Legal Counsel

Valon Tech•New York, NY

10d•$170,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

You will be the third member of Valon’s technology legal team and will help build the legal foundation for the AI-native operating system for regulated finance. This is not a traditional in-house support role. You’ll operate as a true partner to product, engineering, compliance, and leadership as we scale a system of record in one of the most complex and tightly regulated industries in the world. This is a high-ownership generalist role. You’ll manage and prioritize a large volume of matters, shift between fast execution and meticulous precision, and develop judgment on how to balance both in environments where correctness is non-negotiable. We’re looking for a junior attorney from a top law firm who wants to do real legal and operational work years earlier than Big Law typically allows. You will move between structured, detail-heavy workflows and open-ended, first-principles problems. Your work will span commercial negotiations, product and AI-related regulatory analysis, corporate governance, and cross-functional legal strategy. The surface area is unusually broad for this stage in a legal career—and intentionally so. In a company defined by complexity, your ability to learn quickly, synthesize ambiguity, and build durable systems will matter more than years of experience. If you’re motivated by responsibility, energized by difficult problems, and excited to help architect the legal infrastructure of a high-velocity technology company, you’ll thrive here.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (JD) degree (or foreign equivalent) from a leading law school.
Admitted in New York, or eligible to waive in.
~1–4 years at a top law firm with substantive exposure to corporate, commercial, or complex regulatory matters (ideally a mix).
Exceptional written and verbal communication with internal and external stakeholders.
Strong legal drafting skills and ability to articulate business and risk implications clearly.
Demonstrated ability to interpret complex statutes, regulations, and supervisory guidance.
Researcher with a bias toward actionable synthesis, not academic analysis.
Highly organized with strong attention to detail—especially in precision-critical contexts.
Comfort with financial concepts necessary to evaluate commercial terms.
Thrives in high-ownership environments with minimal bureaucracy.
Comfortable balancing urgency with uncompromising precision in regulated domains.
Energized by ambiguity, complexity, and solving hard problems with smart people.
Views legal as a product-enablement function, not a back-office gatekeeper.
Enjoys fast pace, honest feedback, and a culture that rewards initiative and impact.

Responsibilities

Commercial: Own negotiation and drafting for high-impact commercial agreements, including multi-million-dollar enterprise partnerships for ValonOS. Build contracting processes and operational guardrails that enable the company to scale with both speed and precision.
Regulatory/Compliance: Lead complex regulatory and compliance initiatives from design through implementation. Become a trusted advisor on the frameworks governing AI, data, and financial products. Monitor evolving federal and state law to ensure Valon remains ahead of a rapidly shifting landscape. Develop training and compliance programs that scale across teams. Translate emerging AI, data, and mortgage-servicing regulations into product and operational requirements—directly shaping how Valon builds and deploys the system of record for regulated finance.
Corporate and Other: Work directly with senior leadership on board governance, financings, audits, and strategic projects that influence Valon’s trajectory. Drive cross-functional legal projects as business needs evolve in a fast-growing environment.