The Role
General Counsel roles supporting AI safety organizations with fast-paced, risk-calibrated legal advice. Responsibilities may involve nonprofit structures, frontier AI contracts, export controls, FARA, compute agreements, and 501(c)(3)/501(c)(4) boundaries. Applicants should demonstrate strong legal judgment, comfort with ambiguity, interest in AI safety organizations, and authorization to practice law in their intended location. Most roles require a US-barred attorney, and candidates with at least five years of legal practice are favored.
Summary Generated by Built In
AI Safety Ecosystem Legal Hiring Round
General Counsel hiring for Constellation is a part of an ecosystem hiring round. Please read below for details and a link to apply.
Deadline to apply is November 1, 2026.
Job description
About this Round
Several organizations working on AI Safety are running a joint legal hiring round. Each organization has its own legal needs and many are hiring in-house counsel for the first time.
This round is open to individual attorneys seeking full-time or fractional in-house roles.
You do not need prior AI safety experience, though some background knowledge is helpful. You do need legal judgment, comfort with ambiguity and genuine interest in understanding organizations whose risk tolerance and operating speed may differ from a typical non-profit or corporate client. Generally applicants with at least 5 years of legal practice experience are more likely to be successful. You should be authorized to practice law where you intend to work from. Most roles require a US barred attorney.
What These Roles Have in Common:
- Speed matters. A recurring pain point for orgs has been slow turnaround. This ecosystem moves quickly, and needs counsel who can keep pace.
- Risk-calibrated, not risk averse. How much risk each org is comfortable with varies, but all of them want counsel who will lay out the risk, the likelihood and a clear recommendation based on the specifics of a given situation, not a counsel who defaults to best practices.
- Novel legal landscape. Fiscal sponsorship structures, frontier AI lab contract negotiation, export controls and FARA exposure, compute contract remedies, and the boundaries of 501(c)(3)/501(c)(4) activity all come up regularly, often without established precedent.
How This Works:
These are distinct opportunities bundled into a single application process so candidates can be considered efficiently across the ecosystem.
Application Form:
Apply Here
- Note: this is a mega-hiring round with other AIS orgs, please select Constellation when applying.
*Please do not fill out the form below. Use the link directly above to apply.*
Skills Required
- Authorized to practice law where the applicant intends to work
- US-barred attorney for most roles
- At least 5 years of legal practice experience
- Legal judgment and comfort with ambiguity
- Genuine interest in understanding AI safety organizations and their operating environments
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The Company
What We Do
Constellation Institute is a non-profit independent research center dedicated to ensuring transformative AI is developed, deployed, and governed safely. It accelerates progress in AI safety by fostering collaboration across the ecosystem, bringing together experts from nonprofits, academia, industry, and government. Through its Berkeley-based research center and curated programs, it provides the infrastructure and talent development needed to navigate advanced AI risks.
