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Commercial Counsel

Hawthorne, California, United States

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats. 

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com.

Role Overview:

CHAOS is looking for a practical, sharp attorney whose primary focus is commercial transactions, with a substantial secondary responsibility supporting People Operations. The core of this role is driving the commercial agreement lifecycle: customer contracts, vendor and supplier agreements, supply chain partnerships, and technology transactions across a hardware-forward defense portfolio where the regulatory and IP stakes are real. You will also serve as the principal day-to-day legal partner to our People Operations team on the full range of employment and labor matters.

This is a high-visibility role with genuine ownership. You will work directly with Business Development, Supply Chain, Finance, and People Operations to close deals, manage risk, and build the scalable legal infrastructure CHAOS needs to grow. If you are a commercial attorney who wants broad cross-functional exposure and the ability to build from scratch in a defense tech environment, this is the role.

Responsibilities:

  • Commercial Transactions (Primary Focus)
    • Draft, review, and negotiate complex commercial agreements across the full transaction lifecycle: customer contracts, MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, vendor and supplier agreements, and strategic partnership arrangements.
    • Advise on FAR/DFARS flowdown implications, data rights, IP protections, cybersecurity obligations, and export control compliance (ITAR/EAR) as they surface in commercial and supply chain agreements.
    • Partner with Supply Chain and Operations to structure and close procurement, manufacturing, and hardware-development agreements, with a focus on identifying and allocating contractual and operational risk.
    • Build and maintain scalable commercial legal infrastructure: contract templates, standard fallback positions, approval workflows, and practical guidance that lets business teams move fast without creating legal exposure.
  • Employment and Labor Advisory (Secondary Focus)
    • Serve as the primary in-house legal partner to People Operations across the full range of employment matters: employee relations, wage and hour compliance, workplace policy, internal investigations, performance management, and separations.
    • Manage outside counsel and leverage as needed.
    • Structure, draft, and negotiate independent contractor, consultant, and staffing agreements. Own worker classification compliance as the company scales its contingent workforce.
    • Advise on multi-state employment law requirements as CHAOS expands headcount across jurisdictions.
    • Build and maintain employee handbooks, HR compliance frameworks, and scalable HR legal processes from scratch.

Minimum Requirements:

  • J.D. from an accredited law school; active bar membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state.
  • 4+ years of relevant legal experience with a strong transactional foundation as the primary credential.
  • Demonstrated ability to independently draft, review, and negotiate complex commercial agreements: customer contracts, vendor agreements, MSAs, SOWs, subcontracts, or technology licenses.
  • Working familiarity with U.S. government contracting implications on commercial terms, including FAR/DFARS flowdowns, data rights, and export control compliance (ITAR/EAR).
  • Exceptional drafting and negotiation skills, with the ability to independently manage a high volume of concurrent matters and deliver clear, risk-calibrated guidance in a fast-moving environment.
  • S. Person status required; this role involves access to information and technology subject to U.S. export controls.

Preferred Requirements: 

  • Prior in-house experience at a defense, aerospace, hardware, robotics, AI, or other regulated technology company.
  • Experience advising on technical data rights, software rights, data-use restrictions, or cybersecurity compliance in defense or government technology programs.
  • Experience with employment matters a plus
  • Track record building commercial contracting playbooks, HR compliance frameworks, and legal templates from scratch for a scaling organization.
  • Active U.S. security clearance or the eligibility and willingness to obtain one.

Why CHAOS?

  • Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
  • Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
  • Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
  • Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
  • Team Growth: 250 employees and counting across 5 global offices
Salary Range: $190,000 - $250,000

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. 

 

Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.

 

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