US Contracts & Compliance Legal Fellow

AdaCore; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

AdaCore invites applications for a one-year Legal Fellowship designed for a recent law graduate to build a career in commercial contracts, compliance, and in-house legal practice. The Fellow will work with the legal team in the US and EU, gaining hands-on training across the full contract lifecycle and regulatory programs.

You'll draft templates, support privacy and export controls work, and gradually take on independent contract tasks as skills grow, with mentorship and exposure to global

Qualifications

• JD required; coursework or clinic exposure to contract, business, or technology law preferred.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, cross-functional, international environment.
• Eagerness to learn independently and take on responsibility as skills grow.
• Familiarity with common office tools; willingness to learn DocuSign, Jira, and CLM platforms.

Responsibilities

• Assist in developing and documenting legal department procedures and drafting materials (contracts templates, policies, forms).
• Learn to draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements (NDAs, licenses, MSAs, SOWs).
• Support rollout of legal tools and intake processes; participate in meetings and triage workflows.

Skills

Written & verbal communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Fast-paced environment

Independent learning & responsibility

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

Google Suite

Microsoft Office

DocuSign

Jira

CLM platforms

Job description

Context

Ada Core Technologies Inc. (“AdaCore”) is launching a one-year Legal Fellowship for a recent law graduate looking to build a career in commercial contracts, compliance, and in-house legal practice. Working directly alongside our legal team in the US and EU, the Fellow will get hands‑on training across the full contract lifecycle, compliance program development, and legal operations — the kind of broad, practical exposure that’s hard to find in a first legal role, while also contributing to developing and scaling these operations.

This fellowship is designed for someone early in their legal career who wants mentorship, real responsibility, and a clear path toward specialization in commercial and technology law.

Goals

Compliance Exposure

• Assist in developing and documenting legal department procedures, and drafting supporting material (e.g., contract templates, policies and procedures, and forms)
• Get introduced to key regulatory areas — federal contracting regulations (FAR/DFAR), data privacy (GDPR, CCPA, and state privacy laws), and export controls (EAR) — with training and mentorship from the legal team
• Help build and run company-wide legal training programs, including scheduling and coordination with Human Resources – includes some light content/video editing

Contracts

• Learn to draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements — NDAs, licensing agreements, MSAs, SOWs, framework agreements, and more — under the guidance of experienced attorneys
• Partner with the Revenue team to understand how legal decisions connect to business outcomes
• Opportunity to shadow negotiations with US customers, gradually taking on more independent contract work as skills develop

Legal Team & Operations

• Be fully involved in legal team meetings and workflows, gaining insight into how an in-house legal department runs day-to-day
• Support any rollout of legal tools
• Learn the mechanics of legal request intake and triage, including preparing documents for e-signature
• Provide flexible support to legal team members across the US and EU, building relationships across a global team

Required Skills

• Juris Doctor (JD)
• Coursework or clinic/internship exposure to contract, business, or technology law
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, cross-functional, international environment
• Eagerness to learn independently and take on responsibility as skills grow
• Basic familiarity with common office and collaboration tools (Google Suite, Microsoft Office); willingness to learn tools like DocuSign, Jira, and CLM platforms

Nice-to-Have

• Interest in government procurement law
• Interest in IP law, software licensing, including open-source licensing
• Interest in export control regulations
• Interest in international or EU law
• Bar admission (Not Required)

Timeframe

Beyond the job

We're a global organization driven by diverse backgrounds, fostering innovation through an open exchange of ideas. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, celebrating diversity in ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, religion, abilities, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status.

Our commitment is to help our teammates, wherever they are based, feel comfortable and satisfied, by encouraging flexibility to ensure them a healthy work-life balance. Additionally, we prioritize individual development by offering continuous training from day one with a personalized onboarding plan.

Salary range: 90-100k/year

For more information about our recruitment process, visit our FAQ.