General Counsel Jobs in California
General Counsel jobs in California are among the most active in the country, concentrated in technology, entertainment, biotech, and financial services, with openings at every level from associate general counsel to chief legal officer. The largest hiring markets are Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, where companies like Apple, Netflix, and Qualcomm maintain significant legal operations. Corporate governance, data privacy under California law, and employment litigation are the specialties drawing the most consistent demand. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 44+ General Counsel jobs
About Neuralink:
We are creating devices that enable a bi-directional interface with the brain. These devices allow us to restore movement to the paralyzed, restore sight to the blind, and revolutionize how humans interact with their digital world.
Team Description
We are a small, dedicated legal team deeply embedded in the business. You will be a vital part of a collaborative and adaptive team that embraces a growth mindset. We handle a wide range of legal issues, and you will have the opportunity to take ownership of key projects and make a tangible, company-wide impact on the business.
Job Description and Responsibilities
Neuralink is hiring an Associate General Counsel to build and lead the company's privacy and compliance program end-to-end. You will own the privacy strategy across our most sensitive data — neural recordings, clinical trial data, and the health information of the patients we serve — and stand up the compliance program that governs how Neuralink interacts with clinical investigators, physicians, hospitals, patients, and federal healthcare programs.
You will report to the General Counsel and partner closely with Clinical, Regulatory, and Engineering. You will set the privacy and compliance posture, design the program, and translate complex global obligations into clear guardrails the team can move quickly within. We are looking for an operator-attorney who is excited to roll up their sleeves, not someone who wants to manage a program from a distance.
As our Associate General Counsel, Privacy & Compliance, you will:
- Lead Neuralink's privacy program across the United States and international jurisdictions, including governance, policies, training, vendor diligence, incident response, and data subject rights.
- Serve as the company's subject-matter authority on HIPAA and clinical trial data. Partner with Clinical, Regulatory, and research ethics committee liaisons to ensure informed consent, BAAs, and study protocols are aligned with patient privacy expectations, best practices, and regulatory requirements.
- Own global privacy compliance and the full set of US state privacy laws. Drive privacy compliance for new market entry as Neuralink expands clinical trials and product availability internationally.
- Drive Privacy by Design with Product and Engineering, including conducting PIAs and DPIAs for new features and clinical study protocols, advising on data minimization and retention, and helping engineering teams ship faster by giving clear, early, implementable guidance.
- Lead vendor privacy reviews and DPA negotiations, including BAAs, SCCs, transfer impact assessments, and subprocessor management, and own the data flow map for the company.
- Maintain the company's privacy notices, internal data handling standards, employee privacy policies, and DSAR/data rights response process.
- Lead the privacy incident response function in partnership with Security; own breach assessment, notification analysis, and regulator-facing communications.
- Lead Neuralink's healthcare compliance program, including the policies, training, monitoring, auditing, and reporting infrastructure of a company operating in a federally regulated healthcare environment (OIG Seven Elements framework).
- Advise on interactions with healthcare professionals, hospitals, and clinical investigators, including AdvaMed Code adherence, Sunshine Act reporting, state HCP-interaction laws.
- Track and translate regulatory developments and enforcements into concrete operational changes.
Key Qualifications
- A J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one state bar (California or Texas preferred).
- Privacy experience at a medical device company or high-growth health technology company (e.g., digital health, wearable tech, or life science company specializing in devices or advanced clinical data systems).
- A minimum of 10 years of privacy-focused legal practice, with substantial in-house experience leading a privacy program. CIPP/US and CIPP/E (or equivalent) strongly preferred.
- Deep, hands-on expertise with HIPAA (Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules), including BAA negotiation and the privacy dimensions of clinical research (IRB processes, informed consent).
- Demonstrated command of GDPR, UK GDPR, and the US state privacy law landscape, including international data transfers and DPO/representative obligations.
- Track record of running Privacy by Design with engineering and product teams — PIAs, DPIAs, data mapping, and embedding privacy into product development.
- Strong contracts background: DPAs, BAAs, vendor privacy provisions.
- Operational fluency. You can build a program, not just advise on one. You have personally stood up policies, processes, and tooling, and you know how to measure whether they're working.
- Excellent judgment under ambiguity. You can take a novel question with no clean regulatory analog and produce a clear, defensible answer that the business can act on.
- Clear writing, rigor, and direct communication. You can translate privacy law into guidance engineers and clinicians can actually use.
