---
title: 'Principal Counsel, Corporate at Perplexity'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-counsel-corporate-perplexity-san-francisco-3z61cgrc8tf8'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-06'
---

# Principal Counsel, Corporate at Perplexity

- **Company:** [Perplexity](https://feeny.ai/companies/perplexity)
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $250k–$350k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-08-17
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity/25fb9e90-e164-4a50-b35f-535572f35a30

## Job description

Summary of Role

Perplexity AI is looking for a Principal Counsel, Corporate to serve as the company’s primary lawyer for corporate governance, equity, and financing matters. In this role, you’ll own the full corporate legal lifecycle, from board and stockholder governance and equity administration to financings, secondary transactions, and entity management as we scale globally. You’ll work closely with our Finance, Accounting, Tax and People teams, as well as with our executive team and investors. You’ll drive transactions from term sheet through closing, build the governance infrastructure that keeps a rapidly growing private company well-run, and stand up the templates, playbooks, and records systems that let corporate work scale without adding headcount. The ideal candidate brings deep private-company corporate and securities experience, precision with cap-table and equity mechanics, and the judgment to make principled calls independently.

This is a high-impact, hands-on role for a corporate attorney who thrives in fast-paced environments, is comfortable being the first and only owner of a workstream, and is excited to help build a best-in-class legal function at one of the most consequential AI companies in the world.

## Key Responsibilities

- Lead corporate governance for Perplexity and its subsidiaries, including board and committee meeting preparation, agendas, minutes, resolutions and written consents, charters, organizational documents, corporate policies, and the corporate records that keep the company well-governed as it scales.
- Structure, draft, and negotiate equity and debt financings from term sheet through closing, including preferred stock financings, credit facilities, convertible instruments, and related diligence and closing deliverables.
- Own secondary transactions and liquidity programs, including tender offers, company repurchases, direct secondaries, transfer approvals and the related stockholder communications and consents.
- Partner with Finance, Accounting, Tax and People on equity compensation and cap-table administration, including option and RSU grant processes, 409A valuations, pool sizing and refreshes, fully diluted share reconciliation, and Carta hygiene.
- Support M&A, acquihires, strategic investments, and other corporate transactions, including structuring, diligence, definitive agreement negotiation, closing, and post-closing integration, and manage outside counsel to budget and schedule.
- Build and scale corporate legal infrastructure, including consent and resolution precedent libraries, grant and vesting exhibit templates, signature and approval workflows, entity management systems, and formation and foreign-qualification processes for domestic and international expansion.
- Support corporate readiness workstreams, including audit support, internal controls over corporate approvals, subsidiary governance, and the sequencing of policies and processes that position the company for future financing or public-company requirements.
- Monitor legal and market developments affecting private-company governance, equity, and securities matters, and translate them into practical guidance for the executive team and the board.

## Qualifications

- JD and in good standing with an active US state bar membership, , or eligible to register as in-house counsel in California
- At least 9+ years of law firm and/or in-house experience
- Track record leading venture or growth equity financings, secondary transactions, and corporate governance for high-growth private technology companies
- Deep familiarity with cap-table mechanics, equity compensation administration, and charter and stockholder agreement provisions, with the precision to reconcile numbers before they reach the board
- Strong business acumen and ability to partner with finance, accounting, people, and executive stakeholders
- An ability to communicate clearly with business and technical audiences and effectively translate legal concepts for non-lawyers
- Hands-on attitude to tackle projects large and small, low-ego approach to working across the organization
- Positive collaborative attitude, comfort with change and a fast pace, high level of integrity, and intellectual curiosity
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

## About Perplexity

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Perplexity builds an AI-powered answer engine that delivers accurate, real-time answers to any question, serving curious minds and professionals who demand precision and speed.
- **Entity Type**: Private (total funding $1.7B across 16 rounds)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Aravind Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, Andy Konwinski

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: AI-powered search and knowledge retrieval, Software Development
- **Target customers**: B2C (general users), B2B (enterprise API customers), and power users seeking reliable information
- **Mission**: “AI for people who expect more – more accuracy, more agency, more signal, less noise.”

## Products & Services
- **Perplexity AI (Free Tier)**: Real-time conversational search engine that synthesizes web results with citations, accessible via web and mobile app. *Type*: SaaS
- **Perplexity Pro**: Subscription offering enhanced features such as advanced AI models, multimodal search, and increased usage limits. *Type*: SaaS (subscription)
- **Perplexity API Platform**: Enables developers to integrate Perplexity’s search and reasoning capabilities into their own applications. *Type*: API
- **Perplexity Browser Extension**: Brings AI-powered search directly into the browser for quick answers without leaving the page. *Type*: Browser extension

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available in provided sources (prior reports indicate ~$9B valuation as of 2024, but not confirmed in this data set)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding $1.7B (16 rounds); annual revenue ~$50M (LinkedIn estimate)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not explicitly listed in provided search results; widely known investors include IVP, NEA, Jeff Bezos, and others (not sourced here)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 11.3% YoY to 1,152 employees; operates in 54 countries; LinkedIn followers grew 131.8% yearly to >1.6M; active hiring across 48+ open roles including AI Research, Engineering, and Go-to-Market teams

## Competitive Advantages
- **Real-time, cited answers**: Unlike traditional chatbots, Perplexity grounds answers in live web results with transparent sources, building trust and accuracy.
- **Multimodal and agentic capabilities**: Continuously pushes frontier research (e.g., query-aware context compression, agents for knowledge work) that differentiates from generic LLM interfaces.
- **Vertical integration from research to product**: In-house AI research team tackles open problems unique to Perplexity’s scale, enabling fast iteration on novel methods.
- **Strong brand and user base**: Rapid consumer adoption with millions of monthly active users and high engagement.

## Strategic Focus
- **Pushing the frontier of search**: Evolving from retrieval services to code generation, agents, and full autonomy in knowledge work.
- **Expanding enterprise and API revenue**: Growing B2B footprint with API platform and enterprise solutions.
- **Global hiring and office expansion**: Offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, Austin, Washington D.C., London, Berlin, and Belgrade, with “4 days in office” hybrid model.
- **Investing in AI research**: Dedicated research division (Perplexity Research) exploring reasoning, agents, and systems to redefine how people navigate the internet.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Environment**: “Thoughtful support” culture with emphasis on craftsmanship, ownership, entrepreneurship, scholarship, and partnership. Hybrid schedule (4 days in-office) based on location.
- **Perks**: Daily catered meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner in office), office snacks, ride home program, commuter benefits, home office reimbursement, fitness classes, gym memberships.
- **Compensation & Benefits**: Competitive salary and equity packages; retirement plans with company match; flexible PTO; holiday shutdown between Christmas and New Year; 12 weeks paid bonding leave; comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
- **Relocation & Visa Support**: Relocation assistance and visa/green card sponsorship for eligible roles. Partners with immigration firm to support the process.
- **Engineering Excellence**: “Technical assessment for relevant roles”; values hands-on contribution, broad skill sets, and merit-based evaluation. Frequent Tech Talks and exposure to greenfield AI research problems.

## Sources
1. [perplexity.ai/hub/careers](https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/careers)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity)
3. [perplexity.ai](https://www.perplexity.ai/)
4. [linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai](https://www.linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai)
5. [research.perplexity.ai](https://research.perplexity.ai/)

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