Counsel, AI & Technology

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg to harness the power of technology to pursue some of society’s most ambitious goals — from curing or preventing all disease to transforming how students learn.

At CZI, you’ll join a deeply collaborative, mission-driven community where your work helps drive breakthroughs across our flagship nonprofit organizations, Biohub and Learning Commons. Whether enabling scientific breakthroughs via open science and AI-powered biology or strengthening the tools teachers and students rely on every day, your contributions help turn bold ideas into real-world impact.

Our teams operate at the intersection of innovation and scale, building the infrastructure, partnerships, and capabilities that allow scientists, educators, and innovators to tackle some of the most complex challenges of our time — and to do so with urgency, integrity, and optimism.

The Team

Our Legal and Grants team (“Team LeGiT”) is a key partner in enabling Biohub’s pioneering work to combine frontier AI with frontier biology to prevent and cure disease and Learning Commons’ mission to build AI infrastructure that aligns how students learn with the tools that shape their learning experiences.

Team LeGiT helps accelerate Biohub’s and Learning Commons’ missions by structuring, negotiating and executing on strategic partnerships, grants and contracts, as well as providing advice that spans IP, technology, exempt org and labor law. We work directly with scientists, engineers and educators in the development of frontier AI models, partnerships with universities, and a wide range of science and education tools and products. In addition to supporting our programmatic colleagues, we regularly collaborate across Executive, Operations, Central Tech and Investments teams to advance the organization’s philanthropic goals. Our team also manages Mark and Priscilla's Family Giving to provide funding for nonprofit organizations, including in the communities where they live and work.

The Product, Privacy, and IP (“PPIP”) team, a subteam of LeGiT,  is composed of attorneys and legal compliance professionals who provide day-to-day counsel to teams across CZI on intellectual property (IP), data privacy, and other AI and technology-related legal and policy matters.  We partner closely with scientists and AI researchers across the Bihoub and Learning Commons to support the development of cutting-edge AI models, technologies and research platforms.  Our work enables teams to advance biomedical science and leverage AI in ways that are innovative and impactful.  

At its core, LeGiT and PPIP exist to build trust — with our partners, our grantees, and the communities we serve — and to help our organizations operate with integrity as we take on some of the world’s most complex challenges.

The Opportunity

Join our team as Counsel, AI & Technology and play a key role in supporting the development of cutting-edge AI tools and scientific technologies. This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of law, AI, product development, and biomedical research—partnering directly with scientists, engineers, and product teams as they build systems that have the potential to transform how we understand and treat disease.

As we continue to expand our work in AI and life sciences, you will serve as a trusted legal partner embedded with science and AI teams across the organization. You will help teams navigate complex and evolving questions around data use, intellectual property, and AI law—providing practical guidance that enables innovation while managing risk.  You’ll gain exposure to a wide range of novel legal, technical and scientific challenges, and play a meaningful role in advancing Biohub and Learning Commons’ missions to prevent and cure disease and build AI infrastructure that aligns how students learn with the tools that shape their learning experiences.

If you are energized by working closely with technical teams, enjoy operating in  fast-moving and mission-driven environments, and are excited about applying your legal skills to emerging AI technologies, we encourage you to apply.

What You'll Do

• Embed with AI, product, and science teams as a day-to-day legal partner—developing a deep understanding of their work, tracking evolving projects, and proactively identifying and addressing legal and policy considerations early in the development lifecycle
• Advise on intellectual property matters, including copyright, trademarks, open source, and licensing of AI models, datasets, and software tools, in support of our open science principles
• Provide guidance on data use and data licensing issues, including appropriate use of datasets for AI training and risk mitigation 
• Monitor relevant legal and policy developments relating to AI and scientific research and drive associated legal compliance strategies
• Help create templates, guidance, and playbooks to support consistent and scalable approaches to AI, product development, and IP across the CZ ecosystem

What You'll Bring

• JD and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar (CA preferred)
• Degree in STEM required, such as biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, computer science, or engineering 
• At least 8 years of relevant legal experience, with a focus on product counseling, technology, and/or intellectual property
• Experience advising on AI/ML systems, software products, or data-driven technologies
• Strong grounding in IP (especially copyright, licensing, and open source)
• Ability to work closely with technical teams and provide clear, pragmatic guidance in fast-moving environments
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and collaboration skills, with the ability to effectively communicate complex legal and technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences  
• A learning and growth mindset coupled with humility and mission-oriented sensibilities
• Willingness to travel occasionally  to our offices and partners across the country

Compensation

The Redwood City, CA  base pay range for a new hire in this role is $241,000 - $331,100. New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process. 

This position may be eligible to participate in our discretionary annual performance bonus program. Bonus eligibility and targets are determined in accordance with our total rewards philosophy and may vary by role.

Better Together

As we grow, we’re excited to strengthen in-person connections and cultivate a collaborative, team-oriented environment. This role is a hybrid position requiring you to be onsite for at least 60% of the working month, approximately 3 days a week, with specific in-office days determined by the team’s manager. The exact schedule will be at the hiring manager's discretion and communicated during the interview process.

Benefits for the Whole You 

We’re thankful to have an incredible team behind our work. To honor their commitment, we offer a wide range of benefits to support the people who make all we do possible. 

• Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
• Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice. 
• Funding for select family-forming benefits. 
• Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

If you’re interested in a role but your previous experience doesn’t perfectly align with each qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply as you may be the perfect fit for this or another role.

#LI-Hybrid