General Counsel

Ricursive Intelligence•Palo Alto, CA

About The Position

Ricursive Intelligence is hiring its first in-house lawyer to protect the company’s technology and trade secrets while helping its partnerships and other business activities move forward. The role will build the legal function from the ground up, advise the founders and board directly, personally handle consequential negotiations and decisions, and engage outside counsel when specialist expertise is needed. The scope and title will be calibrated to experience; the General Counsel title is intended for candidates who have led a legal function or held senior law firm partner roles. This is an early-stage, small-team environment in which legal playbooks, templates, and processes are still being defined. The General Counsel will advise company leadership and the board on legal risk and strategy; negotiate partnerships, joint development agreements, and other technology and infrastructure arrangements; develop IP, trade secret, export-control, and trade-compliance programs; advise on model and research releases; lead governance and corporate legal work; oversee employment matters and outside counsel; and establish efficient legal processes.

Requirements

JD and active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction; California is preferred.
10 or more years of legal experience at a high-growth technology company and/or a leading law firm.
Deep experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial and technology agreements.
Hands-on experience with national security regulation of advanced semiconductor or AI chip technology, such as EAR export controls, deemed exports, CFIUS foreign investment review, or protection of controlled technical data and trade secrets from foreign threats.
Clear, concise judgment and the ability to turn complex legal issues into practical, decisive advice.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience as a general counsel or head of legal, or as the first lawyer at a fast-scaling startup.
Experience in AI, semiconductors, hardware, or other export-controlled industries.
Experience with trade secret programs and IP licensing for technology companies.
Experience with AI-specific legal issues, including model licensing, training data, open-source release, and emerging AI regulation.
Experience advising boards on corporate governance and supporting venture financings, equity compensation, and strategic transactions.
A track record of leading and closing large, complex deals, such as multiparty strategic partnerships, major compute or supply commitments, or significant financings, from term sheet through signing.
Comfort building legal processes from scratch on a lean team.

Responsibilities

Advise the CEO, CTO, and board on material legal risks and strategy, providing clear recommendations that balance legal exposure with business goals.
Partner with the Head of Business and partnerships team to negotiate and close strategic partnerships and joint development agreements with AI and semiconductor partners.
Negotiate terms concerning design data, tools, and hardware shared by partners, as well as multiparty NDAs, compute and infrastructure contracts, and technology licenses.
Build and run the company’s IP and trade secret program, including confidentiality controls, invention assignment, and information-access policies for sensitive technology.
Own export-control and trade-compliance matters for AI and chip technology, including classifying company technology and partner data and hardware, developing technology control plans for foreign-national access, and coordinating with specialist counsel.
Advise on model and research releases, including open-weight licensing, open-source compliance, publication review, and data rights.
Lead corporate governance, board processes, equity compensation, and legal work related to future financings and strategic transactions.
Oversee employment matters in partnership with the talent team.
Manage outside counsel and the legal budget.
Build templates, playbooks, and an intake process to help the company operate quickly.