Legal Counsel

We are seeking a Legal Counsel to join our small, high-impact global Legal team. This role focuses on the Ethereum Foundation’s internal and operational legal matters, including employment and contractor issues, commercial and event-related contracts, intellectual property, and data protection.

The ideal candidate combines strong legal training with sound judgement and the ability to operate independently across a broad range of issues in a fast-moving, international environment.

About the Ethereum Foundation

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is a global non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the Ethereum ecosystem in realizing the potential of Ethereum as an open, neutral infrastructure for the world. In practice, we dynamically allocate resources to critical projects when needed and step back when others can take the lead.

What You'll Do

• Advise on internal legal matters, including internal corporate governance, employment and contractor issues, and personnel-related questions.

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial and operational agreements, including vendor contracts, event-related agreements, NDAs, service agreements, and grant amendments.

• Support Devcon, Devconnect, and other EF events through contract review and risk assessment.

• Handle intellectual property matters, including trademarks, copyright issues, licensing questions, and disclaimers.

• Advise on data protection and privacy issues, including personal data handling and cross-border considerations.

• Identify legal risks and provide clear, practical mitigation strategies aligned with EF’s mission and values.

• Work with and manage external counsel where specialised expertise is required.

• Improve internal legal templates, playbooks, and workflows.

What You Bring

• 5+ years of post-qualification legal experience, including training at a top-tier international law firm.

• Solid experience in corporate and commercial law, with comfort handling employment, IP, and privacy interfaces.

• Qualification in one or more European jurisdictions; LL.M (US or UK) preferred but not required.

• Experience advising in international or cross-border environments.

• Excellent written and spoken English.

• Strong judgement, professional maturity, and ability to work autonomously.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a remote, distributed team.

• Willingness to travel occasionally for team offsites or conferences.

• Web3 or blockchain experience is a plus, but not required.

Position details

• Full-time role

• Fully remote

• Location preference: Europe (Germany preferred)