Deputy General Counsel, Product and IP

Tools for Humanity•San Francisco, CA

4d•$319,000 - $375,000•Onsite

About The Position

Tools for Humanity (TFH) is seeking a Deputy General Counsel, Product & Intellectual Property to lead and scale the company’s product counseling and intellectual property legal functions globally. This role is central to addressing novel legal and technological questions in areas such as digital identity, biometrics, blockchain, decentralized finance, online safety, privacy-preserving technologies, and the intersection of AI and human verification. The successful candidate will act as the senior legal advisor to product, engineering, AI, and security teams throughout the product lifecycle, guiding the company in launching innovative products while managing legal, regulatory, safety, and reputational risks. Additionally, this role will oversee the company’s global intellectual property strategy, encompassing patents, trademarks, copyrights, licensing, open source, and IP risk management. The position demands exceptional judgment, comfort with ambiguity, and the ability to balance legal rigor with practical business execution in a fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate will possess deep product counseling expertise, strong strategic instincts, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to build scalable systems and teams.

Requirements

10–20+ years of experience as a product, technology, intellectual property, or privacy attorney at a leading law firm and in senior in-house legal roles supporting consumer technology or highly regulated technology platforms
Significant experience advising on complex product counseling issues
Strong intellectual property background, including substantial experience with patents, trademarks, copyright, licensing, and open source
Experience supporting globally distributed products and navigating multi-jurisdictional legal and regulatory issues
Ability to engage deeply with technical teams and understand complex systems, architectures, and product tradeoffs
Strong business judgment and ability to balance legal risk, user experience, operational realities, and product velocity
Comfortable operating in highly ambiguous and rapidly evolving legal environments where clear precedent may not exist
Proven ability to build trusted relationships across engineering, product, research, security, executive leadership, and external stakeholders
Excellent communicator capable of translating highly technical or legal concepts into practical, business-oriented guidance
Experience building or scaling legal processes, teams, and operational frameworks in fast-growing organizations
A collaborative, low-ego working style
Juris Doctor from a top-tier law school
Membership in at least one U.S. state bar
Ability to work in-person from San Francisco, CA

Responsibilities

Serve as the senior legal partner to product, engineering, hardware, cryptography, and design teams across the development and launch lifecycle of TFH products and infrastructure
Advise on complex legal and regulatory issues relating to digital identity systems, biometrics, decentralized finance products, blockchain infrastructure, consumer protection, privacy, online safety, platform governance, financial regulations, and AI-enabled systems.
Partner closely with product and engineering leaders to assess legal and reputational risks associated with new features, products, experiments, and business models
Help design practical, scalable approaches for launching products globally across diverse and evolving regulatory environments
Translate complex legal and policy considerations into clear, actionable guidance for technical and business stakeholders
Lead the company’s global intellectual property strategy across patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing, and open source matters
Advise on IP protection strategies for software, hardware, AI systems, cryptography, identity technologies, and consumer products
Manage IP risk assessments, freedom-to-operate analyses, licensing matters, infringement claims, and disputes
Partner with engineering and research teams to identify and protect strategic innovations and inventions
Oversee outside counsel relationships relating to IP
Develop scalable internal processes relating to invention capture, open source governance, brand protection, and IP compliance
Build and scale a high-performing global product and IP legal function capable of supporting a rapidly evolving technology platform
Develop playbooks, review frameworks, escalation models, and self-service guidance that increase organizational velocity while maintaining appropriate legal oversight
Improve cross-functional processes, tooling, and operational systems to support efficient product reviews and launches
Mentor and develop attorneys and legal professionals across the team
Partner effectively across legal specialties, including commercial, privacy, regulatory, employment, litigation, security, and corporate legal functions