General Counsel
Plasmidsaurus · San Francisco
About Plasmidsaurus
Plasmidsaurus is on a mission to accelerate new cures and promote a healthier planet by unlocking a new level of productivity for scientists. Our sequencing services are used daily by thousands of innovators, including Nobel laureates, Fortune 100 pharma, and over 70,000 scientists.
We began by revolutionizing plasmid sequencing, making it exponentially cheaper and faster, with innovative sequencing technologies and a global network of laboratories that turn samples into answers in hours, not weeks.
Now we are expanding that same disruptive model across all of genomics. With the launch of our new RNA-seq service, we are taking a bold step toward our vision to sequence everything, providing scientists everywhere with faster, simpler, and more affordable access to the data that powers discovery.
Every team member at Plasmidsaurus plays a crucial role in driving the future of biotech research. Together, we are building the world’s most efficient sequencing engine that operates overnight, scales globally, and helps scientists make breakthroughs faster than ever before.
Role Overview
Plasmidsaurus is looking for its first full-time General Counsel to help us navigate the legal complexities of a rapidly growing, high-impact, global business.
You’ll be a key advisor to our founders and leadership team, helping us make better decisions, pursue opportunities, and identify material risks before they become costly problems. We’re looking for a leader who we can rely on for strong commercial and corporate legal expertise, sound business judgment, and the ability to turn complicated legal questions into clear paths forward.
This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll be a part of the team navigating exceptional growth opportunities for the company, and you’ll be trusted to build a lean, effective legal function that supports our ambitions without slowing us down.
What You'll Do
Advise the business. Partner with our founders and leadership team on consequential decisions, proactively identifying material legal risks and opportunities, evaluating trade-offs, and developing practical paths forward.
Lead commercial legal matters. Structure, draft, and negotiate customer, supplier, technology, and strategic partnership agreements, personally leading high-stakes negotiations and establishing efficient processes for routine agreements, while balancing commercial objectives with appropriate protections.
Guide our global corporate strategy. Advise on international operations, entity structures, inter-company arrangements, expansion, and significant corporate transactions, identifying gaps and exposures as our global business evolves.
Protect our intellectual property and business interests. Partner with scientific and technical leaders to establish an effective approach to IP protection, ownership, licensing, and commercialization, leveraging specialist counsel where appropriate.
Navigate regulatory and compliance matters. Help leadership anticipate and address legal implications of new products, markets, and business models, including laboratory and clinical regulation, data privacy, cross-border movement of biological materials, export controls, and other relevant requirements.
Own corporate legal and governance matters. Support the CEO and board on governance, corporate obligations, strategic transactions, and other significant legal matters.
Build our legal function. Establish the processes, resources, and outside counsel relationships needed to provide responsive, reliable legal support across the business, prioritizing by business impact and keeping bureaucracy and costs in check.
What Success Looks Like
Our founders and leadership team consider you a trusted adviser, engaging you early in important decisions and relying on your judgment to navigate complex situations.
We have a clear understanding of our most consequential legal risks and opportunities, including issues we hadn't previously recognized, with practical plans to address the issues that matter most.
Our commercial agreements and legal processes support business growth, protect our interests, and enable teams to move quickly.
Our global corporate structure and legal approach support our current operations and future expansion, with priority cross-border and regulatory issues identified and actionable plans in place.
We've established a dependable, efficient legal function that brings the right expertise to the right problems without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Who You Are
A seasoned legal leader who thrives in a growing business. You've operated as a senior in-house legal adviser, ideally in a fast-growing company navigating increasing scale, complexity, and international expansion.
A sharp commercial mind. You understand how businesses make money, negotiate complex agreements with confidence, and know when to push hard, when to compromise, and how to get important deals done.
A versatile corporate and international legal expert. You bring meaningful experience in corporate law, governance, international structures, and cross-border matters, with the range to navigate unfamiliar legal territory.
Exceptional judgment. You see around corners, distinguish real risks from theoretical ones, and help leaders make smart decisions when the answers aren't black and white.
A builder who gets things done. You're equally comfortable advising on consequential decisions, rolling up your sleeves to solve problems, and creating systems that make Legal more effective as we scale.
An expert who makes complexity simple. You bring deep legal expertise, intellectual rigor, and common sense. You communicate clearly, offer practical recommendations, and make legal matters approachable. You earn trust by making difficult things easier, not more complicated.
Resourceful and pragmatic. You know what deserves your attention, what can be simplified, and when to bring in specialized expertise. You build capabilities without building bureaucracy.
Intellectually curious and technically comfortable. You quickly get up to speed on complex scientific, technical, and regulatory questions. Experience in life sciences, biotechnology, or another technically complex or regulated industry is a plus.
Required qualifications:
A JD from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with a U.S. state bar.
Experienced working in life sciences, biotechnology, scientific services, or another technically complex or regulated industry, or able to demonstrate strong judgment navigating unfamiliar technical and regulatory environments.
We encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't perfectly align with the job description as we seek out diverse and creative perspectives. Team members who love to learn and collaborate in an inclusive environment will thrive with us. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need additional accommodations to feel comfortable during your interview process, please let us know at careers@plasmidsaurus.com.
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