serve as the senior legal advisor to product

and security teams across the full product lifecycle

Oversee the company’s global intellectual property strategy

and IP risk management

Serve as the senior legal partner to product

and design teams across the development and launch lifecycle of TFH products and infrastructure

Advise on complex legal and regulatory issues relating to digital identity systems

decentralized finance products

blockchain infrastructure

financial regulations

and AI-enabled systems

Assess legal and reputational risks associated with new features

scalable approaches for launching products globally across diverse and evolving regulatory environments

Translate complex legal and policy considerations into clear

actionable guidance for technical and business stakeholders

Lead the company’s global intellectual property strategy across patents

and open source matters

Advise on IP protection strategies for software

identity technologies

and consumer products

Manage IP risk assessments

freedom-to-operate analyses

Partner with engineering and research teams to identify and protect strategic innovations and inventions

Oversee outside counsel relationships relating to IP

Develop scalable internal processes relating to invention capture

open source governance

Build and scale a high-performing global product and IP legal function capable of supporting a rapidly evolving technology platform

and self-service guidance that increase organizational velocity while maintaining appropriate legal oversight

Improve cross-functional processes

and operational systems to support efficient product reviews and launches

Mentor and develop attorneys and legal professionals across the team

Partner effectively across legal specialties

and corporate legal functions

How You'll Work.

Team & Collaboration

Serve as the senior legal advisor to product, engineering, AI, and security teams; Partner closely with product and engineering leaders; Partner with engineering and research teams; Build and scale a high-performing global product and IP legal function; Partner effectively across legal specialties, including commercial, privacy, regulatory, employment, litigation, security, and corporate legal functions; Build trusted relationships across engineering, product, research, security, executive leadership, and external stakeholders

Communication Scope

Excellent communicator capable of translating highly technical or legal concepts into practical, business-oriented guidance

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