Founding Engineer at Venture-Backed, AI-Native Law Firm

📋 Description

• • Shepherd is revolutionizing the legal industry by establishing itself as the premier AI-native hybrid law firm, specifically designed to serve the dynamic needs of startups from their earliest stages (pre-seed) through Series B funding.
• • Our innovative model seamlessly integrates cutting-edge AI technology with the expertise of seasoned attorneys, delivering legal services that are not only faster and more cost-effective but also characterized by unparalleled transparency.
• • We are committed to eliminating the traditional unpredictability associated with billable hours by offering clear, fixed-cost pricing structures, providing our clients with financial certainty and peace of mind.
• • At the heart of our operation is a sophisticated, contextual AI that meticulously learns each client's unique business model, risk tolerance, and preferred deal structures.
• • This deep understanding enables us to craft highly personalized legal solutions that are delivered at a fraction of the cost typically associated with traditional large law firms.
• • Unlike purely technology-driven platforms, Shepherd distinguishes itself by ensuring that clients work directly with dedicated attorneys who offer strategic guidance and cultivate strong, relationship-based counsel.
• • Our vision is to fundamentally reshape the future of legal services, creating a paradigm where technological efficiency directly enhances client value, rather than solely benefiting law firm margins.
• • We are seeking a visionary Founding Engineer / Head of Engineering to spearhead our technical strategy and construct the foundational core of our product from its inception.
• • This is a pivotal role within our founding team, offering the opportunity to architect our advanced AI engine, meticulously shape the product's data architecture and workflow systems, and lead the technical execution that will power the world's first AI-native law firm tailored for startups.
• • In this capacity, you will collaborate closely with the CEO and Chief Legal Officer (CLO) to transform complex, often ambiguous legal workflows into robust, scalable, and automated systems.
• • Your work will involve a sophisticated blend of Large Language Models (LLMs), structured data management, and essential human-in-the-loop validation processes to create a seamless and modern experience for our startup clients.
• • This role represents a true 0→1 product build, a leadership position with significant impact, and an unparalleled opportunity to define the critical technical foundations of a company poised to become a category-defining leader in legal technology.
• • **Technical Leadership:** You will be responsible for architecting the complete end-to-end technology stack for the Shepherd platform, encompassing LLM infrastructure, the core workflow engine, database design, and essential API integrations with tools like Slack and DocuSign.
• • You will establish and champion engineering best practices, define the technical roadmap, and make critical long-term architecture decisions that will guide our growth.
• • A key responsibility will be building the foundation for a highly secure and compliant system, ensuring adherence to stringent startup and enterprise legal standards.
• • You will own the end-to-end process of evaluating, fine-tuning, and deploying LLMs for a variety of critical legal tasks, including contract analysis, summarization, redlining, and risk scoring.
• • **Product & AI Development:** You will be instrumental in building our core product features, including AI-powered contract review and redlining capabilities, and expanding our context-aware AI to understand and adapt to diverse client needs.
• • You will develop and implement smart drafting functionalities and document automation tools to streamline legal document creation.
• • A significant focus will be on workflow automation, covering processes from client intake and task management to approvals and document routing.
• • You will build a comprehensive legal hub designed for seamless client interaction, providing access to requests, documents, important alerts, and direct communication channels with our attorneys.
• • You will design and implement sophisticated human-in-the-loop systems that effectively balance the speed and efficiency of AI with the critical validation and strategic insight of experienced attorneys.
• • Your role will involve translating intricate and often undefined legal workflows into clean, reliable, and repeatable technical systems that can scale effectively.
• • You will engage directly with our early customers, gathering crucial feedback to validate features and iterate rapidly on the product in real-time.
• • **Security, Compliance & Infrastructure:** You will be responsible for setting up and maintaining infrastructure that meets rigorous SOC-2 and privacy standards, ensuring the highest levels of data protection.
• • You will implement robust security measures, including secure document storage, granular access controls, role-based permissions, and comprehensive audit trails to maintain data integrity and confidentiality.
• • You will ensure the ethical, compliant, and trustworthy application of AI models across the entire platform, adhering to all relevant legal and regulatory frameworks.
• • **Team & Culture:** As the company grows, you will be responsible for hiring and leading a world-class engineering team, encompassing frontend, backend, and ML/AI specialists.
• • You will cultivate a strong engineering culture characterized by rapid velocity, exceptional quality, and a deep sense of ownership among team members.
• • You will serve as a technical co-founder, capable of clearly and effectively communicating technical vision and progress to investors, partners, and customers.