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Senior Legal Counsel

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 Senior Counsel to join our Legal team at an inflection point. Lightning AI is on a strong growth trajectory—backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute—and the legal function is scaling with it. You will be joining a small, high-performing team with solid infrastructure already in place, and stepping into a role with real ownership: primary responsibility for the corporate legal matters that sit at the heart of how we grow, finance the business, and transact. As AI regulation and governance become increasingly central to how technology companies operate, you will also be on the front lines of those emerging issues—advising leadership as the legal landscape around AI infrastructure continues to evolve. You will join the Legal Team and report directly to the VP of Legal.

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

  • Serve as primary legal owner for corporate matters including equity and debt financings, M&A transactions, and day-to-day corporate governance.
  • Lead and manage equity and debt transactions end-to-end, including venture and growth financings, venture debt, and related board and stockholder approvals.
  • Support M&A activity, including acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic partnerships, from letter of intent through closing and integration.
  • Manage corporate governance matters, including board and committee meetings, minutes, written consents, equity plan administration, and cap table maintenance.
  • Advise internal stakeholders across Leadership, Finance, People, and Infrastructure on a broad range of legal matters, building trusted partnerships across the organization.
  • Grow into regulatory, employment, and litigation oversight as you develop your in-house generalist practice.
  • Help build scalable legal processes, templates, and playbooks as we grow the function. 

What You’ll Need

  • J.D. from a top law school and active bar membership in good standing.
  • 6+ years of legal experience, including significant time in a corporate practice (M&A, capital markets, or banking/finance) at a top-tier law firm.
  • Prior startup experience is required. This role must be comfortable operating at a fast pace and making commercially-minded decisions.
  • Strong transactional fundamentals with the ability to own complex deals independently, manage outside counsel effectively, and exercise sound judgment under ambiguity.
  • Appetite to expand beyond your core practice into new areas of law as the business grows.
  • Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly to non-lawyers and influence decisions at all levels.
  • Genuine curiosity about AI technology and its legal implications; you don’t need to be a technical expert, but you should be excited to develop fluency in how AI infrastructure is built and regulated.
  • A collaborative, low-ego working style and enthusiasm for the mission of building transformative AI infrastructure.

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:

$220,000 - $250,000 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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