General Counsel

American Pacific Group; Larkspur (CA); Hybrid; USD 260,000 - 380,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Performance-based bonus

Carried interest participation

Job summary

American Pacific is seeking to hire a General Counsel who will serve as day-to-day legal counsel for portfolio companies, engage and manage outside deal counsel, and reduce outside legal spend.

This role requires a J.D. with an active license and 6+ years of corporate law experience, strong governance and contract experience, and demonstrated strength using AI-powered tools across deal work; based in the San Francisco Bay Area with three in-person days at Larkspur and two remote days weekly.

Qualifications

• J.D. and active license to practice law (or eligibility to obtain in-house counsel registration).
• 6+ years of corporate legal experience in law firm, in-house at a small- to mid-cap private company, or at a private equity firm.
• Proficient in leveraging AI-powered legal tools to streamline contract review, research, and other workstreams.
• Strong general corporate and commercial contract experience.
• Experience engaging, directing, and managing outside counsel, including scoping matters and managing spend.
• Exposure to transactional/deal work (e.g., M&A, financings).

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary in-house counsel for portfolio companies on governance, contracts, day-to-day operational questions, and portfolio add-on acquisitions.
• Leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence across all functions of the role.
• Serve as primary liaison with outside counsel when the Firm or portfolio is pursuing or exiting investments.
• Manage and optimize legal spend across the portfolio and when outside counsel is engaged to pursue new investments.
• Standardize legal templates, playbooks, and outside counsel management practices across the portfolio.

Skills

Legal experience

AI in legal work

Contract review

Communication

Organizational skills

Education

J.D. and active license to practice law

Tools

AI tools for legal tasks

Job description

American Pacific ("the Firm") is a San Francisco Bay Area-based private equity firm with $1.2 billion of capital under management. Together with management teams, American Pacific seeks to drive sustainable growth in its portfolio companies by leveraging in-house operating partners and the Q Process, a proprietary and tested approach to value creation.

About the Role

American Pacific is seeking to hire a General Counsel who is an attorney with at least six years of legal experience either at a law firm, in-house at a small- to mid-cap private company, or at a private equity firm. Reporting to the Managing Partner at the Firm, this role’s primary responsibility will be to serve as day-to-day legal counsel for portfolio companies. This person will also be responsible for engaging and managing outside deal counsel when the Firm is pursuing or exiting investments, serving as the lead liaison with that counsel, and reducing outside legal spend (current combined annual deal and portfolio company legal spend is ~$10m). This is a compelling opportunity for an attorney who enjoys working across a variety of businesses and transaction types, building relationships with both company management teams and Firm leadership, and bringing structure and efficiency to how the Firm and portfolio engage outside legal resources. Successful candidates for this role will have demonstrated proficiency leveraging Artificial Intelligence across all functions of the role. This role is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and follows American Pacific's in-office policy of three (T/W/Th) days in-person at the Firm’s office in Larkspur and two days (M/F) remote each week. The role has zero to limited travel required.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as primary in-house counsel for portfolio companies on general corporate legal matters, including governance, contracts, day-to-day operational questions, and portfolio add-on acquisitions. Manage corporate governance matters for portfolio companies, including board materials, resolutions, and entity maintenance.
• Leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence across all functions of the role.
• Serve as primary liaison with outside counsel when the Firm or portfolio is pursuing or exiting investments.
• Manage and optimize legal spend across the portfolio and when outside counsel is engaged to pursue new investments.
• Standardize legal templates, playbooks, and outside counsel management practices across the portfolio.

Qualifications

• J.D. and active license to practice law (or eligibility to obtain in-house counsel registration).
• 6+ years of relevant corporate legal experience either at a law firm, in-house at a small- to mid-cap private company ($5-30m EBITDA), or at a private equity firm.
• Proficient and agile in leveraging AI-powered legal tools to streamline contract review, research, and other legal workstreams.
• Strong general corporate and commercial contract experience; comfortable advising on a broad range of legal questions rather than a single specialty.
• Experience engaging, directing, and managing outside counsel, including scoping matters and managing legal spend.
• Exposure to transactional/deal work (e.g., M&A, financings) and comfort coordinating outside counsel through a deal process.
• Sound business judgment and the ability to communicate legal issues clearly and practically to non-lawyer operators.
• Strong organizational skills and comfort managing multiple portfolio company relationships and matters at once.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary, performance-based bonus, carried interest participation.

American Pacific is an equal opportunity employer.