Legal Counsel, Subcontracts & Supply Chain

Hermeus•Washington, DC

2d•$170,000 - $225,000

About The Position

Hermeus is a venture-backed defense aviation company focused on rapid prototyping and building high-speed aircraft. As the company expands, we are seeking a Legal Counsel, Subcontracts & Supply Chain to manage subcontracting processes, translating prime contract terms into executable subcontracts for our supply base. This role requires working in a high-volume, fast-paced environment where initiative and ownership are valued. The Legal Counsel will serve as the legal partner to the subcontracts, supply chain, and program teams, ensuring customer requirements are translated into compliant subcontract terms. This involves connecting customer-facing agreements (prime contracts, OTAs, program agreements) with the implementation side, ensuring obligations, flowdowns, and risk allocation are consistently applied from the customer down to every supplier. The role includes drafting and negotiating subcontracts and supplier agreements, as well as developing playbooks, templates, and tools to empower the supply chain and subcontracting team for independent operation.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
Active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar (with the ability to register as in-house counsel in the relevant jurisdiction if needed).
5+ years of relevant experience with a strong transactional focus on subcontracts, procurement, supply chain, or government contracts.
Direct, hands-on experience with FAR/DFARS flowdowns, certifications, and government contracting compliance.
Demonstrated ability to manage a high volume of commercial contracts work and drive deals to close on tight timelines.
Strong drafting and negotiation skills with meticulous attention to detail.
Comfort operating in a fast-moving, ambiguous, hardware-driven environment, picking up problems and figuring things out with a track record of demonstrated initiative.
Enthusiasm for aerospace and defense and Hermeus' mission.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

Draft, review, and negotiate a high volume of vendor and supplier agreements, including subcontracts, statements of work (SOWs), purchase orders (POs), master service agreements, NDAs, technical services agreements, master supply agreements, teaming agreements, and others with speed, precision, and a bias toward closing.
Connect prime contract obligations to the subcontract side, ensuring required flowdowns, certifications, and risk terms pass through from customer to supplier.
Map and manage FAR, DFARS, and OTA flowdown requirements across the supply base, and build the systems that keep flowdowns accurate as programs evolve.
Partner directly with subcontracts, supply chain, program management, and engineering and finance teams to unblock and accelerate deals.
Build and continuously improve user-friendly playbooks, templates, fallback positions, and self-service tools so business partners can navigate routine contracting and compliance independently.
Develop and maintain Hermeus' representations and certifications to government and commercial counterparties in close coordination with the broader Legal and Supply Chain teams.
Partner with trade compliance on export controls (ITAR/EAR), sanctions, customs, and sourcing-restriction requirements (e.g., supply chain provenance and prohibited-source rules) as applied to subcontracts.
Provide clear, pragmatic, business-focused risk analysis and recommendations to program leads and company leadership.
Support effective dispute resolution with suppliers.
Establish, refine, and scale legal processes and SOPs from the ground up to support company growth.