Founding Managing Partner San Francisco

Arceus is building the AI-native law firm for the next generation of category-defining companies. We help fast-moving companies move contracts through legal at record speed, with transparency, predictable pricing, and top quality. We're hiring a Founding Managing Partner to lead the law firm. You'll own the quality, judgment, and ethics of every piece of work, hire the legal team, and sit next to our engineers to shape the AI that’s reinventing how legal work gets done.

THE OPPORTUNITY

We are seeing incredible demand for our solutions. The market is open and the window is short. The category will be defined in the next 12 to 18 months. We will be the winners in this new category. This is a rare chance to: Build a generational law firm from the ground up Turn existing judgment and playbooks into innovative products Own meaningful equity in a company reshaping a trillion dollar market Define what an AI-native practice looks like for the next decade

IDEAL CANDIDATE

You're an entrepreneur who moves the business through risk. You've supervised attorneys, ran a practice, and shipped client work at a high bar. You're tired of hourly billing, opaque processes, and the cultural ceiling on how fast law can move. You want to redefine this trillion dollar market. You're excited to jam in a room with engineers and product. You'll camp out with them to perfect the AI. When a customer needs work over the finish line, you're the one pulling the team in to deliver. You believe customer experience compounds and you protect it like an asset. You’re excited to be the face of the firm. You're ready to show up at founder events, conferences, and podcasts, and build a personal brand that drives demand.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

First 30 Days: The practice is up and running, engagement and supervision workflows are live, and you're signing off on client work product. Months 3-6: A small attorney team is hired and ramped, review playbooks are documented, and quality and turnaround standards are consistently met. Year 1: Arceus is the recognized AI-native firm for emerging companies. You've built a team that operates at startup pace and a product moat that your playbooks made possible.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead the legal entity & own professional responsibility: Serve as the managing attorney with independent professional judgment over all legal work; set quality and review standards and approve work product before it reaches clients. Define the next category of legal AI: Help set the standards, service model, and product experience for what an AI-native practice looks like. Shape the AI product: Partner with our CEO, product, engineering teams to improve the platform; translate your judgment and review playbooks into software that makes the process faster and more accurate over time. Participate in driving our product roadmap. Build & supervise the team: Hire, mentor, and supervise reviewing attorneys and develop the review playbooks that train and improve the platform. Define the culture that sets the pace for the future of law. Shape legal and growth strategy: Help define the direction of the practice, including which services to offer, which client segments and practice areas to pursue, how to sequence growth, and the right operating and staffing model as we expand. Drive the scale-up of the business: Partner with our CEO and Operations Lead on the operating plan, capacity, and hiring roadmap to grow volume without compromising quality. Collaborate with outside counsel: Work with outside counsel on structuring, regulatory, and compliance questions, and translate their guidance into how the practice runs day to day. Own compliance, ethics, and risk: Ensure adherence to the rules of professional conduct, confidentiality, conflicts, and licensing/UPL requirements as the company grows across jurisdictions. Drive demand: Show up at founder events, conferences, and podcasts. Build a strong personal brand on social with our marketing team. Help us capture mindshare while the window is open. Hit the SLA: Establish operating procedures and a culture that meet our turnaround commitments. If the team can't deliver, you must deliver. Customer experience always comes first.

QUALIFICATIONS

J.D. and active bar membership in good standing in California 7-10+ years practicing law, including supervising attorneys or running a practice or team Experience in the emerging companies and venture capital (EC/VC) space, advising startups, founders, and/or venture-backed companies Experience in corporate, commercial, transactional, contract law Experience building or scaling a practice from an early stage Comfort working with technology and AI-assisted workflows Strong grounding in professional responsibility and legal ethics Excellent judgment and written communication, and the ability to set and hold a quality bar

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Competitive base salary commensurate with experience: $250,000 - $400,000 A top-of-market equity stake in the company Health, dental, and vision coverage; unlimited PTO #J-18808-Ljbffr Arceus