Head of Legal
- Experience
- C-Level
- Employment
- Full-time
- Company size
- Startup
Open to US only. Set where you work from to check your eligibility.
No BS summary
First dedicated legal leader for a high-growth tech company, owning commercial contracts, privacy/data protection, corporate governance, open source/IP, AI governance, and telecom/SIP issues. Must be comfortable as a hands-on team of one and able to move fast with Sales, Finance, Product, and Engineering.
Optional skills
ABOUT LIVEKIT
LiveKit is building the infrastructure layer for the voice-driven era of computing. Our platform gives developers everything they need to build, test, deploy, scale, and observe agents in production. Founded in 2021, LiveKit powers voice AI applications for OpenAI, xAI, Salesforce, Coursera, Spotify, and thousands of others, collectively facilitating billions of calls each year.
ABOUT YOU
Most legal leaders at a company our size spend their time building gates — the longer the review, the safer everyone feels. We see it differently. Legal at LiveKit exists to help us ship products and close deals faster, on the right side of the risk line. You would be our first dedicated lawyer, which means for a while you are the legal function: doing the work yourself, not handing it off — customer contracts, privacy, open source, corporate governance, and the genuinely novel questions that come with running real-time voice infrastructure for companies like OpenAI and xAI. A lot of this is unbuilt, so we are looking for someone who has done enough of it to have good instincts, and who is energized rather than daunted by a blank page.
You will thrive as Head of Legal if you
- think of legal as a way to help the business move faster, not a set of gates
- are comfortable being the whole legal function — doing the work yourself, not just managing it
- are technically curious enough to understand how the product, the data, and open source actually work
- bring structure to ambiguity and write the playbooks that let others self-serve
- have sound judgment under speed, and know which risks actually matter
The best way to impress us is to show how you would turn a thorny contract or a messy compliance question into a fast, practical "yes." 😊
ABOUT THIS ROLE
- think of legal as a way to help the business move faster, not a set of gates
- are comfortable being the whole legal function — doing the work yourself, not just managing it
- are technically curious enough to understand how the product, the data, and open source actually work
- bring structure to ambiguity and write the playbooks that let others self-serve
- have sound judgment under speed, and know which risks actually matter
The best way to impress us is to show how you would turn a thorny contract or a messy compliance question into a fast, practical "yes." 😊
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Own commercial contracting end to end — customer MSAs, order forms, DPAs, BAAs, vendor agreements, and NDAs — and build the playbooks and templates that let the GTM team move fast
- Stand up and run our privacy and data-protection program (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA) for a company built on real-time voice and media data
- Be the legal partner to Sales, Finance, Product, and Engineering — the person who helps deals close and products ship, on the right side of the risk line
- Own corporate and governance work alongside Finance — board consents, equity mechanics, and entity and cap-table hygiene
- Set our posture on the things that are specific to us: open-source licensing and IP, AI governance, and telecom/SIP regulatory questions
- Manage outside counsel surgically — decide what comes in-house, and keep spend in check
WHO YOU ARE
- You have been the first (or one of the first) in-house lawyers at a high-growth tech company, or you are a senior commercial counsel ready to own a function
- You have deep commercial-contracts experience — enterprise, usage-based, data-heavy — and the judgment to move quickly on risk
- You are fluent in privacy and data protection (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and ideally HIPAA)
- You are a builder and an operator — comfortable as a team of one, writing the playbook, and saying "yes, and here's how"
NICE TO HAVE
- Open-source licensing / IP experience, or a background in developer infrastructure, real-time/WebRTC, telephony, or AI
- Corporate, governance, and equity reps (409A, board consents), and exposure to M&A
- Familiarity with AI governance (EU AI Act) and telecom regulation (E911, STIR/SHAKEN, TCPA)
- You are the kind of person who reads the contract all the way to the end — and quietly enjoys finding the one clause everyone else missed
WE OFFER
- The opportunity to shape the brand of a fast-growing developer platform
- Collaboration with a small, senior team that deeply values craft and creativity
- Competitive salary and equity package
- Health, dental, and vision benefits
- Flexible vacation policy
LiveKit is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable law. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact recruiting@livekit.io.
What you'll do
- Own commercial contracting end to end — customer MSAs, order forms, DPAs, BAAs, vendor agreements, and NDAs — and build the playbooks and templates that let the GTM team move fast
- Stand up and run our privacy and data-protection program (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA) for a company built on real-time voice and media data
- Be the legal partner to Sales, Finance, Product, and Engineering — the person who helps deals close and products ship, on the right side of the risk line
- Own corporate and governance work alongside Finance — board consents, equity mechanics, and entity and cap-table hygiene
- Set our posture on the things that are specific to us: open-source licensing and IP, AI governance, and telecom/SIP regulatory questions
- Manage outside counsel surgically — decide what comes in-house, and keep spend in check
What they require
- You have been the first (or one of the first) in-house lawyers at a high-growth tech company, or you are a senior commercial counsel ready to own a function
- You have deep commercial-contracts experience — enterprise, usage-based, data-heavy — and the judgment to move quickly on risk
- You are fluent in privacy and data protection (GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and ideally HIPAA)
- You are a builder and an operator — comfortable as a team of one, writing the playbook, and saying "yes, and here's how"
- think of legal as a way to help the business move faster, not a set of gates
- are comfortable being the whole legal function — doing the work yourself, not just managing it
- are technically curious enough to understand how the product, the data, and open source actually work
- bring structure to ambiguity and write the playbooks that let others self-serve
- have sound judgment under speed, and know which risks actually matter
- Preferred: Open-source licensing / IP experience, or a background in developer infrastructure, real-time/WebRTC, telephony, or AI
- Preferred: Corporate, governance, and equity reps (409A, board consents), and exposure to M&A
- Preferred: Familiarity with AI governance (EU AI Act) and telecom regulation (E911, STIR/SHAKEN, TCPA)
- Preferred: You are the kind of person who reads the contract all the way to the end — and quietly enjoys finding the one clause everyone else missed
Benefits
- Offers Equity
- The opportunity to shape the brand of a fast-growing developer platform
- Collaboration with a small, senior team that deeply values craft and creativity
- Competitive salary and equity package
- Health, dental, and vision benefits
- Flexible vacation policy
LiveKit is building the infrastructure layer for the agentic era of computing. Its platform gives developers tools to build, test, deploy, scale, and observe AI agents in production.