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Head of Legal / General Counsel

Etched· Operations
Apply on company site
San JoseFull-timePosted 2w ago

About the role

Head of Legal / General Counsel to lead and scale Etched’s legal function, own legal strategy and execution, and supervise preparations for an IPO. Hands-on leadership to build a high-performing team, manage negotiations, and establish processes, automation, and operating standards to accelerate the company.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and grow our legal team: hire exceptional people, develop existing team members, and establish clear ownership, priorities, and performance expectations.
  • Build consistent legal practices across the company, including intake and prioritization, contract templates, negotiation playbooks, approval thresholds, and escalation paths.
  • Establish and manage service-level agreements (SLAs) for contract reviews and other legal requests. Track turnaround times, backlog, and outside counsel spend, and use those measures to improve execution without compromising quality.
  • Automate repeatable legal work, including contract workflows, document generation, and knowledge management. Apply AI tools thoughtfully, with appropriate human review and protections for confidential information.
  • Lead legal preparation for an IPO in partnership with Finance, the executive team, and outside counsel. Build the corporate governance, board and committee processes, disclosure practices, and legal infrastructure needed to operate as a public company.
  • Personally lead complex commercial negotiations, including customer agreements, supplier and manufacturing agreements, IP licenses, and strategic partnerships. Work directly with engineering, production, finance, and commercial teams to understand the underlying technical and business requirements.
  • Advise the executive team and board on financings, strategic transactions, equity compensation, corporate governance, and material legal risks. Give clear recommendations that account for both legal exposure and business objectives.
  • Oversee employment, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, and disputes across our U.S. and international operations, drawing on specialist counsel where appropriate.
  • Own the legal budget and outside counsel relationships. Decide what to build in-house, hold external partners to high standards, and ensure spending produces clear value.

Qualifications

  • Substantial experience advising high-growth technology companies, in-house or at a leading law firm.
  • A track record of hiring, developing, and leading high-performing legal teams.
  • Deep expertise in commercial negotiations, corporate governance, and financings.
  • Experience building legal processes that improve speed and quality without adding bureaucracy.
  • Strong business judgment, concise communication, and a willingness to personally own difficult work across a broad scope.
  • A JD and active bar admission; California preferred.

Skills

Required:Legal leadershipCommercial negotiationsCorporate governance & financings
Nice to have:IPO readiness

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage
  • $500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits
  • Housing subsidy of $2,500 per month for those living within walking distance of the office
  • Relocation support for those moving to San Jose (Santana Row)
  • Various wellness benefits covering fitness, mental health, and more
  • Daily lunch and dinner in our office
  • Unlimited compute budget subject to ROI justification
Last updated Oct 8, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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About Etched

Etched is building frontier inference clusters: co-designs chips, racks, software and manufacturing to push the pareto frontier for AI hardware.

frontier inference clustersAI hardwarechipsrackssoftwaremanufacturingparto frontier
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