VP of Legal

About II

Intelligent Internet is building sovereign AI from first principles. Open-source, for everyone.

Our mission is to increase humanity's intelligence. Our research, our agent, and our book The Last Economy are all part of that work. All of it open. All of it for everyone.

AI for the people, by the people.

We want builders who feel it too. People who ship, who work hard, who care about getting this right.

Bring your curiosity, your craft, and your conviction.

Headquartered in London.

The Role

We’re hiring a practical, service-led VP of Legal who keeps velocity high and risk low, builds simple systems that scale, and partners with engineers and researchers. You will make Legal AI-first through automated workflows, training, and clear guardrails, so teams can ship fast without avoidable risk or bureaucracy.

Scope: Lead legal for AI, crypto/web3, employment, corporate, fundraising, data, and IP.

Objective: Build and execute lightweight, scalable, AI-first legal systems that keep velocity high and risk low in a deep-tech startup.

The Responsibilities

Strategy & Leadership

• Translate company strategy into a quarterly legal plan (owners, SLAs, decision rights).

• Prioritise work against risk and business impact.

• Build and lead the legal function; manage and coordinate outside counsel.

AI

• Summarise UK/EU/US AI regulatory changes into short notes, checklists, or FAQs the teams can actually use.

• Review key AI initiatives on request to confirm they meet baseline legal and compliance expectations while keeping delivery fast.

Crypto / Web3 / Blockchain

• Advise on token, staking, and reward mechanics, focused on public-benefit and regulatory alignment.

• Maintain a regulatory map across UK/EU/US (FCA, MiCA, SEC/CFTC and similar).

• Design and maintain crypto/web3 policies, disclosures, and monitoring where appropriate.

Corporate, Governance & Fundraising

• Maintain board hygiene, cap table, equity and incentive schemes, and entity structuring.

• Support fundraising (equity rounds, SAFEs, structured/token-related elements) and investor processes.

• Ensure accurate and compliant disclosures to investors and relevant authorities.

Employment & People

• Advise on UK & US employment law across policies, hiring, restructures, investigations, and terminations.

• Build scalable, consistent employment frameworks for org growth.

Commercial & Partnerships

• Build a contracts engine: templates, playbooks, fallback positions, and AI-assisted redlining.

• Target <5 business days median review time on standard contracts; <24h on low-risk paper.

Data Protection & Safety

• Own GDPR / UK GDPR compliance, including DPIAs, RoPAs, DSRs, and incident response.

• Oversee cross-border transfer tools, retention/deletion schedules, and privacy-by-design practices.

IP, Licensing & Open Source AI

• Protect core IP (patents, trade secrets, brand) while enabling open collaboration.

• Manage inbound/outbound licensing, contributor agreements, and provenance/attribution policies.

• Help define an OSPO-style function for Open Source AI.

Investigations & Disputes

• Lead sensitive internal investigations across jurisdictions.

• Manage pre-litigation strategy and outside counsel within agreed SLAs and budgets.

Legal Ops & AI-First Systems

• Deploy AI across intake, triage, contract review, policy drafting, and knowledge management.

• Publish simple dashboards (intake → decision time, risk flags, outside counsel spend, policy coverage).

• Build and maintain a searchable, provenance-aware legal knowledge base.

The Requirements

Must Have

• 12+ years PQE (mix of top-tier firm and in-house roles).

• UK-qualified lawyer (Solicitor/Barrister).

• US-qualified lawyer (e.g. NY, CA, DC).

• Experience advising AI/ML or deep-tech companies (understanding of model/data risk, even if not embedded in product).

• Significant crypto/web3/blockchain regulatory experience (FCA, MiCA, SEC/CFTC or equivalent regimes).

• Strong UK & US employment law experience in scaling organisations.

• Proven support for startup fundraising (equity rounds, SAFEs, capital formation, investor processes).

• Track record designing legal systems/playbooks with measurable outcomes (e.g. faster cycle times, reduced external spend).

• Experience leading internal investigations across cultures and time zones.

• Clean compliance/audit history.

Nice to Have

• IP and Open Source AI licensing for software/models.

• AI governance and safety frameworks.

• Experience with export controls/sanctions.

• Sectoral data rules (e.g. financial or health data).

• Prior experience in a frontier AI or crypto/web3 startup.

The Right Person

• Thrives in fast-paced and high-growth companies.

• Pragmatic, business-oriented, and comfortable prioritising.

• You aim high, embrace challenge, and always do what’s right.

• Strong on systems and guardrails, not interested in micromanaging product.

• Using AI tools in your own workflow and able to champion adoption across the org.

• Trusted by technical teams; communicates clearly in all scenarios.

• Comfortable in ambiguity and fast-moving environments.

• Tech-savvy/human first and eager to learn new technology and practices.

• Ability to work individually and collaboratively within a team environment.

• A clear and thoughtful communicator.

• Ability to contribute to building new processes and systems.

• Detail-oriented, intentional, and analytical with exceptional critical thinking/reasoning skills.

• Curious, tenacious, willing to learn, and keen to grow.

Our Culture

It's open. It's distributed. It's for everyone. Introducing the Intelligent Internet. A new paradigm for AI that democratizes access, fosters collaboration, and aligns technology with human values.

Here, everyone has ownership. You'll have space to stretch your skills, try bold ideas, and contribute to the mission from day one.

It starts with you.