What are the responsibilities and job description for the Counsel – Legal & Contracts position at OKSI?
Description
OKSI seeks an experienced Counsel – Legal & Contracts to serve as the company's primary internal legal resource for contracting, legal operations, and protection of intellectual property and data rights. This is a hands-on, execution-focused individual contributor role working closely with the Vice President of Operations, the Contracts Administrator, business stakeholders, and the fractional General Counsel. The attorney in this role is expected to independently manage routine and moderately complex legal and contracts matters across commercial and government programs, and to partner with the fractional General Counsel on novel, strategic, or high-risk issues.
This position is best suited for an attorney who remains active in the day-to-day work of drafting, redlining, and negotiating commercial and government agreements.
What You'll Do
Qualifications
OKSI seeks an experienced Counsel – Legal & Contracts to serve as the company's primary internal legal resource for contracting, legal operations, and protection of intellectual property and data rights. This is a hands-on, execution-focused individual contributor role working closely with the Vice President of Operations, the Contracts Administrator, business stakeholders, and the fractional General Counsel. The attorney in this role is expected to independently manage routine and moderately complex legal and contracts matters across commercial and government programs, and to partner with the fractional General Counsel on novel, strategic, or high-risk issues.
This position is best suited for an attorney who remains active in the day-to-day work of drafting, redlining, and negotiating commercial and government agreements.
What You'll Do
- Draft, review, revise, and negotiate a broad range of agreements including NDAs, customer agreements, vendor and supplier contracts, subcontracts, teaming agreements, reseller/VAR/channel partner agreements, software and technology agreements, licensing agreements, statements of work, and amendments
- Serve as the primary internal reviewer for legal and commercial terms including indemnification, limitation of liability, IP ownership, licensing, confidentiality, data rights, payment terms, warranties, termination, and dispute resolution
- Independently manage agreements end-to-end, including proposing positions, evaluating tradeoffs, and determining when escalation is necessary
- Advise internal teams on legal and contractual matters arising under government prime contracts, subcontracts, solicitations, proposals, awards, and modifications
- Review and interpret FAR/DFARS flowdowns, representations and certifications, and related government-contracting requirements, and provide practical guidance to program and business teams
- Structure and negotiate positions related to SBIR/STTR rights, technical data and software rights, deliverable markings, and subcontract risk allocation
- Ensure OKSI's IP, software, technical data, and related rights are appropriately protected in both commercial and government contracting contexts
- Develop and maintain templates, fallback language, clause libraries, and negotiation playbooks to address recurring issues
- Build and improve legal intake, triage, tracking, and escalation processes in coordination with the Contracts Administrator and leadership
- Translate legal risks into clear, practical guidance for executives, engineers, program managers, and business development personnel
Qualifications
- 7–12 years of legal experience with significant emphasis on contracts, commercial transactions, government contracting, or related in-house legal roles — candidates significantly above or below this range are unlikely to be a fit
- Currently active as a primary drafting and negotiating attorney — this role is not a fit for candidates who have moved primarily into oversight, management, or GC-level responsibilities
- Demonstrated experience independently drafting, revising, and negotiating commercial agreements end-to-end
- Strong understanding of risk allocation, contract structure, and practical business judgment
- Ability to identify legal issues quickly, prioritize them, and propose workable solutions rather than only flagging concerns
- Comfortable doing the work directly — reviewing redlines, owning negotiations, and managing matters without delegating to junior staff
- Ability to collaborate directly with business stakeholders and deliver practical, actionable legal guidance
- Professional maturity, discretion, and ability to operate with significant autonomy and responsibility
- In-house counsel experience within growth-stage, operational, or engineering-focused organizations
- Experience in aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, sensors, advanced manufacturing, or comparable technology-driven industries
- Experience with FAR/DFARS, subcontracting, and government contracting environments
- Experience addressing IP, data rights, technical data and software rights, deliverable markings, or related legal issues
- Experience developing and implementing templates, playbooks, fallback positions, or legal workflow systems
- Experience with CLM, document management, e-signature, or similar legal operations platforms
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school required
- Active membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state bar required
- Eligibility to register or qualify as in-house counsel in relevant jurisdictions preferred