Head of Legal / Deputy General Counsel

OpenClaw Foundation•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

The OpenClaw Foundation is seeking a Head of Legal / Deputy General Counsel to build and lead its legal function. The role advises Foundation leadership and the board across intellectual property, open-source licensing, product security, commercial contracts, nonprofit governance, and international legal matters. It is a hands-on position for a pragmatic legal leader with experience at the intersection of open-source software, AI, and nonprofit institutions. The role will establish legal frameworks that protect the Foundation’s mission, enable ecosystem participation, and support long-term sustainability. A key focus is navigating the evolving legal and regulatory landscape for AI agents, particularly as agents access sensitive data, interact with third-party systems, and act on users’ behalf. The role will anticipate how requirements related to data access, permissions, privacy, and agent autonomy differ across users, enterprise customers, industries, and jurisdictions, and translate those complexities into practical product guidance and scalable legal frameworks. The ideal candidate brings deep intellectual property and technology legal expertise, sound judgment concerning emerging AI regulation, data governance, and product risk, and the ability to work autonomously, manage outside counsel, and balance legal rigor with the pace of innovation.

Requirements

JD or equivalent qualifying legal degree and admission to practice in a relevant jurisdiction.
Typically 7+ years of relevant legal experience in-house, at a law firm, or within a nonprofit or foundation.
Strong expertise in intellectual property, software licensing, trademarks, copyright, and technology transactions.
Familiarity with open-source licensing, contributor frameworks, and software governance.
Experience advising on AI regulation, product counsel, data governance, privacy, cybersecurity, or technology risk.
Ability to navigate complex questions around data access, user permissions, agent autonomy, and responsibility across multi-party technology ecosystems.
Experience with nonprofit law, foundation governance, or tax-exempt organizations.
Excellent business judgment and communication skills, with the ability to operate independently in a fast-moving environment.
A builder mentality and willingness to create legal processes from the ground up.

Nice To Haves

Admission to practice in the United States is preferred.
International legal experience, particularly in cross-border contracts, privacy, or international intellectual property protection.
Background in open-source foundations, AI and developer-platform companies, cybersecurity and infrastructure companies, technology-focused nonprofits, or law firms specializing in intellectual property, technology transactions, AI regulation, privacy, or nonprofit law.

Responsibilities

Own intellectual property strategy across the OpenClaw codebase, brand, and ecosystem, including copyright, licensing, trademark registration, usage policies, and enforcement.
Develop contributor agreements, licensing frameworks, and guidelines for third-party integrations, derivative works, and commercial use.
Establish intellectual property governance principles that balance ecosystem openness with the Foundation’s responsibility to protect the project’s integrity.
Advise on the evolving legal and regulatory landscape governing AI agents, particularly when agents access sensitive data, interact with third-party systems, or execute actions for users.
Partner with product and engineering leadership to establish legal frameworks for agent permissions, identity, authorization, data access, and user consent across consumer, enterprise, and other deployment environments.
Translate differences in security requirements, data access restrictions, and compliance obligations across customers, end users, industries, and jurisdictions into practical product guidance.
Help define legal and policy frameworks for agent autonomy, delegated authority, data ownership, and accountability when agents access information or execute actions across interconnected systems.
Monitor emerging AI governance, privacy, cybersecurity, and data sovereignty requirements to help the Foundation’s products, architecture, and ecosystem standards adapt as regulatory expectations evolve.
Advise on legal responsibility among the Foundation, developers, deploying organizations, and end users as agents operate across different trust boundaries and regulatory environments.
Draft, review, and negotiate strategic partnerships, sponsorships, grants, vendor agreements, software licenses, and other commercial contracts.
Build scalable contract templates and processes, advising on data rights, liability, indemnification, licensing, and technology risks.
Support partnerships with technology companies, AI labs, cloud providers, and international organizations while preserving the Foundation’s neutrality.
Advise leadership and the board on nonprofit governance, fiduciary duties, organizational structure, and regulatory compliance.
Support board operations, governance policies, charitable donations, grantmaking, and tax-exempt organization requirements, as applicable.
Help maintain appropriate separation between the Foundation, affiliated entities, commercial partners, and ecosystem stakeholders.
Advise on cross-border agreements, international intellectual property protection, and trademark strategy across key jurisdictions.
Coordinate specialist counsel on privacy, data protection, AI regulation, data sovereignty, sanctions, export controls, and local compliance requirements.
Develop a practical framework for managing legal and regulatory risks as the Foundation and its global ecosystem grow.
Serve as a strategic advisor to the executive team and board, translating complex legal issues into actionable recommendations.
Build the Foundation’s legal infrastructure, including policies, compliance processes, contract management, and outside counsel relationships.
Monitor emerging legal developments affecting open-source AI, agent identity, digital ownership, autonomous systems, and decentralized technology ecosystems.