General Counsel (Nuclear Energy)

Location: Los Angeles area, with the facility located in Torrance, California. Applicants must meet U.S. Government export-control eligibility requirements: U.S. citizenship or nationality, U.S. lawful permanent residency, refugee or asylee status, or eligibility to obtain the required authorizations.

Salary: $190,000–$300,000 annually, plus equity.

Company

hirify.global is a Series C deep-tech startup developing mass-producible, inherently safe nuclear microreactors for terrestrial, underwater, and space applications.

What you will do

• Serve as the first in-house legal hire and primary legal partner to the CEO, executive team, and cross-functional leaders.
• Manage government contracts and federally funded programs, including FAR/DFARS compliance, negotiations, data rights, deliverables, reporting, and execution risk.
• Advise on DOE, DoD, NRC, nuclear materials, and federal and state nuclear safety requirements.
• Build and own the ITAR, EAR, and broader export-controls compliance program, including policies, training, technology-control plans, visitor controls, and deemed-export processes.
• Draft, negotiate, and maintain commercial, manufacturing, supply, SaaS, testing, teaming, consulting, and strategic partnership agreements.
• Establish scalable legal operations covering contract lifecycle management, legal intake, document retention, entity management, board support, governance, templates, and negotiation playbooks.

Requirements

• JD from an accredited law school and active bar membership.
• 12+ years of legal experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing government contracts and government-funded programs.
• Hands-on experience building or leading an ITAR and/or EAR export-controls compliance program.
• Experience with commercial contracts and regulatory matters.
• Ability to work within applicable U.S. export-control eligibility requirements.

Nice to have

• Experience as General Counsel or Deputy General Counsel at a high-growth technology or deep-tech company.
• Familiarity with NRC licensing, DOE contracting vehicles such as CRADA and WFO, and nuclear materials regulations.
• Experience with board governance, venture financings, M&A, intellectual property, and other legal domains.
• Startup experience and the ability to manage ambiguity across multiple responsibilities.

Culture & Benefits

• Equity is included in the compensation package.
• Work centers on complex energy and defense systems, end-user needs, unconventional problem solving, and nuanced decision-making.
• Deep work can be performed from anywhere, while in-person collaboration is emphasized for team building and stakeholder engagement.
• Travel to regulatory locations may be required.
• Long hours and weekends may be necessary around critical milestones.