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Salary: USD 180,000 - 250,000 / annual
Amca is a defense and aerospace manufacturing company focused on restoring America's critical infrastructure and supply chain capabilities. The company rapidly develops and manufactures critical components and subsystems for military vehicles, aircraft, and core infrastructure.
You will be one of the first lawyers at Amca, reporting directly to the General Counsel. This is a generalist role with a strong intellectual property focus, ideal for someone with IP experience who wants to broaden into commercial and corporate law. You will take real ownership from day one across acquisitions, commercial contracts, export controls, employment questions, and equity/debt financings.
Key Responsibilities:
• Draft, review, and negotiate customer and supplier contracts, NDAs, consulting agreements, and services agreements across the parent company and operating factories
• Own Amca's intellectual property program, including trade secret protection, confidentiality agreements, invention intake, trademark and copyright strategy, and outside counsel management
• Handle IP transactions including inbound/outbound licensing, joint development agreements, IP allocation in customer/supplier terms, and intercompany ownership structure
• Support acquisitions from diligence through closing and integration, including disclosure schedules, ancillary agreements, and post-closing cleanup
• Support corporate governance and entity management, including board/stockholder consents, entity maintenance, and equity administration
• Partner with government contracting function on technical data, IP rights, flow-downs, and commercial terms alongside federal requirements
• Help build the legal department from scratch: contract management systems, templates, playbooks, intake processes, and outside counsel selection/management
Requirements:
• JD from an accredited law school
• 3+ years of legal experience at a law firm or in-house
• Substantive intellectual property experience
• Active bar membership in at least one U.S. state, with ability to become authorized to practice in California (California Bar membership or Registered In-House Counsel status)
• Demonstrated ability to own matters and reach decisions with limited supervision
• Excellent drafting and negotiation skills; ability to explain legal positions to engineers and executives conversationally
• Builder comfortable operating in ambiguous environments where processes are still being developed
• Must be onsite five days a week in El Segundo, CA
• Must be a U.S. person under ITAR (U.S. citizen, green card holder, or protected person)
Preferred:
• Aerospace, defense, or hardware manufacturing background
• Experience building or administering a trade secret protection program
• Familiarity with U.S. government technical data and IP rights frameworks
• Mergers and acquisitions experience, particularly IP diligence
• Experience as an early legal hire at a growing company
• Technical or engineering background sufficient to engage substantively with engineering teams
