Legal Counsel (Fractional)

Application Deadline: 1 November 2026

Department: Core Operations

Employment Type: Part Time

Location: Remote

Reporting To: Carolyn Footitt

Compensation: $200.00 - $300.00 / hour

Description

• Role: General Counsel
• Salary:  $200 - 300/hr for independent contractor; $220,000 - $300,000 gross annual full-time salary (prorated for fractional hours) For other currencies, we use a 5-year rolling average exchange rate. 
• Location: Fully remote. UTC-5 to UTC+2 preferred, US or UK-based preferred given their legal footprint, but flexible.
• Job Type: Fractional, roughly 20-24 hours/week, with room to grow as their project portfolio scales. Open to employee or independent contractor structure (employee-route preferred).
• Reports to: Chief Operations Officer, Carolyn Footitt 
• Start date: As soon as possible
• Application Deadline: End of the day, Sunday, November 1st. 
• Application Process: Click here to apply.

About Rethink Priorities and the Position

• Nonprofit law. Advising our US 501(c)(3) on the boundaries of charitable activity, including fiscal sponsorship (Model A) of independent projects.
• Contracts and agreements. Drafting and reviewing contractor agreements and service agreements, among others.
• Employment law and immigration. Keeping multi-jurisdiction employment practice compliant, and supporting visa sponsorship and immigration compliance for staff.
• Grant and fiscal sponsorship agreements. Negotiating granting agreements with funders and grant recipients, and fiscal sponsorship agreements covering IP transfer and spin-off provisions.
• Regulatory compliance. Assessing FARA exposure, GDPR obligations across our UK and EU work, and emerging AI regulation that affects our research and operations.
• Entity formation and spin-off. Supporting projects as they become independent nonprofits, including entity formation, exemption applications and asset transfer.
• Ad hoc counsel and triage. Handling one-off structural questions in-house, and knowing when to escalate to specialist outside counsel.

About this Hiring Round

• Speed matters. A recurring pain point for orgs has been slow turnaround. This ecosystem moves quickly, and needs counsel who can keep pace.
• Risk-calibrated, not risk averse. How much risk each org is comfortable with varies, but all of them want counsel who will lay out the risk, the likelihood and a clear recommendation based on the specifics of a given situation, not a counsel who defaults to best practices.
• Novel legal landscape. Fiscal sponsorship structures, frontier AI lab contract negotiation, export controls and FARA exposure, compute contract remedies, and the boundaries of 501(c)(3)/501(c)(4) activity all come up regularly, often without established precedent. 

• To Apply: Submit one application by the end of November 1st. Tell us your preference of full-time, fractional or open to either, and which organizations you’d like your application shared with. 
• Evaluation: Candidates who move forward will be asked to complete a work test.
• Each organization will hire independently. Every org reviews applications, conducts interviews and makes its own hiring decision.  

Benefits

• Annual salary range: $200 - 300/hr for independent contractor; $220,000 - $300,000 gross annual full-time salary (prorated for fractional hours), based on a 40-hour workweek.
• Exact salary will be based on the candidate's prior relevant experience and corresponding title level, calculated using RP's salary algorithm.
• Compensation is not restricted to USD and can be offered in other currencies. We use a 5-year rolling average exchange rate.
• To ensure fairness across the organization, RP does not negotiate salaries.

• Flexible work hours and location.
• Comprehensive benefits (varies by country and number of hours worked; RP aims for equity and quality across all staff).
• Generous paid time off, including vacation (with a minimum required statutory minimum), "mandated" mid- and end-year organization-wide breaks
• A collaborative leadership team and low administrative bureaucracy.
• Technology stipend for work and office equipment.
• AI tools budget of $40 USD equivalent monthly.
• Learning opportunities, including workshops/training sessions and work time dedicated to professional and personal development.
• Virtual co-working spaces, including a private Rethink Priorities Focusmate group.
• RP Peer Support Program for New Employees.
• Other benefits at the discretion of RP Leadership.
• A caring team that values respectful work relations and a healthy work-life balance.
• We don’t provide snacks, but we could mail you a box of Oreos if you want!

1. A consultancy doing commissioned work in response to demands from organizations doing high-impact work 
2. A research institute driven by research agendas we set according to our own priorities.
3. A think tank aiming to inform public policy to improve the world.
4. An accelerator, incubator, and base for priority projects.

• Bringing attention to neglected issues, such as lead exposure, fungal diseases, and shrimp welfare. 
• Increasing the collective impact of advocates across each field in which we work through strategic coordination.
• Investigating potential interventions and identifying the most cost-effective options. In 2025, our research influenced tens of millions of dollars in foundation grants. 
• Creating practical tools for philanthropists to compare resource allocations across different species and cause areas and to build giving portfolios despite uncertainties.
• Providing organizations with data to inform their decisions. For example, we have conducted surveys on perceptions of existential risks, AI, effective giving, and other topics. 
• Providing fiscal sponsorship and operational support to ensure that high-impact initiatives in areas like AI safety and animal welfare can launch and grow effectively.
• Donor Compass - Cross Cause Fund Tool to guide philanthropic giving