Employment Counsel, Fireworks AI
$355-400k
Offers Equity
More information about location
Office located in San Mateo, CA
Generative AI platform enabling rapid scaling for developers and businesses
Posted today
Generative AI platform enabling rapid scaling for developers and businesses
101-200 employees
Posted today
$355-400k
Offers Equity
More information about location
Office located in San Mateo, CA
101-200 employees
Company mission
To help every organization unleash the full power of artificial intelligence.
Role
Who you are
- 9+ years of in-house employment and labor law experience
- A JD and membership in at least one US state bar
- Prior startup experience, ideally in a hypergrowth environment
- A track record of close collaboration and strong partnership with HR and People Operations teams
- Familiarity with employee equity and compensation considerations
- Experience supporting international expansion and navigating global employment laws
- A pragmatic, build-from-scratch mindset and the judgment to balance risk with business velocity
- AI-forward, builder’s mindset, with a demonstrated ability to use AI tools to streamline daily workflows and accelerate efficiency
What the job involves
- We're building the infrastructure that democratizes access to intelligence. By serving state-of-the-art models to enterprises and advancing open source, we enable organizations to truly own their own intelligence
- Our legal team exists to make that mission possible, responsibly and at scale, because we believe broad access to AI is one of the most consequential things we can build for society
- Our legal team is defined by high integrity, high character, and high trust. We're low-ego, collaborative, kind, and supportive people who are genuinely excited to be part of a team. We win together or not at all
- As Employment Counsel, you'll be a foundational member of our growing legal team, owning the employment and labor matters that come with building and scaling a fast-growing company
- You'll join at a pivotal moment as we rapidly scale our team and serve as the go-to legal partner for our People and HR organization
- This is a build-from-the-ground-up role for someone who's navigated hypergrowth before and knows how to keep a scaling workforce both well-supported and well-protected. This role reports to the General Counsel
- Advise on the full range of employment and labor matters: hiring, terminations, classifications, leaves, accommodations, investigations, and policy
- Partner closely with HR and People Operations as a trusted, day-to-day legal advisor
- Counsel on employee equity and compensation considerations
- Build scalable employment policies, templates, and processes suited to a rapidly growing, multi-state workforce
- Support international expansion and advise on cross-border employment and global labor law compliance as we grow our footprint beyond the US
- Manage employment-related disputes and coordinate specialist outside counsel where needed
- Keep us ahead of the compliance obligations that come with fast headcount growth
Our take
Whilst the development of generative AI is thought to be the reserve of large companies like Open AI, smaller startups such as Firework AI are making this technology easier to access and develop for smaller companies wanting to handle specific business needs using AI. As an open-source model API, it has one of the largest user bases - with over 12,000 users leveraging Fireworks AI’s software.
Though lacking the brand name recognition of generative AI developers like Google and Meta, Fireworks AI differentiates itself in a market crowded with large competitors through its unique approach to deploying its software. It creates smaller, production-grade, customizable generative AI models that can be launched privately and securely, rather than the non-private and inflexible models built by larger companies.
After its 2025 Series C round of $250M, Fireworks AI has been valued at over $4B, an impressive sum for a David in a sea of Goliaths. The company plans to use its funding to reshape AI infrastructure as well as expand globally. It will be interesting to see how the company evolves with its potentially disruptive business approach to generative AI.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Oct 2025
$230m
SERIES C
Jul 2024
$52m
SERIES B
Total funding: $307m
Company HQ
Redwood City, CA
Leadership
Lin Qiao
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously a Senior Director of Engineering at Meta, a Tech Lead at Linkedin, a Research Staff Member at IBM Almaden Research Center and an Advisory Software Engineer at IBM Silicon Valley Lab.
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