Senior Counsel

ispace is a lunar exploration and development company with offices in Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States, developing high-capacity payload lunar landers designed to support future lunar missions. The U.S. branch, based in Englewood, Colorado, sits at the frontier of commercial lunar transportation — a sector operating at the intersection of NASA's Artemis programme, U.S. government contracting, and the evolving international framework for lunar resource utilisation. This Senior Counsel role serves as the lead legal adviser for ispace's U.S. organisation, reporting to the CEO and partnering closely with the global General Counsel. The portfolio spans U.S. government contracting (FAR/DFARS compliance, subcontracting with prime contractors, data rights), complex commercial transactions, export controls and trade compliance (ITAR/EAR), corporate governance, and strategic partnerships including joint ventures and international transactions. The postholder will also oversee legal operations — building scalable internal processes, managing external counsel relationships, and supporting cross-border regulatory alignment with ispace's global legal team. For space law practitioners, this is one of the most substantively rich in-house roles currently available in the commercial lunar sector. Familiarity with CFIUS or Foreign Ownership Control and Influence (FOCI) considerations is explicitly valued, reflecting ispace's multinational corporate structure and government programme exposure. The role is hybrid and ideally located in Denver, CO or Washington, DC.

Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an ABA-accredited law school with active bar licence in at least one U.S. jurisdiction; ability to obtain in-house counsel registration in Colorado if not currently licensed 7+ years of legal experience combining law firm and/or in-house roles Experience in the aerospace, defence, or advanced technology sectors Experience advising on U.S. government contracting matters including FAR and DFARS compliance Experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements Working knowledge of export controls and trade compliance including ITAR and EAR Strong understanding of corporate law, commercial transactions, and regulatory compliance US Person status required for ITAR compliance Desirable: 10+ years of experience and deep familiarity with government subcontracting environments Desirable: familiarity with CFIUS or FOCI considerations Desirable: experience building or scaling legal functions in a high-growth organisation Desirable: background in engineering, computer science, or physics