General Counsel

Antares•Los Angeles, CA

14d•$190,000 - $300,000•Onsite

About The Position

Antares is seeking its first General Counsel, a seasoned legal leader responsible for establishing and managing the company's legal and compliance framework. This role is crucial for supporting the company's growth from prototyping to full-rate production and commercial deployment of nuclear microreactors. The General Counsel will act as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to the CEO and executive team, overseeing all legal and compliance functions. This involves close collaboration with various departments, including engineering, operations, finance, supply chain, business development, and people teams, to ensure rapid execution within the appropriate legal and regulatory landscape. The ideal candidate will possess extensive experience in government contracting, nuclear or regulated environments, and export controls, and will thrive in the dynamic and fast-paced setting of an early-stage, mission-driven company. This is a leadership position that requires not only legal expertise but also a proactive, business-oriented approach.

Requirements

JD from an accredited law school and active bar membership
12 + years of legal experience
Experience in 2 out of the 3 areas of expertise: government contracts (FAR/DFARS) and government-funded programs; building or leading an export controls compliance program (ITAR and/or EAR); commercial contracts and regulatory matters.
Demonstrated experience managing government contracts (FAR/DFARS) and government-funded programs
Hands-on experience building or leading an export controls compliance program (ITAR and/or EAR)
Experience with commercial contracts and regulatory matters

Nice To Haves

Experience as General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel at a high-growth technology or deep tech company
Deep familiarity with NRC licensing processes, DOE contracting vehicles (e.g. CRADA, WFO), and nuclear materials regulations
Experience supporting board governance, venture financings, and M&A transactions
Broad experience in a range of legal domains across contracts, intellectual property, export compliance, and others
Proven success in a start-up environment or similar, with the ability to manage ambiguity and wear many different hats

Responsibilities

Serve as Antares’ first in-house legal hire and primary legal partner to leadership, engineering, operations, finance, supply chain, business development, and people teams.
Support government contracts and government-funded programs, including proposal review, flow-down analysis, contract negotiation, compliance obligations, data rights, deliverables, reporting requirements, and program execution risk.
Serve as the primary legal point of contact for DOE, DoD, and other federal agency relationships and contractual obligations.
Draft, review, negotiate, and maintain a broad range of commercial agreements, including NDAs, vendor agreements, services agreements, consulting agreements, manufacturing and supply agreements, software/SaaS agreements, testing agreements, teaming agreements, and strategic partnership agreements.
Provide legal counsel on nuclear regulatory matters, including NRC licensing, DOE regulatory frameworks, nuclear materials handling, and compliance with applicable federal and state nuclear safety requirements.
Build, own, and continuously improve Antares’ export controls compliance program, including ITAR, EAR, and other applicable regimes, including policies, procedures, training, technology-control plans, visitor controls, deemed export processes, data handling practices, and escalation workflows.
Manage and scope external counsel across specialized areas including export controls, contracts, nuclear regulatory, corporate, employment, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, and financing matters.
Define the company’s legal infrastructure and procedures, including document retention, signature authority, contract lifecycle management, legal intake, entity management, board support, and corporate governance processes.
Create scalable contract templates, negotiation playbooks, approval workflows, fallback positions, and internal guidance to reduce legal bottlenecks as Antares grows.
Own day-to-day legal support across the company, providing practical, business-oriented advice that enables rapid execution while appropriately managing legal, regulatory, and reputational risk.