Head of Legal

ABOUT THE ROLE

As the Head of Legal at Aaru, you will build and own the full legal stack, serving as a senior partner to the founders and operational leads on the company’s most consequential decisions. You will negotiate and structure complex commercial arrangements at the intersection of artificial intelligence and enterprise software, creating a framework that scales across international jurisdictions and regulatory areas. You will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to execute legal, risk, compliance, governance, fundraising and intellectual property / patent priorities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build and scale Aaru's legal, compliance, risk and governance functions

• Structure, negotiate and close bespoke cross-jurisdictional enterprise and government agreements

• Navigate a rapidly evolving international AI regulatory environment, anticipating shifts before they impact the business

• Protect and expand Aaru's intellectual property portfolio, including by advancing the company’s patent strategy

• Collaborate across departments to develop the legal infrastructure and operations needed to support hypergrowth and reduce friction

• Support fundraising rounds and manage corporate governance in close partnership with the founders

YOU MAY BE A FIT IF

• You have 8+ years of legal experience, ideally with experience at both a leading law firm and scaling an in‑house legal function

• You have broad experience across several areas of the law, including experience in two or more of commercial, corporate, compliance, litigation, employment, privacy and IP law

• You excel at solving problems with imperfect information and enjoy leveraging your analytical creativity to surface clarity and rigor from ambiguity

• You are excited by building operations and systems that efficiently answer legal questions at scale

• You have sharp commercial instincts and can contribute directly to business development conversations, not just diligence and documentation

• You have a JD, LLB, LLM or equivalent degree and are authorized to practice law in New York or eligible to qualify as registered in‑house counsel (RIHC) in New York

STRONG CANDIDATES MAY ALSO

• Be fluent in AI law and liability, including how existing and emerging regulatory frameworks apply to AI systems at scale

• Have experience building a legal function from the ground up at an early‑stage company, with frontier technology experience being a plus

LOCATION

This role is based in New York City. Aaru is an in‑person company, working 5 days a week in office. Candidates are expected to be located within the New York City metropolitan area or open to relocation.

BENEFITS

At Aaru, we take care of our people. In addition to a competitive base salary and equity participation, we offer comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, visa sponsorship and relocation support, and various other benefits and perks.