At Lace Lithography, we’re scaling up our team and looking for a passionate and sharp legal talent to join us.

In our company we build chip lithography technology that will enable the next 100 years of chip manufacturing. Founded in 2023, we’re based in Bergen (Norway) and Barcelona (Spain), and backed by some of the world’s most ambitious investors.

Lace Lithography is seeking a highly experienced General Counsel to join our team. In this high-impact role, you will be forming our legal function from the ground up, serving as the strategic guardian of our IP and corporate structure. Working alongside physicists, chemists and developers, you will play a critical role in translating groundbreaking scientific innovation into a defensible and commercially viable asset portfolio.

This role is based in Bergen (Norway) or Barcelona (Spain), and will involve regular travel between our key locations throughout the year.

What you'll work with at Lace

Note: We don't expect you to have expertise in all points, but expect you to find multiple topics highly relevant and aligned with your experience and future career:

1. IP Strategy & Management: Define and execute a global IP strategy. Manage patent filings, freedom-to-operate (FTO) analysis, and trade secret protection in collaboration with our R&D teams.

2. Commercial Transactions: Draft, review, and negotiate high-stakes commercial agreements, including Joint Development Agreements (JDAs), licensing deals, and complex supply chain contracts.

3. Corporate Governance & Financing: Contribute to the Board of Directors, manage corporate housekeeping across Norway and Spain, and provide legal support for future fundraising rounds and equity incentive plans.

4. Regulatory & Compliance: navigate the complex regulatory landscape of the semiconductor industry, with a specific focus on export controls, international trade compliance, and data privacy.

5. External Counsel Management: Select and manage external law firms in various jurisdictions, ensuring high-quality advice while maintaining budget efficiency.

6. Risk Mitigation: Proactively identify legal and operational risks and develop practical strategies to mitigate them without slowing down innovation.

Qualifications

• Education & Certification: Law degree from a reputable university and admission to the Bar in a relevant jurisdiction (EU, UK, or US).

• Experience: 5+ years of post-qualification experience, with a mix of top-tier law firm training and in-house experience in a high-growth environment.

• Deep-Tech/Hard-Tech Focus: Proven experience dealing with hardware and semiconductors, or complex IP-heavy technologies. You must be comfortable sitting in a room with physicists and understanding the "what" and "why" of what we build.

• Cross-Border Fluency: Familiarity with cross-border corporate structures (experience with Spanish or Norwegian law is a massive plus, but not mandatory if you are a quick learner).

• Negotiation Skills: A track record of closing complex deals/technology transactions or partnerships.

• Mindset: You are pragmatic, not bureaucratic. You know when to be a rigorous lawyer and when to be a business enabler.

Our team here at Lace:

…consists of amazing people who’ve joined us from all over the world, driven by intense curiosity, the urge for exploration, and a desire to push the limits of physics. We promise to offer you a place among highly motivated Lacers, present you with extremely difficult problems—and have a lot of fun solving them.

Workplace & culture:

Lace operates out of two beautiful, vibrant, and strong-willed cities. Although we are cities apart, we strive to make the team feel as one.

We don’t define values—but we have one universal expectation:
Be the best team player you can be.

Perks and Benefits:

💸 Part of the team, part of the company
Competitive salary + equity through our incentive plan.

🏋️ Feel-good perks
€50 monthly gym allowance, weekly team lunches, monthly social events, and annual off-site with the whole team.

🚀 Personal Development
Quarterly development goals with your manager and your own budget to learn and grow.

✈️ No journey without travelling
We support relocation and immigration to make joining Lace as smooth as possible.