NextChapter

Head of Legal jobs: 57 open roles

Open head of legal jobs taken from employers’ own career sites and checked to still be open.

The market for head of legal work

Every figure names its source. Skills and AI-skill shares describe the whole Legal function this title sits in. Outlook, pay and AI-use figures are for the government category “Lawyers”, the closest occupation to this title.

Verified open head of legal jobs
57

Source: NextChapter, checked against employer career sites, last 7 days.

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Employment outlook
Projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035 (faster than average).

Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–2035.

National median pay, all levels
$159,670

Source: BLS OEWS, 2025.

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Openings a year nationally, growth plus replacement
28,700

Source: BLS Employment Projections.

AI use at work
Among lawyers, AI is already used for some of the tasks.

Source: Anthropic Economic Index.

Legal openings that ask for AI skills
3%

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

Legal openings that are remote
4%

Source: NextChapter verified openings.

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Skills most often named in openings

  1. 1. litigation21%
  2. 2. regulatory compliance6%
  3. 3. risk management4%
  4. 4. audit3%
  5. 5. excel3%
  6. 6. procurement2%
  7. 7. intellectual property2%
  8. 8. project management2%

AI skills worth building for this work

  1. 1. AI tools in daily work
  2. 2. Gen-AI assistants (ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude)
  3. 3. Prompt design
  4. 4. AI coding assistants
  5. 5. AI workflow automation
  6. 6. Automation platforms (Zapier, n8n, Power Automate)

More on Legal roles

Where head of legal experience can go next

Career moves the skills carry over to, closest fit first. Time is how long a move usually takes.

  • Compliance and risk

    Close fit · Quick switch (weeks)

    Compliance is legal judgment applied to day-to-day operations, with steadier hours.

    Carries over: Regulatory reading, Risk judgment, Policy drafting

  • Contracts management

    Close fit · Quick switch (weeks)

    Contract management uses your drafting and negotiation without billable hours.

    Carries over: Drafting and negotiating, Risk spotting, Attention to detail

  • Legal operations

    Adjacent · A few months

    Legal operations runs the legal department like a business, a growing field as legal teams adopt AI tools.

    Carries over: Knowing how legal work flows, Matter management, Vendor management

  • Government contracting and public sector sales

    Stretch · A few months

    Government contractors need people who can read regulations and write proposals.

    Carries over: Regulations, Contract terms, Writing

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Open head of legal jobs

Verified against the employer’s own career site within the last week.

Showing the newest 15 of about 57 verified open jobs here. Search all jobs

Search all head of legal jobs

Legal jobs in the rankings

Rankings about legal jobs

Legal jobs · Top Legal employers · All rankings

Where head of legal jobs are

Between jobs? Unemployment benefits and severance rules in these states, or in every state.

Head of Legal jobs by city and state

Employers hiring head of legals

  • Confidential 3
  • Etched 3
  • Zumper 2
  • Until 2
  • The Military Veteran 2
  • Courier Health 2
  • Develop Health 2
  • TypeSafe AI 1
  • Amperity 1
  • AIC International 1

Head of Legal is one of the ways general counsel is written. The General Counsel (Chief Legal Officer, CLO) role page counts every spelling together: pay, best industries and states, skills and AI skills.

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