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with the privacy issues unique to neural, biometric, and other sensitive categories of data.
- Working knowledge of AI/ML governance and the privacy interplay with model training data, including EU AI Act obligations.
- Experience supporting international expansion (clinical trial site activation, data localization, cross-border transfers).
- Comfort engaging directly with regulators.
- Experience running a compliance hotline and privileged internal investigations, and evaluating OIG/CMS self-disclosure pathways.
What You'll Find Here
A mission you can't get anywhere else. A small, dense team that ships, gives you real ownership, and expects you to think for yourself. The hardest privacy problems in the industry, and the trust to solve them.
What We Offer:
Full-time employees are eligible for the following benefits listed below.
- An opportunity to change the world and work with some of the smartest and most talented experts from different fields
- Growth potential; we rapidly advance team members who have an outsized impact
- Excellent medical, dental, and vision insurance through a PPO plan
- Paid holidays
- Commuter benefits
- Meals provided
- Equity (RSUs) Temporary Employees & Interns excluded
- 401(k) plan Interns initially excluded until they work 1,000 hours
- Parental leave Temporary Employees & Interns excluded
- Flexible time off Temporary Employees & Interns excluded
About Neuralink:
We are creating devices that enable a bi-directional interface with the brain. These devices allow us to restore movement to the paralyzed, restore sight to the blind, and revolutionize how humans interact with their digital world.
Team Description
We are a small, dedicated legal team deeply embedded in the business. You will be a vital part of a collaborative and adaptive team that embraces a growth mindset. We handle a wide range of legal issues, and you will have the opportunity to take ownership of key projects and make a tangible, company-wide impact on the business.
Job Description and Responsibilities
Neuralink is hiring an Associate General Counsel to build and lead the company's privacy and compliance program end-to-end. You will own the privacy strategy across our most sensitive data — neural recordings, clinical trial data, and the health information of the patients we serve — and stand up the compliance program that governs how Neuralink interacts with clinical investigators, physicians, hospitals, patients, and federal healthcare programs.
You will report to the General Counsel and partner closely with Clinical, Regulatory, and Engineering. You will set the privacy and compliance posture, design the program, and translate complex global obligations into clear guardrails the team can move quickly within. We are looking for an operator-attorney who is excited to roll up their sleeves, not someone who wants to manage a program from a distance.
As our Associate General Counsel, Privacy & Compliance, you will:
- Lead Neuralink's privacy program across the United States and international jurisdictions, including governance, policies, training, vendor diligence, incident response, and data subject rights.
- Serve as the company's subject-matter authority on HIPAA and clinical trial data. Partner with Clinical, Regulatory, and research ethics committee liaisons to ensure informed consent, BAAs, and study protocols are aligned with patient privacy expectations, best practices, and regulatory requirements.
- Own global privacy compliance and the full set of US state privacy laws. Drive privacy compliance for new market entry as Neuralink expands clinical trials and product availability internationally.
- Drive Privacy by Design with Product and Engineering, including conducting PIAs and DPIAs for new features and clinical study protocols, advising on data minimization and retention, and helping engineering teams ship faster by giving clear, early, implementable guidance.
- Lead vendor privacy reviews and DPA negotiations, including BAAs, SCCs, transfer impact assessments, and subprocessor management, and own the data flow map for the company.
- Maintain the company's privacy notices, internal data handling standards, employee privacy policies, and DSAR/data rights response process.
- Lead the privacy incident response function in partnership with Security; own breach assessment, notification analysis, and regulator-facing communications.
- Lead Neuralink's healthcare compliance program, including the policies, training, monitoring, auditing, and reporting infrastructure of a company operating in a federally regulated healthcare environment (OIG Seven Elements framework).
- Advise on interactions with healthcare professionals, hospitals, and clinical investigators, including AdvaMed Code adherence, Sunshine Act reporting, state HCP-interaction laws.
- Track and translate regulatory developments and enforcements into concrete operational changes.
Key Qualifications
- A J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one state bar (California or Texas preferred).
- Privacy experience at a medical device company or high-growth health technology company (e.g., digital health, wearable tech, or life science company specializing in devices or advanced clinical data systems).
- A minimum of 10 years of privacy-focused legal practice, with substantial in-house experience leading a privacy program. CIPP/US and CIPP/E (or equivalent) strongly preferred.
- Deep, hands-on expertise with HIPAA (Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules), including BAA negotiation and the privacy dimensions of clinical research (IRB processes, informed consent).
