Until · 7 hours ago
Head of Legal
San Francisco, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$250K/yr - $300K/yr
7+ years expUntil is a moonshot company focused on revolutionary organ preservation technologies. The Head of Legal will shape the company's legal, IP, and risk posture, acting as a strategic partner to the executive team and influencing key technical and regulatory decisions.
BiotechnologyLife Science
Responsibilities
Own Until’s IP strategy across hardware, software, chemistry, and biology
Coordinate proactive FTO/Patentability searches with external IP counsel and translate results into clear strategic guidance for leadership
Manage outside patent counsel across prosecution, continuation strategy, and portfolio development
Partner closely with R&D and engineering to ensure technical iterations are reflected in IP filings and risk assessments
Maintain visibility into the competitive IP landscape, including competitor monitoring and potential licensing targets
Oversee protection of trade secrets, confidential know-how, and proprietary data across internal teams and external collaborators
Serve as the company’s internal legal lead, responsible for identifying, prioritizing, and mitigating legal risk across the organization
Own the interface with external corporate counsel on governance, financings, and corporate matters
Advise the executive team on legal considerations across product development, regulatory strategy, and commercialization
Partner with Regulatory and Clinical teams on legal risk and positioning related to FDA interactions, clinical studies, and labeling
Build and maintain lightweight, scalable legal processes appropriate for a fast-growing biotech company
Lead or support negotiation of licenses, sponsored research agreements, collaborations, and other types of strategic partnerships
Draft, review, and negotiate complex commercial agreements with a strong understanding of technical and IP implications
Ensure consistency, risk discipline, and speed across contracts as the company scales
Work closely with Strategy, Regulatory, and R&D to ensure legal posture is aligned with the company’s clinical and regulatory roadmap
Support diligence for partnerships, financings, and strategic transactions
Provide pragmatic, technically grounded legal advice to non-legal stakeholders
Support board-level legal matters and investor diligence, including preparation of legal risk summaries and IP positioning
Define the long-term legal function, including decisions around in-house versus external support and future hires
Qualification
Required
JD with 7+ years of relevant legal experience (law firm, in-house, or hybrid)
Experience shaping IP strategy in novel or first-in-class technologies
Experience with continuation strategy, claim scope negotiation, and portfolio construction
Strong technical background with comfort engaging engineers, scientists, and inventors on complex technical systems
Experience negotiating and executing complex commercial, licensing, or sponsored research agreements
Ability to operate independently as the senior legal owner in a fast-moving startup environment
Demonstrated ability to translate ambiguous legal risk into clear strategic options for leadership
Comfort making high-stakes decisions with incomplete information
Preferred
Experience in biotech, medtech, deep tech, or another highly regulated technical domain
Prior in-house experience at a growth-stage company (e.g. as a first or second legal hire at a startup)
Comfort working across hardware, software, and biological IP
Familiarity with legal considerations around clinical studies, investigational use, or regulated product development
Benefits
Equity
Full dental/vision/health benefits
On-site gym
Catered lunch and dinner
Company
Until
We are building reversible cryopreservation technology to solve the organ procurement and matching problem.
11-50 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageTotal Funding
$106MKey Investors
Founders Fund
2025-09-22Series A· $58M
2024-06-06Series A· $48M
Leadership Team
Hunter Davis
Co-founder, CSO
Recent News
2025-11-28
Company data provided by crunchbase