Corporate Legal Director (R6494)

• Serve as a primary legal partner to Product, Engineering, Program Management, Customer Success, Information Security and Business Development across the full product lifecycle for Hivemind and Shield AI’s other software offerings, from feature design and data use through go-to-market and customer-facing terms.

• Advise on legal and regulatory issues specific to AI, autonomy, data use, software and dual-use technology, including IP ownership, training data and model rights, third-party and foundation-model use, output ownership, and how commercial IP terms interact with government data rights.

• Structure, draft and negotiate software license agreements, SDK and developer terms, end user license agreements and partner agreements that support Hivemind’s growing ecosystem, including OEM and platform integration, reseller and aggregator, joint development, technology licensing and data-sharing arrangements.

• Build and run scalable product counsel processes, including feature and launch reviews, legal intake, playbooks, standard positions and contractual fallbacks, and self-serve guidance that lets Sales, Product and Customer Success resolve common questions without legal escalation.

• Partner with Trade Compliance on export classification and controls (ITAR/EAR) at the point of product decision, and with Government Contracts on product licensing terms, DFARS data rights, cybersecurity requirements and flow-downs.

• Coordinate with IP counsel on invention disclosures, patent and trade secret protection, freedom-to-operate questions, and protecting Shield AI’s most sensitive technology in commercial and government-facing deals.

• Coordinate with IP counsel on invention disclosures, patent and trade secret protection, freedom-to-operate questions, and protecting Shield AI’s most sensitive technology in commercial and government-facing deals.

• Provide fast, practical legal review of marketing and communications activities, including campaigns, product claims, press releases, social media, trade shows and events, sponsorships, contests and promotions, and customer and partner case studies.

• Partner with Marketing, Communications, Security and Trade Compliance so that public content about government customers, programs and technical capabilities is cleared appropriately, and build an efficient, AI-assisted marketing review process that scales with the business.

• Help lead Shield AI’s AI governance program, including supporting the AI Governance committee, maintaining the AI use-case risk rubric and inventory, and developing policies, standards and controls for both AI features in our products and the AI tools our teammates use internally.

• Translate evolving AI frameworks into practical requirements, including the EU AI Act, the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, U.S. federal and state AI laws, and U.S. Department of Defense policy on responsible AI and autonomy in weapon systems.

• Advise IT, Security and enterprise teams on AI vendor and model-provider agreements, AI tool procurement, data processing terms and agentic AI use cases.

• Develop and run key parts of the privacy program, including privacy-by-design reviews, privacy notices, data processing agreements, cross-border data transfers, data mapping and data subject requests, under GDPR/UK GDPR, CCPA/CPRA and the laws of other countries where Shield AI operates.

• Partner with PX and IT on employee and candidate data, data sensitivity labeling and data governance across enterprise systems, and develop standard responses to recurring customer AI, privacy and security questionnaires.

• Partner with PX and IT on employee and candidate data, data sensitivity labeling and data governance across enterprise systems, and develop standard responses to recurring customer AI, privacy and security questionnaires.

• Help prepare the Legal team and the business for larger company maturity and scrutiny by designing, documenting and putting into practice the technology and software development policies, processes and controls a public company is expected to have.

• Build and scale Shield AI’s open source software compliance program, including policy, intake and approval workflows, license review (e.g., GPL, LGPL, AGPL, Apache, MIT), software bill of materials (SBOM) and software composition analysis tooling w

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting a large, fast-growing private company through multiple phases of late venture to public company or larger private company maturity.

• Experience in AI/ML, autonomy, robotics, aerospace/aviation or dual-use technologies, and familiarity with defense and government contracting requirements such as ITAR/EAR, DFARS data rights, FedRAMP and CMMC.

• Privacy or AI governance certification, such as CIPP/US, CIPP/E or AIGP.

• Experience with M&A due diligence and post-close integration, including integrating acquired products and teams.

• Experience with international operations across Europe, the Middle East or Asia-Pacific.

• Experience building and mentoring legal teams and deploying AI-enabled legal tools and processes.

Required Qualifictions:

• J.D. from an accredited law school; active membership in at least one U.S. state bar.

• 12+ years of legal experience, including substantial in-house experience as product counsel at a high-growth technology, software, AI, aerospace or defense company; experience at a leading law firm is a plus.

• Deep experience in product counseling and technology transactions, including software licensing and distribution across on-premises, SaaS, embedded, OEM and channel models, and strategic technology partnerships.

• Demonstrated experience building or running privacy and AI governance programs, with working knowledge of GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, the EU AI Act and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.

• Hands-on experience building or running an open source software compliance program and drafting technology policies, such as acceptable use and AI use policies.

• Experience advising marketing and communications teams on advertising, promotions and public claims.

• Working knowledge of employment law and experience managing litigation and disputes with outside counsel.

• Executive presence and communication skills to advise C-suite executives and senior leaders and to represent the company credibly with external partners and customers.

• Highly action-oriented, with a track record of managing many projects and workflows at once and delivering quickly on urgent and frequently shifting priorities.

• Comfort operating at both strategic and tactical levels in a lean, high-tempo environment, with a practical, risk-based approach that enables the business.