At Dawn, we’re looking for a sharp, pragmatic US qualified Legal Counsel to join our team and play a key role in a fast-moving, highly regulated environment at the forefront of aerospace innovation. This is a rare opportunity to contribute to complex, high-impact projects with a truly international scope.

In this role, you’ll report to Dawn’s General Counsel (based in The Netherlands) as part of a growing, ambitious legal team within an expanding global company. You’ll take the lead on the day-to-day legal support of our spaceplane division, partnering with the business to deliver clear, practical advice that enables progress while managing risk.

Responsibilities

• Commercial contracts and agreements- drafting, negotiating, and managing contracts with industry customers and the institutional sector, including NDAs, sales and service agreements, R&D contracts, consortium and grant agreements.
• Support the Business Development team with proposal writing and review of bid terms.
• Support the Project Management team in monitoring contract execution.
• Support the General Counsel with compliance management, corporate and other internal legal affairs.
• Contract documentation management and maintenance.

Qualifications

• University degree in Law (J.D./LLB or equivalent).
• 3+ years of working experience with contracts and commercial law, in a law firm or in-house work with a company in the Tech or aviation sector.
• Professional qualification in the US.
• Experience in negotiating and managing contracts, including commercial agreements, consortium agreements and grant agreements.
• Knowledge of intellectual property law, including trademarks, patents, and licensing.
• Ability to manage multiple legal matters simultaneously. and provide practical guidance to the relevant teams.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to take ownership while maintaining flexibility and efficiency in a growing organization.
• Excellent command of English.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Willingness to travel internationally.

Desired Experience

• 5-7 years of relevant working experience.
• Experience in the aerospace or defence industry, especially working with governments in the US and/or Europe as customers.
• Excellent knowledge of common law and US federal law, including FAA and FCC regulations.
• Experience in compliance frameworks and practices.
• Working experience with a contract management system.
• Experience with export controls in aerospace or defence technology (especially EU Dual Use, ITAR and EAR).
• Master’s degree in International Trade, Air/Aviation Law, or related fields.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Dawn Aerospace, we believe that diverse teams build better solutions. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences are valued and supported to do their best work.

About Dawn Aerospace

Dawn Aerospace is a space transportation company with a purpose.
Our mission is to enable the next generation of space users by providing more sustainable and scalable ways to access and move around in space. We believe this access, in the form of a transportation network, will fundamentally change what’s possible from space. We currently focus on three areas of space transportation:

• In-space propulsion
  We're a leading supplier of turnkey green propulsion systems for various classes of satellites. Our systems utilise safe, accessible propellants and we have over 170 of these propulsion units on more than 40 operational satellites already. A further 200 units are in production.
• In-space servicing
  Coupled with our propulsion expertise, we are ensuring that our customers' satellites are refuellable. In the coming years, Dawn will offer a refueling service to enable life extension of customer satellites. This new market is aligned with our sustainability goal to ensue a clean and safe space for everyone!
• Spaceplane
  We are developing the fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever to take off from a runway, combining the extreme performance of rocket propulsion with the reusability of conventional airplanes to enable high-frequency, low-cost access to sub-orbital space.

Our international teams are distributed across four locations: the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, and the USA.

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Important!

If you think you have what it takes but are unsure that you check every box, we still want to hear from you.

To all recruitment agencies: Dawn Aerospace does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our job’s alias, our employees, or any other company location. Dawn Aerospace will not be responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.