Head of Legal
San Francisco
About the role - ------------- Pocket is looking for its **first in-house legal hire** to build and own the company's legal function as we scale globally. This is a highly hands-on role working directly with the founders across corporate, commercial, employment, privacy, compliance, and people-related matters. You will serve as the **central legal owner across the organization**, working closely with our external counsel while progressively bringing more legal knowledge, processes, and execution in-house. This is not a role for someone who only coordinates outside counsel. We are looking for someone who is comfortable **drafting, negotiating, making practical risk assessments, and building processes from scratch**. What you'll own - -------------- **Corporate \& Governance** * Corporate governance and board-related matters * Equity, ESOP, stock option and capitalization matters * Fundraising and financing support * Coordination with external corporate counsel **Commercial** * Drafting and negotiating commercial agreements * Vendor, manufacturing, partnership and enterprise agreements * NDAs and other day-to-day contracts * Building standardized contracting processes and templates **Employment \& People** * Employment and contractor agreements * Employee separations and related documentation * IP assignment and confidentiality matters * Employee policies and handbook * Immigration and employment-law coordination * Supporting People Operations and HR-related compliance **Privacy \& Compliance** * Privacy and data protection * Consumer protection * Product-related regulatory matters * Internal compliance programs * Coordination with specialist external counsel where necessary **Legal Operations** * Build Pocket's legal infrastructure * Create scalable processes for contracts and approvals * Manage outside counsel and legal spend * Identify legal risks proactively rather than reactively What we're looking for - --------------------- * **5 years of relevant legal experience** * Strong training at a leading law firm and/or high-growth technology company * Experience working with **venture-backed technology companies** * Strong corporate and commercial background * Familiarity with employment matters and privacy/compliance * Comfortable operating across areas outside of a narrow legal specialization * Highly practical and commercially minded * Able to distinguish between material company risk and theoretical legal risk * Comfortable working directly with founders in a fast-moving environment * Builder mentality --- you want to create the function, not inherit an established legal department Experience with **consumer technology, hardware, AI, international expansion, or high-growth DTC businesses** is a strong plus. Reporting - -------- Reports directly to the **COO** and works closely with the CEO, CTO, Finance, Operations, Product, and external counsel. As Pocket grows, this person should have the opportunity to **build and lead the broader Legal function**.
