Legal Counsel, AI & Policy

San Francisco, CA • Full-time • On-site

About This Role

Zof AI is seeking an AI Legal & Policy Counsel to own the legal and governance foundation an enterprise AI company needs: IP and data rights, customer contracts, EU AI Act and emerging AI regulation, and the assurance posture enterprise buyers ask about, aligned to standards like ISO/IEC 42001. This role also carries the AI audit and assurance mandate: making our compliance story verifiable, not just asserted. We are open to a fractional arrangement early with a path to full-time. The ideal candidate advises concretely because they understand how the systems actually work.

Responsibilities

• Own commercial contracts: customer, partner, and vendor agreements.
• Own IP strategy and data-rights posture across the product.
• Own compliance with the EU AI Act and emerging AI regulation.
• Build the AI governance and assurance program, aligned to standards like ISO/IEC 42001.
• Support enterprise security and compliance reviews with engineering.
• Own privacy posture and data processing agreements.
• Advise product and leadership on risk with practical, buildable guidance.
• Use AI tools to run a lean, leveraged legal function.

Requirements

• Qualified attorney with relevant commercial or technology law experience.
• Working knowledge of AI regulation, including the EU AI Act.
• Experience with IP, data rights, and technology contracts.
• Ability to translate legal risk into practical product guidance.
• Comfort operating solo in an early-stage environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• High judgment and discretion.
• Willingness to use AI tools deeply in legal work.

Nice to have

• Experience with AI governance standards such as ISO/IEC 42001 or the NIST AI RMF.
• Experience supporting enterprise sales through legal and compliance review.
• In-house experience at a startup or technology company.
• Policy or regulatory affairs experience.

What we provide

• MacBook Pro
• Premium AI development tools: Cursor Ultra, Claude Code Ultra, OpenAI Codex Max or equivalent advanced AI tooling
• Access to a high-performance AI product environment
• Close collaboration with leadership, engineering, and customers
• Opportunity to work in the San Francisco AI ecosystem
• Wellness and productivity support where applicable
• Competitive startup environment with high ownership and direct product impact