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About the Role

As the first in-house lawyer, you will own the entire legal function as a one-person operation, working closely with outsourced counsel for specialized matters. You'll be a hands-on generalist, comfortable moving between complex technology agreements and vendor contract reviews. You'll build the legal function from the ground up at a company where the technology is everything, with real ownership, direct access to leadership, and a seat at the table for the company's most important decisions.

Responsibilities

Structure, draft, and negotiate IP-heavy commercial agreements, including technology licenses, joint development agreements, and complex partnership arrangements.
Manage and grow our patent portfolio in partnership with outside patent counsel, including filing strategy, prosecution oversight, and freedom-to-operate analysis.
Protect trade secrets and confidential information across commercial relationships, partnerships, and employee agreements.
Advise leadership on IP strategy as a core input to business and product decisions.
Lead and mature the company's compliance program, right-sized for a startup.
Own export control compliance (EAR, and ITAR where applicable) for a company operating in advanced semiconductor technology.
Own and evolve company policies on data protection, anti-corruption, and other applicable regulatory requirements, while driving training across the organization.
Prepare the company for customer and partner compliance diligence, including regulated industries.
Review, draft, and negotiate day-to-day business contracts, including MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, customer agreements, vendor and supplier contracts, partnership agreements, and employment-related documents.
Build scalable templates, playbooks, and processes that allow the business to move quickly without creating legal bottlenecks.
Determine which matters should be handled internally versus outsourced, while managing external counsel relationships and budgets.
Serve as a trusted advisor to the executive team on legal risk across the business.
Support corporate matters, including financings, board support, and equity administration, in partnership with outside counsel.

Requirements

JD and active bar membership in good standing.
5+ years of legal experience spanning commercial, IP, and compliance matters.
Direct experience structuring and negotiating technology licensing agreements, including familiarity with royalty models, field-of-use restrictions, and IP indemnification.
Experience building or leading compliance programs, including export controls (EAR/ITAR).
Strong commercial contracts background with sound judgment on market standards, negotiation priorities, and dealbreakers.
Comfortable operating independently—you can prioritize effectively, make decisions with imperfect information, and know when to engage outside counsel.
Startup mindset: pragmatic, low ego, and focused on helping the business find a path forward rather than simply saying no.
U.S. citizenship is required due to the nature of our technology, customers, and export control requirements.

Skills

IP Strategy & Protection
Commercial Agreements
Technology Licensing
Joint Development Agreements
Partnership Arrangements
Patent Portfolio Management
Freedom-to-Operate Analysis
Trade Secret Protection
Compliance Program Management
Export Controls (EAR, ITAR)
Data Protection
Anti-corruption
Commercial Contracts
MSAs
SOWs
NDAs
Customer Agreements
Vendor Contracts
Supplier Contracts
Employment Agreements
Corporate Matters
Financings
Board Support
Equity Administration

Experience Level

5+ years of legal experience

Education Level

JD and active bar membership

Salary/Compensations

$210,000 to $290,000

Benefits

Meaningful equity
Comprehensive benefits
401K match
Company-paid benefits
Equity program
Paid parental leave
Flexibility

About the Company

Efficient is developing the world’s most energy-efficient general-purpose computer processor.
Efficient’s patented technology uses 100x less energy than state of the art commercially available ultra-low-power processors and is programmable using standard high-level programming languages and AI/ML frameworks.
This level of efficiency makes perpetual, pervasive intelligence possible: run AI/ML continuously on a AA battery for 5-10 years.
Our platform’s unprecedented level of efficiency enables IoT devices to intelligently capture and curate first-party data to drive the next major computing revolution.