Legal Operations Engineer

Hadrian Automation•Washington, DC

About The Position

Hadrian is building autonomous factories that help aerospace and defense companies manufacture rockets, satellites, jets, and ships up to 10x faster and 2x cheaper. By combining advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we’re reinventing how America produces its most critical parts. We recently raised a $260M Series C to accelerate this mission. Our new 270,000 sq. ft. Mesa, AZ factory will create hundreds of new jobs and expand Hadrian’s ability to deliver at scale. Backed by Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and Andreessen Horowitz, we’re building a cornerstone of America’s industrial future. The Legal Operations Engineer will be a systems builder and architect within Hadrian’s Legal function, responsible for designing, implementing, and scaling the systems, processes, and compliance infrastructure that will enable the company to grow quickly and responsibly. This role is ideal for someone who thrives at the intersection of legal, systems thinking, process design, and technology — and who enjoys building from scratch in an environment where structure is being designed in real time. You’ll report to the General Counsel and work closely with Legal, Finance, Security, IT, HR, and Operations to turn legal requirements into durable, scalable workflows.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in legal operations, compliance operations, program management, or systems/process design roles
Proven track record of building legal or compliance infrastructure in a scaling organization
Strong systems-thinking mindset — comfortable designing workflows, data models, and tooling from first principles
Experience implementing and managing legal tech platforms (e.g., CLM, GRC, entity management, document management)
Ability to work independently, prioritize effectively, and operate with minimal structure
Excellent cross-functional communication skills and the ability to translate legal requirements into operational reality
Comfort operating in regulated or high-stakes environments

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting aerospace, defense, manufacturing, hardware, or other regulated industries
Familiarity with ITAR, export controls, or government-adjacent compliance environments
Technical fluency (e.g., SQL, workflow automation tools, low-code/no-code platforms, or systems integration)
Experience as an early or first Legal Ops hire at a startup or high-growth company
Ability to act as both a strategic architect and a hands-on executor
A builder mindset — excited to create systems that didn’t previously exist

Responsibilities

Architect, implement and maintain Hadrian’s legal operations foundation, including systems, tools, and processes that scale with company growth
Own and evolve core legal infrastructure such as: Contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems, entity management and corporate governance workflows
Compliance tracking and reporting (e.g., ITAR, export controls, internal policies)
Intake, approval, and prioritization workflows for Legal
Partner with Legal leadership to translate regulatory and compliance requirements into operational systems
Build repeatable processes for contract review, approvals, and recordkeeping that balance speed with rigor
Build and maintain dashboards, metrics, and systems reporting to provide visibility into legal work, risk areas, and compliance status
Support audits, diligence requests, and regulatory inquiries by ensuring systems are accurate, complete, and defensible
Identify manual, error-prone, or fragmented processes and automate or streamline them
Serve as a cross-functional partner to Finance, Security, HR, and Operations on compliance-adjacent initiatives
Manage and optimize relationships with legal technology vendors and outside service providers
Create documentation, playbooks, and training to support adoption and consistency across the company