About Northwood Space:

Northwood is on a mission to transform connectivity between earth and space and bring its benefits to the masses. If you are energized by building at a high-velocity company and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe with real impact, we want you at Northwood.

Role:

As Head of Legal at Northwood, you will oversee all legal strategy and provide proactive, solutions-based counseling across functional areas within and outside the organization, addressing a diverse range of complex legal and business challenges both domestically and internationally.

Responsibilities:

• Commercial and Government Contracts

  • Draft, review, and negotiate complex commercial agreements with customers, vendors, and partners.

  • Draft, analyze, negotiate and complete complex contracts with various government agencies and strategic partners, including procurement agreements, and IP licensing agreements

  • Develop scalable systems for contract lifecycle management to support growth.

• Regulatory Compliance

  • Serve as as legal POC with various government regulators and international organizations

  • Collaborate with the engineering, production, and sales teams to achieve key business objectives and provide strategic, business-minded, and solutions-focused legal advice

  • Draft, analyze, and manage complex regulatory applications and licenses with various government agencies

  • Ensure compliance with applicable U.S. export controls such as ITAR or EAR

• Corporate Governance and Strategy

  • Advise the CEO and executive team on legal, compliance, and risk management matters.

  • Support the Board of Directors on governance, fiduciary responsibilities, and corporate structuring, and management of legal entities

  • Oversee equity management and legal aspects of financing, including future fundraises.

• Intellectual Property

  • Develop and protect Northwood’s IP portfolio, ensuring innovation is secured through patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.

  • Establish guardrails to safeguard proprietary technology and operational know-how.

Qualifications

• Required:

  • Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from an ABA-accredited law school.

  • Active membership in good standing of a state bar (California preferred).

  • 8+ years of legal experience, with a combination of law firm and in-house roles.

  • Proven expertise in commercial contracts, regulatory compliance, and corporate governance.

  • Experience working in aerospace, telecommunications, or other heavily regulated industries.

• Preferred:

  • In-house legal experience at a high-growth startup or technology company and prepared to address legal and operational challenges in emerging technologies and uncharted practice areas.

  • Ability to simplify complex legal concepts into straightforward and concise explanations

  • Skilled in building and maintaining strong relationships with clients across various regions and adept at advising stakeholders at all levels of management.

Compensation and Benefits:

Compensation is determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a base-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, and technical capabilities. In addition to base salary, Northwood Space offers long term incentives such as company stock, stock options, and cash awards, as well as discretionary bonus for performance. Northwood Space benefits include equity, health care, unlimited vacation, retirement savings and professional development.

Additional Information:

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.