General Counsel

ABOUT US:

Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company building a faster, more connected future. Our mission is to democratize high-speed flight by making supersonic travel flexible, accessible, and sustainable. We believe that rapid, on-demand, point-to-point global mobility will become the new standard for moving people and goods across the planet. To achieve this, we are integrating our advanced airframe and engine technologies—which include Duality™, our proprietary dual-use propulsion system—with a new flight operations model to make supersonic transport as efficient and economical as commercial air travel is today. In the near term, we are developing adaptable, high-speed systems to close aircraft performance gaps for the United States government.

WHO WE ARE:

We’re a team of passionate engineers dedicated to advancing aerospace. We’re generalists with specialist depth, united by a flat structure and a shared obsession with building things that work well. We move fast, stay pragmatic, and let engineering excellence speak louder than hierarchy.

WHO YOU ARE:

You are a seasoned legal operator who thinks like a business partner first and a lawyer second. You've built legal functions from the ground up at high-growth companies, and you know when to push hard on a contract and when to let something go in the interest of the relationship and the deal. You're comfortable with ambiguity, energized by complexity, and hungry to help scale a company that is doing something genuinely hard and genuinely important. You don't just protect the business, you help it move.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

As General Counsel, you will be Astro Mechanica's first in house legal leader, owning the full legal function across commercial, regulatory, and strategic workstreams. You will bring business judgment to every legal decision, acting as a true executive partner to the CEO, COO, and the broader leadership team.

Specifically, you will:

• Anticipate legal and regulatory risk across the business and help us get ahead of it — not just react to it

• Own all contract review and negotiation across the business, drafting creative commercial agreements from LOIs and term sheets through purchase agreements, licensing deals, and long-term partnership frameworks, with an eye toward business context and counterparty relationships, not just legal risk mitigation

• Lead negotiation of key vendor and partner agreements, including strategic relationships with aerospace OEMs, government agencies, and commercial partners

• Manage and advise on complex entity and subsidiary structures spanning our commercial and federal operations

• Navigate the legal complexities of government contracting, including ITAR/EAR compliance, FAR/DFARS obligations, CUI handling, and FCL planning

• Build out the legal function over time - managing outside counsel efficiently and developing internal processes and playbooks

• Partner with leadership on corporate governance, board matters, equity and compensation structures, and M&A or partnership transactions as they arise

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 8–12+ years of legal experience, with meaningful time at a top tier law firm and in house at a high growth company

• Demonstrated experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements - you are a builder of deals, not just a redliner of them

• Experience with government contracting law and the regulatory landscape surrounding defense and dual-use aerospace programs (ITAR, EAR, FAR/DFARS, CUI)

• Comfort operating within complex corporate structures, including subsidiaries, affiliated entities, and dual-use business models

• Experience supporting or leading legal workstreams for venture-backed fundraising rounds

• Strong business judgment, you calibrate your advice to the commercial context, know when to push and when to move, and help the business do the same

• Exceptional communication skills, you are able to translate complex legal issues into clear, actionable guidance for non-lawyers

• Experience scaling a legal function at a company going through rapid growth

• A passion for aerospace, deep technology, or defense, or a demonstrated ability to go deep on a technically complex domain quickly

PERKS & BENEFITS:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

• 401(k) program and transparent stock option plan

• Self-managed and flexible time-off policy, including PTO, paid holidays, and sick time

• Flexible work environment

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

At Astro Mechanica, we highly value in-office work to foster collaboration and strengthen our company culture. We consider working in the office five days a week an essential part of the employee's role.

Astro Mechanica is an equal opportunity employer. We proudly recruit and hire a diverse workforce and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.