Head of Legal / Deputy General Counsel
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 on 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 who understands open-source software, AI, and nonprofit institutions and can establish legal frameworks that protect the Foundation’s mission, enable ecosystem participation, and support long-term sustainability. A key focus is the changing legal and regulatory landscape for AI agents, especially when they access sensitive data, interact with third-party systems, or act on users’ behalf. The role will help anticipate differing requirements for data access, permissions, privacy, and agent autonomy across users, enterprise customers, industries, and jurisdictions, and turn those complexities into practical product guidance and scalable legal frameworks. The successful candidate will bring deep IP and technology legal expertise, sound judgment on emerging AI regulation, data governance, and product risk, and the ability to work autonomously, manage outside counsel, and balance legal rigor with innovation.
Requirements
- JD or equivalent qualifying legal degree and admission to practice in a relevant jurisdiction, preferably the US.
- 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
- International legal experience, particularly with cross-border contracts, privacy, or international IP protection.
- Background in open-source foundations, AI and developer-platform companies, cybersecurity and infrastructure companies, technology-focused nonprofits, or law firms specializing in IP, technology transactions, AI regulation, privacy, or nonprofit law.
Responsibilities
- Own IP strategy for 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 IP governance principles that balance ecosystem openness with protection of the project’s integrity.
- Advise on the legal and regulatory landscape for AI agents accessing sensitive data, interacting with third-party systems, and executing 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 variations in security requirements, data access restrictions, and compliance obligations across customers, users, industries, and jurisdictions into practical product guidance.
- Help define legal and policy frameworks for agent autonomy, delegated authority, data ownership, and accountability across interconnected systems.
- Monitor emerging AI governance, privacy, cybersecurity, and data-sovereignty requirements and help ensure products, architecture, and ecosystem standards can adapt.
- Advise on allocation of legal responsibility among the Foundation, developers, deploying organizations, and end users.
- Draft, review, and negotiate strategic partnerships, sponsorships, grants, vendor agreements, software licenses, and other commercial contracts.
- Build scalable contract templates and processes and advise on data rights, liability, indemnification, licensing, and technology risks.
- Support partnerships with technology companies, AI labs, cloud providers, and international organizations while preserving Foundation 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 IP 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, turning complex legal issues into actionable recommendations.
- Build the Foundation’s legal infrastructure, including policies, compliance processes, contract management, and outside counsel relationships.
- Monitor legal developments affecting open-source AI, agent identity, digital ownership, autonomous systems, and decentralized technology ecosystems.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
