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Division Counsel

El Segundo, 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 Industries is seeking an attorney to serve as Legal Counsel providing day-to-day legal support to the Radars and Aero business units, with room to grow as the role and team develop. This hire closes an immediate coverage gap on the Legal team and lays the foundation for a longer-term model of dedicated counsel embedded with each business unit. In this role, you'll partner closely with business leaders on day-to-day legal and contracting needs, working alongside the broader Legal team (Deputy GC, Contracts, Trade Compliance) to support company priorities.

Responsibilities:
Serve as primary legal point of contact for assigned business unit(s) on day-to-day matters.
• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts, NDAs, teaming agreements, and subcontracts.
• Advise business teams on contracting risk, IP/data rights, and deal structuring; coordinate with Trade Compliance, Contracts, and outside counsel on cross-functional deals.
• Review and negotiate FAR/DFARS flowdowns in subcontracts and teaming agreements, and support business development pursuits and proposal reviews in coordination with the Contracts team.
• Draft and negotiate supply, vendor, and software or technology license agreements supporting business unit operations and production.
• Spot export control (ITAR/EAR) issues in deals and day-to-day business activity, and coordinate with Trade Compliance on authorizations and restrictions that affect deal terms.
• Counsel engineering and program management teams on legal risk as programs move from pursuit and proposal through execution and delivery.
• Support resolution of contract disputes and claims, including early assessment, negotiation of settlements, and coordination with outside counsel where escalation is warranted.
• Support compliance reviews and internal investigations touching the business units, including organizational conflicts of interest, gifts and business courtesies, and anti-corruption questions.
• Build and maintain contract templates, playbooks, and standard fallback positions for recurring agreement types to speed up deal cycles.
• Train business teams on contracting fundamentals, signature authority, and common legal risk areas.
• Help reduce outside counsel spend by bringing recurring contracting work in-house. Work Environment & Travel:
• Occasional domestic and international travel to support business unit engagements (up to approximately 10%).
• Standard office environment; no unusual physical demands.

Minimum Requirements:
• J.D. and active membership in good standing in the bar of at least one U.S. state; if not admitted in California, eligibility to register as in-house counsel under California Rules of Court, rule 9.46.
• At least 4 years of relevant experience in commercial contracting, preferably in aerospace/defense, government contracting, or a related technology sector.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating and closing commercial agreements independently.
• Working knowledge of IP and data rights issues in a technology/manufacturing context.
• Strong judgment and comfort operating with significant autonomy and limited day-to-day oversight.
• This position requires access to technical data and technology controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Applicants must be a U.S. person as defined in 22 C.F.R. §120.62 and 15 C.F.R. § 772.1 – a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, or an individual granted refugee or asylee status (a protected individual under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3)) – or be eligible to obtain any export authorization or license required for the role.


Preferred Requirements:
• Prior experience supporting a defense, aerospace, or sensors/radar business unit.
• Familiarity with U.S. Government contracting (FAR/DFARS) and export control (ITAR/EAR) considerations.
• Experience working directly with engineering and business development teams.
• Experience with U.S. Government data rights frameworks, including DFARS data rights clauses and SBIR data rights assertions.
• Familiarity with non-traditional contracting vehicles such as Other Transaction (OT) agreements and consortium arrangements.
• Experience building contract templates, playbooks, or training materials for business teams, and managing outside counsel scope and spend.

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: 350 employees and counting across 5 global offices
$175,000 – $225,000 annualized base salary

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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Please note this position does not necessarily require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. 

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EXPORT CONTROLS - This position may require access to information and technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Your responses to the questions below will be used solely to determine your eligibility under U.S. law to receive information and materials subject to U.S. export controls.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in CHAOS Industries’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

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A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

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