Trainee Startup Lawyer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

The way companies innovate is broken. The systems built to create and protect ideas can't keep up with the pace of change. Today, 90% of S&P 500 company value is intangible (e.g., in intellectual property) - yet R&D and IP teams spend half their time buried in manual work, sifting through patents and paperwork instead of pushing the frontier forward. The tools of creating and protecting are stuck in the past. We're here to fix that.
Ankar is building the R&D tools for the AI era and defining what applied research will look like in the next 20 years. We're building infrastructure and product experiences our customers rely on every day. You'll translate messy, ambiguous problems into clean, dependable software-and you'll do it at the cutting-edge of AI.
We're at an inflection point:

• We've raised >$24M to date from Tier-1 VCs like Atomico, Index Ventures, Norrsken, Daphni, and angels like the Founder of Hugging Face, CEO from Datadog, and Leaders from DeepMind and OpenAI.
• We're already working with the world's most innovative companies including Fortune 500 company L'Oréal and global law firm Vorys
• Expanding our world-class team with alumni from Palantir, Amazon, and BCG to tackle the $1T+ innovation market. We're just getting started.

What you'll be doing
We're looking for a hands-on patent professional who can bridge product, engineering, and intellectual property - embedding with customers and internal teams to design, prototype, and deploy proofs of concept and new products. You'll apply your patent expertise to help shape how we capture and protect innovation as we build.

• Partner with our customers (in-house patent teams and patent law firms) to design and deliver high-value proofs of concepts and new products
• Run customer sessions with patent professionals to ensure successful adoption and measurable value delivery from our products
• Turn customer feedback into clear product requirements
• Spot emerging product opportunities across customer conversations

What we are looking for

• 2+ years of experience in a patent-focused role (e.g., patent attorneys, trainee patent attorneys) with deep understanding of the patent lifecycle. At least a Bachelor's Degree in chemistry, engineering, or a related field, with patent domain expertise.
• A builder's mindset. You thrive in ambiguity, iterate quickly, and love creating order out of chaos.
• Extreme ownership. You see problems before they happen, you take responsibility, and you deliver. This is how you grow-and how we win.
• [Bonus points] You've had experience working in a fast-paced startup environment and is passionate about technology and AI.

Culture at Ankar:
Culture at Ankar is how we think, build, and operate. We're building a generational company that redefines how the world's best R&D teams create and protect ideas.

• Contrarian - we think from first principles: We think deeply, question assumptions, and build from first principles. The best ideas come from clarity and rigour.
• Creative - we build with taste:We're building the R&D tools for the AI era and shaping what applied research looks like over the next 20 years. We care about precision, quality, and systems that last.
• Competitiveness - we play to win: We move with urgency and set a very high bar for ourselves and each other. Every win raises the bar. Every challenge sharpens us.

This role is not for you if...

• You need a highly structured environment, a predefined playbook, regular working hours, or a schedule that never requires travel. We operate with high autonomy and ownership, expect our team to go above and beyond, be obsessed with our mission and thrive in ambiguity rather than wait for direction.

• You prefer long planning cycles and certainty before acting. We move quickly, ship often, and adapt based on customer feedback and new information.

• You want to manage the work rather than do the work. We're builders first, and everyone is expected to contribute directly to creating exceptional products.

• You take it personally when ideas are challenged, priorities shift, or work gets redirected. We care more about finding the right answer than defending a particular one.

What we put behind our people
Building at the frontier takes exceptional people. We invest accordingly.

• Health Insurance : Full private health & dental coverage for you and your dependents.
• Pension: Flexible pension scheme with up to 5% employer matching on qualifying earnings.
• Food on us: Team lunches twice a week, plus dinner when working late in the office.
• Cycle to work: Green Commute initiative scheme (up to £3k) to help you get a new bike tax-free.
• Way we work: We combine deep, in-person collaboration (3 days/week in our Shoreditch office) with flexibility and trust. What matters is ownership, impact, and results, not where you work from.
• Visa sponsorship: Yes