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Director of Legal Operations

New York, New York, United States; San Francisco, California, United States

Who We Are

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.

Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.

We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.

 

What We're Looking For

 

We are looking for a Director of Legal Operations to serve as the operational backbone of Lightning AI’s Legal team. This is a senior, highly cross-functional role for a self-directed operator who thrives on building structure, driving outcomes, and solving hard problems without waiting to be told how. You will own the systems, tools, and processes that enable our legal function to scale alongside one of the fastest-growing companies in AI infrastructure—and you will serve as a true strategic partner to the VP of Legal and the broader organization. You will join the Legal Team and report directly to the VP of Legal, serving as the department’s operational lead.

This is a hybrid role based in our New York City or San Francisco office with in-office requirements of 2 days per week.

 

What You’ll Do

  • Own and drive the Legal team’s operational strategy, including setting quarterly priorities and targets, tracking progress against department goals, and delivering clear reporting to the VP of Legal and executive leadership.
  • Establish and maintain metrics, dashboards, and reporting frameworks that give the Legal team and its stakeholders real-time visibility into workload, performance, and outcomes.
  • Prepare high-quality executive materials, including board and leadership presentations, department reviews, and briefing documents on behalf of the Legal team.
  • Evaluate, implement, and administer legal technology, including Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), regulatory and KYC tooling, ensuring strong adoption, ongoing optimization, and integration with enterprise systems.
  • Redesign and continuously improve legal processes, building scalable workflows, playbooks, and templates that allow the Legal team to handle growing demand without proportional headcount growth.
  • Partner with Finance on corporate entity management and tax matters, ensuring accurate records and timely coordination on multi-entity legal and financial obligations.
  • Work with the People team to administer cap table management, equity plan operations, and related employee equity matters in coordination with outside counsel and Finance.
  • Coordinate with the Infrastructure team on hardware and software inventory management, ensuring the Legal team maintains accurate, up-to-date records for compliance and audit purposes.
  • Partner with the Engineering team on IP portfolio tracking and open-source licensing management, including maintaining license registers, advising on use policy, and flagging compliance risks.
  • Lead cross-functional legal operational initiatives end-to-end, from scoping and stakeholder alignment through execution and measurement, with minimal supervision.

 

What You’ll Need

  • 10+ years of legal operations experience, either in-house at a technology company or at a law firm in a legal operations or practice management capacity.
  • Prior startup or high-growth company experience is required; you must have operated in environments where resources are constrained and speed matters.
  • Hands-on experience implementing and managing legal technology platforms, including CLM systems and KYC tooling; familiarity with the broader legal tech landscape (e-billing, matter management, workflow automation) is a strong plus.
  • Demonstrated familiarity with core legal operational matters, including corporate entity management, cap table administration, IP and open-source licensing, and vendor and outside counsel management.
  • Proven ability to build and maintain metrics, dashboards, and reporting frameworks; comfort working with data and presenting operational insights to senior leadership.
  • Strong project management and cross-functional collaboration skills; you are comfortable leading initiatives that span Finance, People, Engineering, and Infrastructure simultaneously.
  • Exceptional discretion, judgment, and accountability; this role handles highly sensitive information and requires someone who inspires trust across the organization.
  • A proactive, ownership-oriented mindset: you identify what needs to be done and do it. You do not wait to be managed, and you measure your success by outcomes, not activity.

We are committed to offering competitive compensation that reflects the value each team member brings to our mission. Final offers are based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, and role expectations. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package for eligible roles includes a discretionary bonus, a meaningful equity component, and comprehensive benefits.

The anticipated annual base salary range for this role is:

$180,000 - $220,000 USD

Benefits and Perks

We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees’ health, well-being, and long-term success. Benefits may vary by location, team, and role.

Benefits include:

  • Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage (U.S.); Private medical and dental insurance (U.K.)
  • Retirement and financial wellness support (U.S.); Pension contribution (U.K.)
  • Generous paid time off, plus holidays
  • Paid parental leave
  • Professional development support
  • Wellness and work-from-home stipends
  • Flexible work environment

 

At Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.

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