Legal Operations Coordinator

Legal Operations Coordinator

Huntington Beach, California, United States

About Mach Industries

Founded in 2023, Mach Industries is a rapidly growing defense technology company focused on developing next-generation autonomous defense platforms. At the core of our mission is the commitment to delivering scalable, decentralized defense systems that enhance the strategic capabilities of the United States and its allies. With a workforce of approximately 350 employees, we operate with startup agility and ambition.

Our vision is to redefine the future of warfare through cutting-edge manufacturing, innovation at speed, and unwavering focus on national security. We are dedicated to solving the next generation of warfare with lethal systems that deter kinetic conflict and protect global security.

The Role

Mach Industries is building the next generation of defense technology at startup speed — and our legal team moves just as fast. We're looking for a Legal Operations Coordinator to be the backbone of a lean, high-output legal function supporting company operations across contracting, defense procurement in the U.S. and internationally, employment, IP, and regulatory compliance (including U.S. export controls).

You'll be the first line of defense for every request that comes into legal — triaging, tracking, and running down the information our attorneys need before a matter ever hits their desk. You'll also help us design, improve, and build out critical legal infrastructure: workflows, intake processes, contract tracking, and the legal tech stack that lets each attorney operate like fifteen. If you're looking to execute a task in a 9-5 with a fully-built playbook, this isn't the role for you. If you want to be the one who builds the playbook, keep reading.

We're an ideal fit for someone who may be light on experience as long as they are heavy on ambition and grit – whether recent grads or established paralegals or legal operations professionals — who wants outsized ownership early in their career and is energized by a new problem every day rather than the same file type on repeat.

Key Responsibilities

Be the front door to Legal.

• Own intake for all incoming legal requests across the company — contracts, NDAs, employment matters, procurement questions, IP, insurance, real estate, and compliance — and triage them to the right attorney with the right context. Some of them you will just handle yourself.
• Chase down the underlying facts, documents, and business context an attorney needs before they start drafting or reviewing, so lawyers spend their time lawyering, not gathering.
• Track every open matter to resolution; nothing falls through the cracks because you're watching the whole board.
• Drive bigger picture legal projects and take ownership of the process from start to finish.

Build the infrastructure as you go.

• Stand up and continuously improve legal team processes and workflows — intake forms, matter tracking, contract lifecycle management, approval chains, document retention. If it exists, make it better. If it doesn't exist, build it.
• Research, evaluate, and help implement legal tech tools (CLM, e-signature, matter management, AI-assisted contract review, etc.) that let a small team operate at the highest capacity. Leverage AI at every level in coordination with Mach's operations engineering team to maximize impact, efficiency, transparency, and quality of output in our workflows.
• Maintain templates, playbooks, and knowledge repositories so institutional knowledge doesn't live only in people's inboxes.

Support substantive legal work.

• Assist with first-pass review, redlining, and drafting of routine contracts (NDAs, vendor agreements, teaming agreements) under attorney supervision, with room to grow into more complex agreements.
• Conduct legal and regulatory research to support attorneys working on export control, government contracting, and corporate matters.
• Prepare, organize, and maintain records including contracts, corporate documents, licenses, and compliance filings.

Partner across the company.

• Build strong working relationships with Finance, People, Business Development, Security, Engineering, Operations, Recruiting, etc., so legal is a fast, trusted partner rather than a bottleneck.
• Coordinate with outside counsel on routine matters and filings.

Required Qualifications

• Some experience or evidence of interest in a legal, paralegal, legal operations, or compliance role — in-house experience at a startup, government contractor, or regulated industry is a strong plus, but not required.
• A genuine self-starter who sees ambiguity as an opportunity, not an obstacle — you'd rather build the process than wait for someone to hand you one.
• Sharp organizational instincts: you can track a dozen open threads at once without dropping any of them.
• Excitement about legal tech and AI more broadly — you're the person who researches a new tool on your own time because you think it'll make the team faster.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; you can extract the right information from a non-lawyer stakeholder without making them feel interrogated.
• High attention to detail — this is a company where contract terms and compliance details carry real regulatory weight.
• Discretion with sensitive and controlled information; ability to obtain and maintain any required U.S. government clearance or comply with export control access restrictions (ITAR/EAR), as applicable.
• Bachelor's degree required; paralegal certificate a plus but not required.
• A genuine desire to grow with the legal function — this role is designed to expand in scope and responsibility as the team and company scale.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting an in-house legal team, law firm, government contractor, defense company, or other highly regulated industry.
• Familiarity with contract lifecycle management (CLM) platforms, matter management tools, e-signature solutions, and workflow automation systems such as Ironclad, DocuSign, Jira, or similar technologies.
• Exposure to U.S. government contracting, federal procurement processes, defense acquisition programs, or public sector contracting environments.
• Working knowledge of regulatory compliance frameworks, including export controls (ITAR/EAR), data privacy, corporate governance, or licensing requirements.
• Experience reviewing, drafting, or redlining routine agreements such as NDAs, vendor contracts, consulting agreements, or teaming agreements.
• Demonstrated ability to build, improve, and document operational processes, workflows, playbooks, or knowledge management systems.
• Strong analytical and research skills with the ability to synthesize complex legal, regulatory, or business information into actionable recommendations.

Additional Requirements

• Available to work extended hours and weekends as needed

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Pay Range

$95,000 - $125,000 USD

At Mach, we believe that compensation is more than just a paycheck. It's a comprehensive package designed to reward the time, skills, and expertise you bring to our team. We are committed to offering competitive compensation that is equitable, transparent, and aligned with market trends.

Key Elements of Our Compensation Philosophy:

• Competitive Salaries : We continuously research market rates to ensure our salaries are competitive with those in our industry and geographic location.
• Performance-Based Incentives : Our bonus structure is tied to both individual and company performance, creating a win-win scenario that motivates our team members to excel.
• Equity Participation : We offer stock options or equity to employees, ensuring that you share in the success and growth of the company.
• Benefit Packages : Our benefits include healthcare, dental and vision plans, retirement savings, and paid time off, because we understand that your well-being extends beyond the office.
• Professional Development : We allocate funds for continuing education, training, and career growth.
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