Assistant General Counsel

Overview

This role involves leading and managing external legal matters and providing strategic legal counsel as a consumer-finance business grows and evolves. Primary responsibilities include managing consumer litigation and arbitration, regulatory examinations and investigations, enforcement matters, and escalated legal complaints.

The position includes managing matters from initial assessment through resolution—such as internal fact development, discovery, motion and trial strategy, settlement, and coordination with regulators and outside counsel. It also requires partnering with Compliance, Risk, Operations, Product, Finance, and Sales to assess exposure and communicate legal risks, trends, and insights.

Responsibilities

Litigation, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution

• Lead strategy and response across individual and class-action litigation, arbitration, threatened claims, demand letters, subpoenas, and other adversarial matters.
• Manage matters throughout their full lifecycle, including initial assessment, internal fact investigation, discovery, motion practice, settlement strategy, trial preparation, and resolution.
• Assess legal, financial, operational, customer, and reputational exposure and provide recommendations to senior leadership.
• Direct and manage outside counsel, including matter strategy, staffing, budgets, performance, and work-product quality.
• Maintain reporting on active matters, significant developments, potential exposure, and emerging trends.

Regulatory Examinations & Escalated Legal Complaints

• Support responses to regulatory examinations, investigations, inquiries, enforcement actions, and requests for information.
• Manage regulatory matters from initial request through investigation, response, remediation, settlement, or other resolution.
• Develop response strategies in partnership with the General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Legal Operations team, outside counsel, and relevant internal stakeholders.
• Serve as a legal point of contact for federal and state regulators.
• Identify patterns across regulatory matters and escalated legal complaints and communicate relevant risks to appropriate business owners.

Legal Strategy & Operational Effectiveness

• Advise the General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer and senior leaders on strategic business initiatives, new products, and evolving operational priorities.
• Partner with Compliance, Risk, Operations, Product, and Sales to identify, assess, and address legal and regulatory risks tied to new and existing initiatives.
• Translate complex or evolving legal requirements into concise, practical, risk-based recommendations.
• Evaluate legal risk, potential exposure, and competing business considerations to support informed decisions.
• Provide legal guidance across the lifecycle of strategic initiatives—from early-stage concept and design through implementation, launch, and ongoing operation.
• Lead or support cross-functional legal workstreams by aligning stakeholders, clarifying legal requirements, and driving practical resolution.
• Develop scalable legal frameworks, playbooks, and processes to improve consistency, speed, and quality of legal decision-making.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction, with the ability to practice as in-house counsel in Virginia and/or the District of Columbia.
• 8+ years of relevant legal experience at a law firm, financial institution, fintech company, regulatory agency, in-house legal department, or a combination of these environments.
• Experience in a fintech, high-growth lending, or other dynamic and highly regulated environment.
• Experience with at least one of the following: lease-to-own products, point-of-sale financing, non-prime lending, bank-partnership models, or consumer-loan servicing.
• Significant experience managing complex litigation, arbitration, regulatory investigations, enforcement matters, or other adversarial proceedings.
• Demonstrated experience advising business leaders on new products, strategic initiatives, or operational changes, including identifying legal and regulatory risks and translating them into practical, business-oriented recommendations.
• Strong knowledge of federal and state consumer-financial-services laws and regulations, including laws applicable to lending, servicing, payments, credit reporting, collections, and lease-to-own products.
• Ability to assess legal risk in areas where the law or regulatory expectations may be evolving, incomplete, or subject to interpretation.
• Strong advocacy, analytical, negotiation, collaboration, and communication skills, including the ability to provide senior leaders concise, actionable, risk-based advice.
• Sound judgment and the ability to independently manage multiple high-stakes matters while partnering effectively with cross-functional teams.
• A practical, proactive, intellectually curious approach with an execution mindset in a fast-moving environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with the CFPB, FTC, state attorneys general, state financial-services regulators, or similar agencies.
• Capital Markets experience.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary Range: $180,000-$235,000 per year (depending on experience and location)
• Additional Compensation: Eligible to participate in company bonus plan.
• Final salary offer depends on experience, skills, and geographic location; the annualized amount offered at hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

Benefits include:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 20 PTO days + 11 paid holidays
• 401(k) retirement with company matching
• Student Loan & Tuition Reimbursement
• Commuter assistance
• Parental leave (maternal + paternal)
• Inclusion and Associate Engagement Programs

Location

Richmond, VA; Arlington, VA; or Remote (U.S.). Associates near one of the office locations may work in-office, hybrid, or remotely. Remote opportunities are available to candidates throughout the United States.

Application Timeline

Applications will be accepted until position is filled.