Associate General Counsel, Product (Reality Labs Research)

About the Role

Meta is seeking an experienced product counsel to serve as Associate General Counsel supporting Reality Labs Research — the R&D organization behind Meta's next generation of wearable, augmented reality, contextualized AI, and robotics technologies. You will be the primary day-to-day legal partner to research leaders and technical teams across multiple related areas of advanced research and development.

A significant focus of this role is legal support for large-scale, program-based prototype device and data collection efforts, including the data flows that underpin all-day contextualized AI and robotics. You will also support the commercial and academic research partnerships that extend this work beyond Meta, and help position research programs for handoff as technologies mature toward product.

The role carries broad technical scope and significant independence, and involves applying evolving legal frameworks to early-stage technologies, often with limited precedent.

About the Team

Reality Labs Research pursues the fundamental technology breakthroughs required to enable Meta's long-term hardware, AI, and robotics ambitions, across research pillars spanning sensing, human-computer interface, display, audio, materials science, robotics, and machine perception. Its research feeds into future product development, requiring close coordination with Meta's AI wearables, robotics, and XR product organizations.

You will join a small legal team supporting Research.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary legal partner to one or more research pillars, advising research leadership and technical teams directly on legal and regulatory risk across a broad set of technologies
• Advise on privacy and regulatory compliance for large-scale research data collection programs, including the data flows supporting all-day contextualized AI and robotics
• Structure, negotiate, and close research and development agreements with commercial and academic partners, including collaboration, data, and technology arrangements
• Provide intellectual property counseling in support of early-stage research across novel hardware and software technologies
• Advise on prototype and research hardware requirements, working with cross-functional stakeholders on issues such as product safety, regulatory approvals, and global trade and export compliance
• Partner with wearables and robotics product teams to align research programs with downstream product and regulatory requirements, and position research outputs for handoff to the product organization
• Coordinate across research pillars to identify recurring and emerging legal issues early, and develop scalable guidance, frameworks, and processes
• Collaborate with colleagues across Legal, Privacy, Public Policy, Partnerships, Regulatory, and Compliance, and manage outside counsel where specialist support is required
• Apply AI tools to drive efficiency in legal support of research team initiatives

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent law degree from an accredited institution
• Active bar license in good standing in at least one U.S. state, or equivalent foreign bar license. Where the jurisdiction of licensure differs from the role's location, the ability to promptly obtain permission to practice law for Meta in that location
• 8+ years of legal experience as a practicing attorney, including at a law firm, in-house, or in government
• Experience providing product, program, or technology counseling on privacy and data protection matters, including global privacy laws and regulatory frameworks
• Experience advising on legal and regulatory issues relating to new and emerging technologies where legal frameworks are unsettled
• Experience drafting and negotiating technology transactions, such as research collaboration, data, licensing, or joint development agreements
• Experience managing legal risk across multiple jurisdictions
• Experience advising research or engineering stakeholders directly
• Effective communication, legal writing, and client counseling skills, with demonstrated business judgment and a track record of delivering results on large-scale, cross-functional projects in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities Experience supporting a research or advanced development organization, including work with scientists, engineers, or academic collaborators
• Experience with research data collection programs involving physiological, sensor, audio, video, or location data
• Experience advising on hardware products or prototypes, including product safety, regulatory approval, or global trade and export compliance
• Experience providing intellectual property counseling, including invention capture, publication or open-source release review, or IP positioning for early-stage technology
• Experience advising on AI-related laws, regulations, and industry guidelines, including as applied to wearable or sensing technologies
• Experience with academic or sponsored research agreements
• Experience advising on robotics, computer vision, or spatial computing technologies
• Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools into legal workflows to drive measurable impact, including responsible and ethical AI practices