General Counsel

Verified; United States; Remote; USD 300,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Insurance

401(k) with match

PTO and sick days

Remote work (US hours)

Job summary

Verified is seeking its first in-house lawyer to build the legal function from zero, own contracting for MSAs, BAAs, DPAs, and playbooks, and align risk with product growth.

You’ll architect consent and data rights for our identity network, steer regulatory compliance (HIPAA, GLBA, state privacy), and own corporate matters with outside counsel as needed.

Remote (US), equity and a comprehensive benefits package, and a four-conversation interview process with the founders and staff.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of practice in law.
• Business judgment first; provide clear recommendations.
• Extreme ownership and accountability for outcomes.
• Startup experience with limited structure and high autonomy.
• Experience negotiating commercial deals at volume.
• Experience in data privacy law (HIPAA, GLBA, state privacy).
• Excellent written and verbal communication; bridge legal and business terms.
• Speed: ability to move quickly and proactively.
• High integrity; guardian of risk and independent judgment.
• AI awareness: explain use of AI and draft at scale, without overreliance.
• Bar admission and good standing.

Responsibilities

• Build the in-house legal function from zero and scale the team.
• Architect consent and data rights for the identity network.
• Own contracting for MSAs, BAAs, DPA, and orders; create templates and playbooks.
• Lead regulatory compliance and risk management (HIPAA, GLBA, privacy laws).
• Oversee corporate matters: financings, board, cap table, filings.
• Own IP, employment, and dispute resolution with outside counsel as needed.

Skills

8+ years experience

Startup/tech experience

Data privacy law

Bar admission

Excellent communicator

Speed and decisiveness

Ownership and accountability

Commercial deals negotiation

Job description

Remote (US) · Reports to Aidan McCarty, Co-Founder

“Most startups see legal as a cost center. At Verified, we treat legal as a part of the product. Every signup we power runs on consent, data rights, and trust, and the Verified Network only works if we get those exactly right. Better legal positions are a competitive advantage. You’ll perfect our legal foundations proactively so we can move faster and more confidently than anyone else.” — Aidan McCarty, Co-CEO

About Verified

• Join team human. We’re building the Verified Network – instant proof of human online. Every person should be able to prove who they are, instantly, on any platform. This is critical infrastructure for the 21st century. AI makes it necessary.
• We’re scaling fast. 8x revenue growth in the last 18 months with zero salespeople. Cash-flow positive, and reinvesting that cash into growth.
• A lean, world-class team. Founded by brothers Aidan and Liam McCarty (Stanford, Forbes 30 Under 30) with top tier investors (Tim Draper, Stanford Farmers) and advisors.

The role

• Build our legal function from zero. You’re our first in-house lawyer. You’ll set how legal works here and grow the team as we scale. Own legal recommendations and manage specialist outside counsel efficiently.
• Architect consent and data rights. This is the most important legal work at the company: how users consent, what we can do with their data, and how that scales into an identity network.
• Own every contract. You’ll own contracting and negotiation for every MSA, BAA, DPA, and order form with our clients and vendors. You’ll build templates and playbooks that let routine deals move quickly. You’ll put special emphasis on making our standard contracts clear, complete, and reasonable so even enterprise deals close fast.
• Run regulatory compliance and risk. HIPAA, GLBA, federal and state privacy, and insurance. Keep abreast of developing caselaw and regulatory developments to understand potential risks and opportunities. Develop and maintain sensible legal positions and playbooks. You’ll make clear recommendations and elevate material risks, working closely with the founders to ensure a world-class standard of compliance.
• Own corporate. Financings, board, cap table, and filings. You’ll ensure everything is always in good order.
• Own IP, employment, and dispute resolution. You’ll work with expert outside counsel as needed in these areas, but will be responsible for making clear, well-reasoned playbooks and decisions.

Requirements

• 8+ years of practice. Ideally both firm and in-house experience at a tech company.
• Business judgment first. You’ve owned business decisions before. You give a clear answer and a recommendation, not a memo of risks. You find the safe path to yes and take the next step autonomously.
• Extreme ownership. You own legal outcomes end to end. When something goes wrong, you take full accountability for your part and get better.
• Startup experience. You’ve worked in a startup environment before and thrive with limited structure and high autonomy.
• You’ve negotiated commercial deals at volume. You know which terms matter, which don’t, and how to get to signature fast.
• Experience in data privacy law. You have exposure to HIPAA, GLBA, state privacy law, and “flow down requirements.”
• Excellent communicator. Contracts, policies, and positions that anyone can read. Your writing and thinking is crisp and clear. You’re able to fluently move between legal and non-legal communications.
• Speed. Speed is our biggest advantage, and legal is either the bottleneck or the accelerant. Redlines come back quickly, and you proactively get ahead of where we are going to try to prevent legal slowdowns.
• High integrity. We sell trust. You hold the line on what’s right even with a deal on the table, and our clients and team trust your word completely. You are the guardian of risk in the organization and will always provide independent, clear-eyed judgment.
• AI-pilled. You can explain exactly where you use AI, where you don’t, and why. You use it to review, compare, and draft at scale, but you never let it make the call.
• Bar admission and good standing.

Who you are

You’ve been a great lawyer at a firm or in-house, but you want to move faster. You want to build. You want to be close to the product, close to the deals, and in the room when decisions get made. You’re bursting with ideas for making legal processes more thorough and more efficient and want an outlet to turn them into reality.

This isn’t for you if you want:

• To advise from the sidelines instead of owning the outcome.
• A team of associates to do the drafting.
• Perfect certainty before you make a call.
• To avoid uncomfortable conversations. We need you to advocate for your positions and to help us manage risk.
• A 9-to-5. We work hard (at least 50 hours a week) toward a big vision, and we take real time to recharge.

Comp and benefits

• $300K to $350K base
• Meaningful early-stage equity. We’ll walk you through the full model on our first call.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with an immediate 3% employer match
• 3 weeks PTO, plus 3 sick days (or greater in jurisdictions which require it)
• Semi-annual team trips, domestic and international
• Remote (US hours)

How we hire

Four conversations over about two weeks: a call with Aidan, a short redline exercise that we dig into together, a conversation with our Chief of Staff, and a final session with both founders. You’ll hear back within 3 business days at every step.

Verified is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or any other legally protected characteristic.