About Unto Labs
Unto Labs is a team of low-level engineers pushing distributed systems to the physical limits of modern hardware. We're building the next generation of blockchain technology, from core consensus primitives to performance-tuned networking stacks, on commodity servers.
About the Role
As General Counsel, you will establish and lead the company's legal strategy with the founders across a broad range of areas, including regulatory compliance, corporate governance, commercial transactions, employment matters, intellectual property, and dispute resolution.
You'll build and lead the company's legal function across a wide range of areas, including regulatory compliance, corporate matters, commercial agreements, employment issues, intellectual property, and disputes. You'll be a trusted partner to the founders and work closely with everyone.
As part of a small, high caliber team, this is a critical, hands-on, cross-functional role that goes beyond traditional legal advice. You'll create practical compliance programs, develop internal policies, and put processes in place that support the launch and growth of innovative financial products. We're looking for someone who enjoys tackling complex regulatory challenges, turning legal requirements into workable solutions, and helping the company scale responsibly.
Responsibilities
- Lead the company's approach to legal and regulatory matters across the U.S. ((SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, OFAC, state MTLs)) and internationally (MiCA, FCA, MAS), while staying ahead of regulatory developments and working directly with regulators when necessary.
- Lead deal work: M&A, strategic investments, financings, joint ventures, etc. and draft, negotiate, and operationalize the full commercial contract stack: customer, partner, vendor, BD, integration, and protocol partnership agreements.
- Own the company's intellectual property strategy, including trademarks, licensing, and open-source software considerations.
- Manage disputes, regulatory inquiries, subpoenas, investigations, and other legal matters as they arise. Select and oversee outside counsel and ensure legal resources are used effectively, when necessary.
- Structure and maintain the company's corporate architecture and governance across multiple entities.
- Build legal and compliance processes that can scale with the company while balancing risk, regulatory requirements, and speed of execution.
- Advise and work with founders on best practices for entity structuring, tokenomics and securities, innovative business models and compliance solutions.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in financial services law with a strong concentration in CFTC regulation. Experience may be drawn from practice at a top-tier law firm, an in-house role at a registered entity (DCM, DCO, FCM, or swap dealer), or the CFTC itself.
- Demonstrated ability to operate as a sole legal lead, preferably with an early stage company, and comfortable being the only lawyer in the room and the last set of eyes before something ships.
- Prior experience advising a crypto, DeFi, or fintech company, in-house or as outside counsel.
- Experience structuring multi-entity setups, including offshore affiliates and operating subsidiaries.
- Direct experience advising on, preparing, or managing CFTC regulatory filings, rule submissions, or examination responses.
- Outstanding analytical, drafting, and organisational skills with the ability to produce clear, commercially actionable legal guidance.
- Ability to translate complex regulatory requirements into practical product and operational guidance for non-lawyer business partners/colleagues
Why Join Us?
- Shape and own legal structure and strategy at a startup at the frontier of distributed systems, the future of financial innovation, and blockchain infrastructure
- Work directly with a founding team of world-class engineers to position innovative technology for widespread adoption
- Own the entire legal function as an early hire with substantial influence over company direction
- Competitive compensation, equity, and generous benefits
