Legal Counsel

Valon is building the AI-native operating system for regulated finance, starting with mortgage servicing.
We're a Series C company backed by a16z, transforming industries that others have written off as too complex to innovate.
Rather than build on top of broken legacy systems, we took a different approach: we built and operate our own mortgage servicing business managing $110+ billion in loans. This wasn't the end goal, it was how we deeply understood the complexity needed to build software that actually works in regulated industries.
The results speak for themselves. We've transformed mortgage servicing from a 0% margin business into 60%+ margins while dramatically improving customer experience. Major enterprise contracts are now deploying across the industry.
ValonOS is our unified platform that makes every process structured and programmable and it is perfectly positioned for the AI era. When everything flows through one system with rich data, AI agents don't just automate tasks, they continuously improve entire operations. Mortgage servicing is just the beginning of our vision to transform regulated industries and beyond.

You will be the third member of Valon’s technology legal team and will help build the legal foundation for the AI-native operating system for regulated finance. This is not a traditional in-house support role. You’ll operate as a true partner to product, engineering, compliance, and leadership as we scale a system of record in one of the most complex and tightly regulated industries in the world.

This is a high-ownership generalist role. You’ll manage and prioritize a large volume of matters, shift between fast execution and meticulous precision, and develop judgment on how to balance both in environments where correctness is non-negotiable. We’re looking for a junior attorney from a top law firm who wants to do real legal and operational work years earlier than Big Law typically allows.

You will move between structured, detail-heavy workflows and open-ended, first-principles problems. Your work will span commercial negotiations, product and AI-related regulatory analysis, corporate governance, and cross-functional legal strategy. The surface area is unusually broad for this stage in a legal career—and intentionally so. In a company defined by complexity, your ability to learn quickly, synthesize ambiguity, and build durable systems will matter more than years of experience.

If you’re motivated by responsibility, energized by difficult problems, and excited to help architect the legal infrastructure of a high-velocity technology company, you’ll thrive here.

• Own negotiation and drafting for high-impact commercial agreements, including multi-million-dollar enterprise partnerships for ValonOS.

• Build contracting processes and operational guardrails that enable the company to scale with both speed and precision.

• Lead complex regulatory and compliance initiatives from design through implementation.

• Become a trusted advisor on the frameworks governing AI, data, and financial products.

• Monitor evolving federal and state law to ensure Valon remains ahead of a rapidly shifting landscape.

• Develop training and compliance programs that scale across teams.

• Translate emerging AI, data, and mortgage-servicing regulations into product and operational requirements—directly shaping how Valon builds and deploys the system of record for regulated finance.

• Work directly with senior leadership on board governance, financings, audits, and strategic projects that influence Valon’s trajectory.

• Drive cross-functional legal projects as business needs evolve in a fast-growing environment.

• Juris Doctor (JD) degree (or foreign equivalent) from a leading law school.

• Admitted in New York, or eligible to waive in.

• ~1–4 years at a top law firm with substantive exposure to corporate, commercial, or complex regulatory matters (ideally a mix).

• Exceptional written and verbal communication with internal and external stakeholders.

• Strong legal drafting skills and ability to articulate business and risk implications clearly.

• Demonstrated ability to interpret complex statutes, regulations, and supervisory guidance.

• Researcher with a bias toward actionable synthesis, not academic analysis.

• Highly organized with strong attention to detail—especially in precision-critical contexts.

• Comfort with financial concepts necessary to evaluate commercial terms.

• Thrives in high-ownership environments with minimal bureaucracy.

• Comfortable balancing urgency with uncompromising precision in regulated domains.

• Energized by ambiguity, complexity, and solving hard problems with smart people.

• Views legal as a product-enablement function, not a back-office gatekeeper.

• Enjoys fast pace, honest feedback, and a culture that rewards initiative and impact.

• NYC hybrid: 3 days onsite per week.

• Compensation: Base Salary Range of $170,000–$200,000 plus participation in our equity program.

• We value diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

• Legal works directly with operators, engineers, and product leaders, embedding deeply in the business to accelerate execution.

If you want breadth, speed, and visible impact, and you want to grow faster in three years here than in ten years elsewhere, this role is for you.

Throughout the interview process, please remember that emails will only be from valon.com email addresses. We will never ask for any personally identifiable information during the interview process itself. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any requests to verify the authenticity of an outreach.

Valon is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. Valon makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.