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Director, Product Foundations
Legal & ComplianceHybrid – San Francisco, CA$310,000 – $340,000
About ScienceToStartup:
ScienceToStartup bridges frontier AI research and global-scale engineering to identify the next breakthrough companies. Our platform analyzes thousands of academic papers daily, surfaces commercially viable research, and connects researchers with the startup ecosystem. We help customers — from VCs and TTOs to independent founders — discover tomorrow's billion-dollar ideas today.
Our mission is to democratize access to scientific discovery. That starts with creating a place where everyone can do their best work. Whether you're building our platform, supporting our customers, or shaping our story: you can just ship things.
About the Role:
ScienceToStartup is hiring a Director of Product Foundations to build the legal and compliance infrastructure that enables our product velocity at scale. The core priority for this role is leading privacy and regulatory matters on the legal team; you will also oversee IP strategy and litigation.
As we process thousands of research papers, patent filings, and proprietary datasets daily, this role is critical to ensuring we do so responsibly — building trust with researchers, universities, and enterprise customers.
You will report to the VP of Legal and partner closely with Security, Trust & Safety, and GRC, as well as product, engineering, and data teams.
This role is based in SF with a 3 day/week in-office requirement.
What You Will Do:
- 1Lead ScienceToStartup's privacy program, regulatory strategy and frameworks, IP strategy, litigation, and the legal team's incident response processes
- 2Navigate the complex intersection of AI/ML, academic research data, and commercial use — ensuring our platform respects researcher rights and institutional agreements
- 3Translate complex regulatory requirements into business-oriented, actionable guidance so product teams can continue to ship fast
- 4Build scalable compliance programs using policies, playbooks, templates, trainings, and AI-powered legal tools
- 5Partner with engineering to implement privacy-by-design in our research intelligence pipeline
- 6Advise on IP strategy for our proprietary algorithms, data models, and platform innovations
About You:
- California Bar admission or eligible for Registered In-House Counsel exception and in good standing
- 12+ years of legal experience, including meaningful product counseling, privacy, and/or regulatory experience in-house at a high-growth technology company
- Strong understanding of AI, cloud services, and data platform business practices and relevant global regulatory requirements
- Strong judgment and creativity around risk-assessment and mitigation — able to make decisions with imperfect facts, embracing speed and obsession with product innovation
- Deep technical literacy — comfortable mapping technical architectures, data flows, and ML pipelines into legal risk frameworks
- Exceptional communication and advocacy skills, particularly with non-lawyers
- Cooperative approach, willing to take on additional responsibilities where no job is too big or too small
- Experience managing legal teams, building strategic programs, and partnering with senior business and technical leaders
- Fluency with AI tools and a passion for the intersection of science and entrepreneurship
Bonus If You:
- Prior history leading litigation and IP, including familiarity with open source software and academic licensing
- Experience supporting IPO readiness, M&A integration, and data incidents
- Hands-on experience with DMCA, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and regulations applicable to research data platforms
- Experience with university technology transfer agreements and research data licensing
Benefits:
- Competitive compensation package, including equity
- Inclusive Healthcare Package
- Learn and Grow — we provide mentorship and send you to events that help you build your network and skills
- Flexible Time Off
- We will provide you the gear you need to do your role, and a WFH budget for you to outfit your space as needed
The base pay range for this role is $310,000 – $340,000. Actual salary will be based on job-related skills, experience, and location. The total compensation package also includes benefits and equity-based compensation.
ScienceToStartup is committed to fostering and empowering an inclusive community within our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. ScienceToStartup encourages everyone to apply for our available positions, even if they don't necessarily check every box on the job description.