- Demonstrated command of GDPR, UK GDPR, and the US state privacy law landscape, including international data transfers and DPO/representative obligations.
- Track record of running Privacy by Design with engineering and product teams — PIAs, DPIAs, data mapping, and embedding privacy into product development.
- Strong contracts background: DPAs, BAAs, vendor privacy provisions.
- Operational fluency. You can build a program, not just advise on one. You have personally stood up policies, processes, and tooling, and you know how to measure whether they're working.
- Excellent judgment under ambiguity. You can take a novel question with no clean regulatory analog and produce a clear, defensible answer that the business can act on.
- Clear writing, rigor, and direct communication. You can translate privacy law into guidance engineers and clinicians can actually use.
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with the privacy issues unique to neural, biometric, and other sensitive categories of data.
- Working knowledge of AI/ML governance and the privacy interplay with model training data, including EU AI Act obligations.
- Experience supporting international expansion (clinical trial site activation, data localization, cross-border transfers).
- Comfort engaging directly with regulators.
- Experience running a compliance hotline and privileged internal investigations, and evaluating OIG/CMS self-disclosure pathways.
What You'll Find Here
A mission you can't get anywhere else. A small, dense team that ships, gives you real ownership, and expects you to think for yourself. The hardest privacy problems in the industry, and the trust to solve them.
What We Offer:
Full-time employees are eligible for the following benefits listed below.
- An opportunity to change the world and work with some of the smartest and most talented experts from different fields
- Growth potential; we rapidly advance team members who have an outsized impact
- Excellent medical, dental, and vision insurance through a PPO plan
- Paid holidays
- Commuter benefits
- Meals provided
- Equity (RSUs) Temporary Employees & Interns excluded
- 401(k) plan Interns initially excluded until they work 1,000 hours
- Parental leave Temporary Employees & Interns excluded
- Flexible time off Temporary Employees & Interns excluded
See All 44 General Counsel Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find General Counsel JobsGeneral Counsel Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
General Counsel Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- MrBeast7
- Robinhood3
- Travelers3
- Tubi3
- City of Hope2
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software13
- Media & Entertainment10
- Science & Research4
- Insurance3
- Investment & Asset Management3
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in general counsel jobs across California.
- Active membership in the State Bar of California required
- Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school
- Significant experience advising on California employment and corporate law
- Background in data privacy compliance, including CCPA and CPRA regulations
- Demonstrated ability to manage outside counsel and litigation matters
- Experience supporting M&A, financing rounds, or board-level governance work
General Counsel Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a general counsel in California?
To become a general counsel in California, you must be an active member of the State Bar of California, which requires passing the California Bar Exam and satisfying character and fitness requirements administered by the State Bar. Most general counsel roles also require a Juris Doctor from an accredited law school and years of practice in a relevant specialty such as corporate, employment, or intellectual property law before moving into an in-house leadership role.
How much do general counsels make in California?
General counsels in California earn a median of about $195,080 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $97,950 for the lowest 10% to over $369,180 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire general counsels in California?
Employers hiring general counsels in California right now include MrBeast, Robinhood, and Travelers, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of June 2026. California's concentration of publicly traded technology companies, major entertainment studios, and life sciences firms means in-house legal demand is broad and consistent across industries.
Which California cities have the most general counsel jobs?
San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Menlo Park have the most general counsel openings in California. Los Angeles drives demand through its entertainment, media, and private equity sectors, San Francisco and the broader Bay Area reflect the concentration of technology and venture-backed companies, and San Diego's biotech and defense industries anchor hiring in the south.
Are there remote general counsel jobs in California?
Yes, and more than most legal roles, since general counsel work is primarily advisory and document-driven rather than courtroom-based. About 39% of general counsel openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of June 2026, reflecting the desk-based nature of in-house legal work. Contract review, compliance advising, and board communication are the functions most commonly handled fully remotely.
How can I get hired as a general counsel in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is a junior in-house counsel or legal operations role at a California technology or biotech company, which routinely hire recent law school graduates and junior associates for contract management, compliance support, and regulatory work. Large California employers such as major tech firms and hospital systems run structured associate legal programs for candidates early in their careers. Building experience in a California-focused practice area like CCPA compliance or employment law at a firm first makes the transition to in-house work significantly easier.
Where can I find and apply to general counsel jobs in California?
You can find and apply to general counsel jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings across the state. Search the listings, find roles that fit your background and location, and apply directly to the ones that match.
See All 44 General Counsel Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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