Your Impact at LILA
As Commercial Counsel (Director/Associate Director) at Lila Sciences, you will be a foundational member of the legal team, responsible for shaping and scaling legal capabilities in a fast-moving, frontier technology environment. This is a dynamic, high-ownership role focused on structuring and negotiating a wide array of commercial agreements, while also advising on legal and regulatory considerations surrounding artificial intelligence, scientific research, and cutting-edge technology development. You'll partner cross-functionally across science, engineering, business development, and operations to enable Lila’s mission to accelerate discovery with AI.
We're looking for an experienced, entrepreneurial attorney with 6–10 years of legal experience—someone who is excited to work at the intersection of law, AI, and science. You should thrive in environments that demand both precision and creativity, be comfortable navigating ambiguity, and bring a strong sense of judgment and empathy to collaborative problem-solving. If you're passionate about building scalable legal infrastructure, engaging deeply with novel technologies, and evolving the practice of law using AI, this is the role for you.
What You'll Be Building
- Draft, negotiate, and manage a broad range of commercial agreements (e.g., SaaS, IP licensing, vendor, partnership, and R&D collaboration contracts)
- Provide pragmatic legal counsel to internal stakeholders across the business, product, and science functions, balancing legal risk with strategic objectives
- Serve as a thought partner on regulatory and ethical considerations related to the use of AI in scientific and commercial contexts
- Help build scalable systems and workflows to streamline legal processes and amplify team impact using AI tools and automation
- Support strategic transactions and partnerships, rapidly developing expertise in new domains to ensure sound legal outcomes
What You’ll Need to Succeed
- J.D. and membership in at least one U.S. state bar in good standing
- 6+ years of legal experience, with substantial time in-house at a technology company
- Deep experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts
- Familiarity with AI, SaaS, and/or scientific R&D business models
- Ability to operate independently, manage multiple priorities, and communicate effectively across technical and non-technical teams
Bonus Points For
- Enthusiasm for transforming legal practice through AI and data-driven tools
- Prior work involving export-controlled technologies or CFIUS considerations
- Experience supporting R&D teams in life sciences, materials, or climate-tech domains
- Comfort with technical subject matter and scientific research environments
- Track record of building legal infrastructure or scalable processes from scratch
Compensation
We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.
U.S. Benefits. Full-time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer-paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.
International Benefits. Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.
About LILA
Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard-coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.
LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.
Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you'd love to work in, even if you don't meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.
We’re All In
Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.
Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.
A Note to Agencies
Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.
Skills Required
- J.D. and membership in at least one U.S. state bar in good standing
- 6-10 years of legal experience, with substantial time in-house at a technology company
- Deep experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts
- Familiarity with AI, SaaS, and/or scientific R&D business models
- Ability to operate independently, manage multiple priorities, and communicate effectively across technical and non-technical teams
What We Do
Lila is a technology company pioneering the application of artificial intelligence to transform every aspect of the scientific method.
