Global Legal Associate: Fintech and Compliance

Overview

The organization is seeking a Global Legal Associate, Fintech & Compliance to serve as a legal partner to Product, Engineering, and Finance teams on matters involving money movement, including payroll funding, contractor payouts, cross-border payments, deposits, and FX.

This role involves early-stage legal support—translating regulation into practical product requirements, helping launch quickly while managing regulatory risk, and supporting the ongoing fintech compliance program for payments-related products once live.

Responsibilities

Product

• Partner with Product and Engineering from discovery through launch on payments, payroll, and payout features.
• Evaluate how money flows should be structured, including whether specific flows trigger licensing requirements (money transmission, e-money, or payment services) and how to meet or design around them.
• Translate regulatory requirements into clear, practical product requirements.
• Draft and maintain product terms, payment terms, disclosures, and in-product legal text.
• Draft, review, and help negotiate agreements with partner banks, payment providers, and FX partners.
• Conduct legal reviews for launches in new markets and for new payment features.
• Make balanced risk decisions and propose compliant alternatives rather than simply blocking work.

Fintech Compliance

• Support the development and day-to-day operation of the compliance framework for payment activities, including:
  • AML/CTF
  • KYC/KYB
  • sanctions screening
• Assess licensing and registration needs across markets, including obligations under partner bank and financial institution arrangements.
• Draft and maintain policies, controls, transaction monitoring, and regulatory reporting.
• Support engagement with regulators, auditors, financial institutions, and bank compliance teams.
• Monitor regulatory change affecting payments, data protection, and AI, and assess product impact.
• Train internal teams on compliance obligations and promote early risk escalation.

Requirements

• A law degree and qualification to practise in at least one jurisdiction.
• 3–5 years of legal experience in payments or fintech (in-house or at a law firm with a strong payments practice).
• Hands-on experience advising product teams, including at least one product or market launch supported from design to go-live.
• Solid knowledge of payments regulation (e.g., PSD2/EMD in the EU and UK, US money transmission rules) and AML/CTF requirements.
• Experience working with banks or payment providers and negotiating related agreements.
• Ability to explain complex rules in plain language and provide clear, practical advice.
• Good judgement on risk, with comfort making decisions with incomplete information in a fast-moving environment.
• Fluent English (written and spoken).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in payroll, EOR, HR tech, or global workforce platforms.
• Experience with license applications or regulator engagement.
• Knowledge of data protection (GDPR) and AI regulation as they apply to financial and HR products.
• Experience building a compliance function from an early stage.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive compensation.
• 100% remote work.

Location

• Remote (100% remote work).