Vapi

Technology

GeneralCounsel

$250–275k San Francisco, California, United States FULL TIME Remote Friendly
Market Sentiment
HIGH DEMAND

Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Mid+ candidates.

The Brief

“General Counsel at Vapi. Skills: AI regulation, Voice AI compliance, Commercial contracts, Privacy law. Build commercial playbook. Negotiate MSAs”

What You'll Achieve.

Win enterprise deals; Protect the business; Scale legal function sub-linearly; Operationalize AI laws; Protect business IP; Scale company legally

Industry & Context.

Technology
Problems you'll solve

Judgment under uncertainty

What They're Looking For.

Must Have

J.D. from top law school, Active bar membership, 8+ years relevant experience, Foundation at top-tier law firm, Meaningful in-house time, Deep commercial contracting chops, Working fluency in TCPA, Working fluency in telecom regulation, Working fluency in AI regulation, Working fluency in Colorado AI Act, Working fluency in EU AI Act, Working fluency in biometric privacy, Working fluency in BIPA, Working fluency in HIPAA, Working fluency in content IP issues, Working fluency in generative AI IP, Comfort reasoning about product behavior, Bias to action, Excellent judgment under uncertainty, Clear plainspoken communication

Nice to Have

Prior experience as GC, Prior experience as Head of Legal, Prior experience as senior in-house lead, Prior experience as first GC, Prior experience as sole GC, Experience at Series A company, Experience at Series B company, Experience at Series C company, Background at comms company, Background at CPaaS company, Background at voice company, Background at contact-center company, Background at foundation-model company, Background at AI-platform company, Hands-on SOC 2 Type II experience, Hands-on HITRUST experience, Hands-on ISO 27001 experience, Direct experience navigating regulator inquiries, Direct experience navigating CIDs, Direct experience navigating formal investigations, International experience, EU data-protection regimes experience, UK data-protection regimes experience, Canadian data-protection regimes experience, LATAM data-protection regimes experience

What You'll Do.

Build commercial playbook

Negotiate order forms

Negotiate partnership agreements

Partner with Solutions Engineering

Negotiate with Fortune 500 customers

Own procurement agreements

Own vendor agreements

Own reseller agreements

Establish fallback positions

Establish self-service contracting paths

Own FCC AI-voice rulings position

Operationalize state AI laws

Track AI voice statutes

Operationalize AI voice statutes

Lead EU AI Act response

Develop voice-cloning policies

Develop synthetic-voice policies

Serve as contact with regulators

Serve as contact with FCC

Serve as contact with FTC

Serve as contact with state AGs

Serve as contact with international counterparts

Own global privacy program

Lead HIPAA compliance

Partner on customer audits

Own legal aspects incident response

Own legal aspects breach notification

Set data-handling policies

Set data-retention policies

Set data-residency policies

Run corporate matters

Manage board governance

Manage equity administration

Manage cap-table hygiene

Lead secondary transactions

Lead M&A transactions

Manage patent program

Manage trademark portfolio

Manage open-source policy

Manage trade-secret protection

Manage anti-discrimination training

Manage legal aspects compensation philosophy

Sit on leadership team

Brief board on legal risk

Brief investors on legal risk

Own outside counsel relationships

Instrument legal function

How You'll Work.

Team & Collaboration

Partner with Sales; Partner with Solutions Engineering; Partner with Security; Coordinate with Engineering; Coordinate with PMs; Brief leadership team; Brief board; Brief investors

Communication Scope

Executive communication; Customer communication; Regulator communication; Board communication; Investor communication

Full Job Description

Voice AI that resolves, not transfers. Most phone systems trap callers in menus and scripts. Vapi is the platform for deploying voice agents that know your business and can listen, adapt, and resolve in minutes. - The numbers: 1 billion calls. 1 million developers. 10x enterprise ARR growth - The customers: Amazon Ring, ServiceTitan, New York Life, Intuit, Kavak, and thousands more, from YC startups to the Fortune 500 - The news: a $50M Series B led by Peak XV Partners, with Bessemer Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, M12 (Microsoft's Venture Fund), Y Combinator, and our earlier backers. Total raised: $72M ABOUT THE ROLE We are hiring our first General Counsel. This is a foundational hire: you will build Vapi's legal function from scratch and own legal strategy across the company. You will be a strategic partner to the CEO, the leadership team, and the board, and a hands-on operator who writes contracts, ships policy, and stays close to the product. Voice AI is one of the most regulated frontiers in AI. Every call we power touches consent law, telecom regulation, biometrics, AI-specific rules, and a fast-moving patchwork of state and international regimes. We need a lawyer who can move at startup speed without compromising on the rigor enterprise customers and regulators expect. WHAT YOU’LL DO - Commercial and enterprise contracts - Build Vapi's commercial playbook: MSAs, order forms, DPAs, BAAs, and partnership agreements that win enterprise deals while protecting the business. - Partner directly with Sales and Solutions Engineering on high-stakes negotiations with Fortune 500 customers. - Own procurement, vendor, and reseller agreements as we scale our partner ecosystem and underlying model and infrastructure vendors. - Establish thresholds, fallback positions, and self-service contracting paths so the legal function scales sub-linearly with revenue. - AI and voice-specific regulatory compliance - Own Vapi's position on the TCPA and the FCC's AI-voice rulings, inc

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