About us
Unfinished works to strengthen our civic life in the digital age.
We are building a new shared, public infrastructure for the web that generates much greater value for the people who use it. The web we envision incorporates data rights as a default, gives people the full power of their networks and the value they generate, promotes transparency and trust, and opens opportunity to effect positive social change at scale. The time has come to build a better web, one that works for people first. Visit projectliberty.io to learn more, go to unfinishedlabs.io to understand our story, or download our dsnp_whitepaper to explore the details.
Join on the ground floor of Unfinished! As a growing enterprise launched in 2020 and focused on strengthening our civic life in the digital age, we seek an entrepreneurial generalist attorney with a solid understanding of technology businesses to help create a world class legal department.
About the Role:
The Associate General Counsel will play a critical role in helping drive the growth of Unfinished. This person will partner with our General Counsel to support all legal needs of the enterprise across its various segments, ranging from general commercial contracts (such as consulting agreements, technology service agreements and NDAs), limited employee related matters, and IP and data privacy matters to assistance with high profile special projects, such as capital raising, M&A and investment management activities.
This role will require close collaboration with Unfinished’s technology and social impact business executives and other colleagues to achieve Unfinished’ s ambitious agenda. To support the broad range of Unfinished’s current and future business activities, this role will also partner as-needed with world-class external tax, legal and other advisory partners, as well as support work with Unfinished’s social impact Network Partners and a variety of external parties within the technology sector.
While our offices are currently closed due to the pandemic, this role will ultimately be based in New York City; however, there may be flexibility to be based in Los Angeles. The Associate General Counsel will report to the General Counsel and will also have partial support from a paralegal.
Responsibilities:
- Serve as primary point of contact in support of IP and data privacy related legal matters, including (with the assistance of outside IP counsel) the application for and maintenance of USPTO and international filings.
- Serve as a principal draftsperson and point of contact for the negotiation of various commercial contracts, including consulting agreements, technology service agreements and NDAs.
- Assist with limited employee-related matters, such as the drafting of offer letters.
- Work with the General Counsel and the paralegal to manage the legal department’s files.
- Support the General Counsel in delivering larger special projects on an as needed basis.
- Collaborate with the broader Unfinished team, providing updates on progress and outcomes, and assisting in the overall success of Unfinished.
Experience/Skills:
- A Juris Doctorate degree.
- A license to practice law in New York or California.
- 4+ years of post-J.D. experience, including experience practicing law at a top law firm.
- Experience negotiating technology, licensing, and other intellectual property contracts.
- General familiarity with global data privacy laws and compliance regimes (in particular the CCPA and GDPR), combined with a willingness to take a deeper dive.
- Excellent drafting, negotiating and communication skills.
- Though not required, experience working in-house for a technology company and or other relevant experience in technology, IP and media would be a plus.
Success Attributes:
- You are a natural collaborator who can operate well within a networked business, exerting influence when necessary while building strong relationships throughout.
- You have strong attention to detail but also an ability to see the big picture and work constructively to marry business objectives with legal requirements.
- You are well known for your diligence, hard work and commitment to excellence and are looking forward to the next step in your legal career, joining an in-house team to help build this unique model of enterprise that integrates both financial results and social impact.
At Unfinished:
- We strive to always take the high road
- We take the long view
- We are builders
- We believe in the power of collective genius above lone heroes
- We value the possibilities opened through questions
- We are us
More About Us
With a network of partners in technology, academia, social impact and the arts, Unfinished is imagining the future of technology, culture, and our economy to create a thriving multiracial democracy.
Project Liberty seeks to accelerate the world’s transition to an open, inclusive data economy that puts citizens in control. At the core is a shift from centralized to decentralized—a future in which all people, not just the few, directly benefit from their participation and contribution. The success of this work, in fact, depends on many people and organizations actively working together to shape a better future.
The determined team behind the earliest stages of Project Liberty is working to pave the way for these many contributors by actively engaging diverse voices, and equipping them with the critical infrastructure they need to catalyze change. We have developed the technology to make a shared, community governed social network possible—now available to the public as open source code. We are designing developer tools and an incentive system to reward early adopters and their work, and to support migration to a healthier web economy. And we are bringing together networks of organizations that seek change—including the formation of an Institute with Georgetown University and Sciences Po focused on leveraging technology to drive the common good.
We believe having diversity of perspective, professional backgrounds, identity groups and lived experience is a strength for teams and we actively encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. Unfinished is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, genetics, disability, age, and familial, caregiver, or veteran status.