Lead Counsel, AI Partnerships

Meta; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Meta's AI Partnerships Legal team is seeking a Commercial Counsel to support the full range of commercial work enabling Meta's AI initiatives. You will focus on model distribution, licensing, and strategic partnerships, collaborating with CSPs and ecosystem partners.

The role requires JD with active U.S. bar, 5+ years in technology transactions, and a track record of negotiating complex agreements. In-house experience at scale and a commitment to ethical AI are highly valued.

Qualifications

• J.D. and active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• At least 5+ years of legal experience in technology transactions, licensing, or partnerships.
• Experience structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements (cloud, SaaS, platform, or similar tech deals).
• Ability to operate independently, manage competing priorities, and close deals with minimal oversight.
• Experience assessing legal risk and advising on evolving regulatory environments.
• Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize workflows and drive impact.
• Background working with cloud providers on distribution or marketplace agreements (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Familiarity with open source licensing frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary legal partner for distribution efforts of Meta's AI models across CSPs and ecosystems.
• Structure, negotiate, and close distribution and licensing agreements.
• Lead or support complex AI-related commercial transactions and enterprise licensing.
• Advise on data licensing for model training and development.
• Provide commercial legal counsel to teams building AI-powered consumer experiences.
• Collaborate with business, product, engineering, policy and other legal teams to move deals quickly.

Skills

Negotiation skills

Independent work style

AI tooling familiarity

Tech partnerships experience

Education

J.D. (or equivalent) with active U.S. bar

Job description

About the Role

Meta's Legal team is looking for a Commercial Counsel to join our AI Partnerships Legal group. This role will support the full range of commercial legal work powering Meta's AI ambitions - with a particular focus on bringing our models to market across the broader ecosystem.

About the Team

The AI Partnerships Legal team supports Meta's most commercially significant AI relationships - from frontier model partnerships and data licensing to ecosystem distribution and product integrations. The work is fast-paced, high-visibility, and directly tied to Meta's AI strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Model Distribution & Ecosystem Launch: Serve as the primary legal partner for efforts to distribute Meta's AI models through cloud service providers (CSPs), open source channels, and other go-to-market pathways
• Structure, negotiate, and close distribution agreements that enable broad model availability while protecting Meta's interests
• Large-Scale AI Commercial Transactions: Lead or support complex commercial deals involving AI technology - including strategic partnerships, joint development arrangements, and enterprise licensing
• Data Licensing: Advise on data acquisition and licensing transactions that fuel model training and product development, including negotiating inbound and outbound data rights
• Consumer Product Support: Provide commercial legal counsel to teams building and shipping AI-powered consumer experiences across Meta's family of apps
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Work closely with business development, product, engineering, policy, and other legal teams to enable fast-moving commercial activity in a rapidly evolving space

Required Qualifications

• J.D. (or equivalent) and active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction
• 5+ years of legal experience, with meaningful time spent on technology transactions, commercial licensing, or strategic partnerships
• Experience structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements (cloud, SaaS, platform, or similar technology deals)
• Ability to operate independently, manage competing priorities, and drive deals to close with minimal oversight
• Experience assessing legal risk and advising business stakeholders on risk mitigation strategies in ambiguous or evolving regulatory environments and comfortable advising where the law is unsettled or evolving
• Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
• Background working with CSPs (AWS, Azure, GCP) on technology distribution or marketplace agreements
• Familiarity with open source licensing frameworks and community dynamics
• Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
• Experience supporting go-to-market strategies for platform or developer ecosystem products
• Direct experience with AI/ML model licensing, distribution, or commercialization
• Prior in-house experience at a technology company operating at scale
• Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)