Commercial Counsel (Defense Tech)

TL;DR

Commercial Counsel (Defense Tech): Driving the commercial agreement lifecycle and supporting People Operations for a hardware-forward defense portfolio with an accent on customer contracts, vendor agreements, and employment law. Focus on structuring complex procurement deals, managing FAR/DFARS and ITAR/EAR compliance, and building scalable legal infrastructure from scratch.

Location: Onsite in Hawthorne, California, United States

Salary: $190,000 - $250,000

Company

hirify.global is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™) to provide domain dominance.

What you will do

• Draft, review, and negotiate complex commercial agreements including MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, and strategic partnership arrangements.
• Advise on FAR/DFARS flowdown implications, data rights, IP protections, and export control compliance (ITAR/EAR).
• Partner with Supply Chain and Operations to structure procurement, manufacturing, and hardware-development agreements.
• Serve as the principal legal partner to People Operations on employee relations, wage and hour compliance, and workplace policy.
• Build and maintain scalable legal infrastructure, including contract templates and HR compliance frameworks.
• Manage outside counsel and oversee worker classification compliance for the contingent workforce.

Requirements

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state.
• 4+ years of relevant legal experience with a strong transactional foundation.
• Ability to independently negotiate complex commercial agreements and technology licenses.
• Working familiarity with U.S. government contracting (FAR/DFARS) and export control compliance (ITAR/EAR).
• S. Person status required for access to information and technology subject to U.S. export controls.

Nice to have

• In-house experience at a defense, aerospace, hardware, robotics, or AI company.
• Experience with technical data rights, software rights, or cybersecurity compliance.
• Track record of building contracting playbooks and HR templates for scaling organizations.
• Active U.S. security clearance or eligibility to obtain one.

Culture & Benefits

• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• 401k with a 50% company match up to 6% of pay, plus FSA and HSA.
• Unlimited PTO and "No meeting Fridays".
• Competitive base salary, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, and relocation assistance.
• Free daily lunch and a casual dress code.