Fractional Legal Counsel

About Us : AI compute is hitting a hard physical wall, and memory bottlenecks are throttling the entire industry. Founded in October 2024 and backed by €57M in funding, Vertical Compute is solving this with proprietary Vertical Integrated Memory (VIM™) chiplets, making AI hardware faster, greener, and vastly more scalable. We are an interdisciplinary team transforming breakthrough semiconductor physics into commercial reality.

Why Now : After 18 months of intensive R&D, Vertical Compute has reached a critical inflection point. Our underlying technology is validated, and we have successfully met our core technical milestones. Armed with a proven technical data package and ongoing system studies, we are now shifting from pure R&D to active engagement with global enterprise customers. As we prepare for our next phase of scale and growth starting in 2027, joining us today means taking direct ownership of the hardware foundation that will power the next era of AI compute.

About the role

We are looking for a pragmatic, solution-oriented Legal Counsel to take ownership of our day-to-day legal operations on a fractional basis (1 to 2 days per week).

In true startup fashion, we move fast—and we need someone who can keep us protected without slowing us down. You will be our go-to in-house legal mind for standard contracts, NDAs, and operational queries, keeping external legal costs lean while knowing exactly when to escalate complex matters to our external legal partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Contract management: Review, draft, and negotiate standard commercial contracts, NDAs, and service agreements.
• Batch & solve: Own our weekly internal legal drop-in, grouping internal questions and providing clear, actionable advice to the team.
• Legal triage: Act as the first line of defense—resolve routine matters in-house and interface with our external legal firm for high-stakes or specialized cases.
• Keep It lean: Build and maintain clear contract templates, standard operating procedures, and automated/organized legal archives.
• Risk & speed balance: Deliver practical, business-first guidance that protects the company while enabling fast execution.

About the team

This role is part of the Operations team, which designs the organization from the inside out, turning strategic intent into execution through process, people, and tools. The team builds the secure and sustainable 'Operating System' that allows Vertical Compute to scale. By integrating robust program management, empowering information systems, a lean-agile culture, and cutting-edge AI, the Operations department handles operational security, compliance, strategy, and organizational flow—ensuring that the company's core talent can stay entirely focused on innovation.

Requirements

About who you are

• Background: Law Degree (LL.M. or equivalent). Open to profiles ranging from 1 to 5 years of legal experience with a strong commercial focus.
• Mindset: Pragmatic, business-focused, and comfortable with ambiguity. You prefer clear, actionable answers over 10-page memos.
• Autonomy: Highly organized and capable of batching, prioritizing, and managing work efficiently within 1–2 days per week.
• Tech & Communication: Business fluency in English is mandatory. You excel at translating "legalese" into plain English. You know how to educate the team and raise awareness on legal matters without overcomplicating things. Comfortable using modern tools.

Why Join Us

• You’ll have the opportunity to work with a team at the forefront of memory technology innovation.
• Vertical Compute is not only a state-of-the art but also a human adventure. We believe you must have a lot of fun developing the best of you. Making sure you and your team are going to enjoy the journey and become passionate about what we do is a key goal of our founders.
• In this role, you support projects that will have a significant impact on the future of computing and electronics.
• You can count on a motivating total rewards package.
• Flexible ways of working.