Senior Counsel

About Goodfire

Goodfire is an AI interpretability research lab. We build interpretability agents and infrastructure to understand, monitor, and align AI models.

We believe that AI is the most consequential technology of our time. Yet AI models are trained by trial and error today, with limited understanding of what drives their behavior. Our goal is to advance the research and technology needed to fully understand and align AI so humanity can trust superintelligence.

Goodfire is a public benefit corporation founded by researchers who helped pioneer the field of interpretability at OpenAI and Google DeepMind. We are headquartered in San Francisco and have raised over $200M from leading investors including Lightspeed, Menlo, and B Capital.

About the role

We're hiring a Senior Counsel to be Goodfire's first in-house lawyer. You'll build the legal foundation of our company, wear a ton of hats, and be the person who defines our approach to interpretability and AI security contracts and regulations.

You'll need a strong understanding of AI security and interpretability to inform your decisions on licensing, data rights, and regulation that are critical to our business. These are rapidly changing fields with minimal established playbooks, and you'll be leading the way in figuring it out.

You'll own everything under the legal umbrella (e.g., contract negotiations, employment agreements, fundraising, board matters). You must be comfortable being the only lawyer in the room, and humble enough to handle both the decisions that will define our business and the unglamorous work that comes with building something from scratch.

What you'll bring

Required experience

JD and active membership in at least one US state bar (California preferred).

6+ years across law firm and in-house roles at technology companies, including leading enterprise software deals.

Excellent judgment and experience with AI/SaaS licensing, data rights, liability, and forward deployed contracts.

Strong grasp of AI, particularly AI security and interpretability.

Willingness and humility to own anything legal-related yourself, big or small.

Preferred qualifications

Experience building a legal function from scratch.

AI lab or AI/ML product experience: model licensing, training data rights, open-source releases.

Experience working with healthcare or life sciences customers and related regulations.

Our values

Goodfire is looking for individuals who embody our values and share our deep commitment to making interpretability accessible. We are building a team first and foremost.

Put mission and team first

All we do is in service of our mission. We trust each other, deeply care about the success of the organization, and choose to put our team above ourselves.

Improve constantly

We are constantly looking to improve every piece of the business. We proactively critique ourselves and others in a kind and thoughtful way that translates to practical improvements in the organization. We are pragmatic and consistently implement the obvious fixes that work.

Take ownership and initiative

There are no bystanders here. We proactively identify problems and take full responsibility over getting a strong result. We are self-driven, own our mistakes, and feel deep responsibility over what we’re building.

Action today

We have a small amount of time to do something incredibly hard and meaningful. The pace and intensity of the organization is high. If we can take action today or tomorrow, we will choose to do it today.

Where we work

We are hiring for this position in our San Francisco office who’d be onsite 5 days a week.

What we offer

This role offers market competitive salary, equity, and competitive benefits.

The expected salary range for this position is $200,000 to $400,000.

This role reports to our CEO.

Most importantly, you'll have the opportunity to join a vital mission at an important point in its trajectory — we are developing groundbreaking technology with a world-class team on the critical path to ensuring a safe and beneficial future for humanity. If you want to do your life’s work with us, even if you believe you do not meet every single requirement, apply now.