Founding Legal Counsel - Global Compliance Architect

Build AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

Housing subsidy

Relocation support

Wellness benefits

Daily lunch in office

Unlimited compute budget

Job summary

Build AI is seeking a Founding Legal Counsel to own the global legal architecture for its operations, reporting to the COO as the first in-house lawyer. You will design consent, data-transfer, entity, and contracting frameworks across multiple countries, and manage outside counsel networks while partnering with operations, finance, and engineering to scale the business.

You will handle complex privacy regimes, cross-border data flows, and international regulatory matters, owning relationships

Qualifications

• JD and active bar admission in at least one US jurisdiction.
• Significant in-house experience at a startup or fast-growing tech company.
• Deep practical data privacy knowledge: consent architecture and cross-border transfers.
• Strong contracting track record—drafting and negotiating complex agreements.
• Experience selecting and managing outside counsel across jurisdictions.

Responsibilities

• Own legal path into new countries, including entities, EORs, contractors, partners, payments, and local regulatory requirements.
• Build and own the global consent, privacy, data-transfer, retention, and data-provenance framework.
• Draft and negotiate customer, partner, vendor, manufacturing, employment, consulting, and other commercial agreements.
• Own international entity governance, maintenance, statutory obligations, intercompany arrangements, and compliance calendars.
• Identify and manage regulatory risk across privacy, AI/data, foreign investment, payments, and international operations.
• Run diligence on data rights and provenance for customers, regulators, investors, and acquirers.
• Select and manage outside counsel globally, including scope and fees, and translate advice into action.
• Partner with Operations, Data Scaling, Finance, Engineering to structure new markets, products, and operating models.
• Provide clear recommendations to enable rapid business decisions without unnecessary risk.

Skills

In-house startup experience

Data privacy

Commercial contracts

Outside counsel management

Regulatory acumen

Travel readiness

Fast-moving environment

Education

JD and bar admission

Job description

Build AI is seeking a Founding Legal Counsel to own the global legal architecture for its operations, reporting to the COO as the first in-house lawyer. You will design consent, data-transfer, entity, and contracting frameworks across multiple countries, and manage outside counsel networks while partnering with operations, finance, and engineering to scale the business.

You will handle complex privacy regimes, cross-border data flows, and international regulatory matters, owning relationships