Global Legal Associate: Fintech and Compliance

Overview

This role serves as the legal partner for Product, Engineering, and Finance on payment-related matters. It focuses on enabling products that involve moving money—such as payroll funding, contractor payouts, cross-border payments, deposits, and FX—while translating regulation into clear product requirements.

Responsibilities also include supporting day-to-day fintech compliance for these products once they are 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 flows trigger licensing requirements (money transmission, e-money, or payment services) and how to meet or design around them.
• Convert regulatory requirements into 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 calls and propose compliant alternatives rather than simply blocking work.

Fintech Compliance

• Support development and day-to-day operation of the compliance framework for payment activities, including AML/CTF, KYC/KYB, and sanctions screening.
• Assess licensing and registration needs across markets and 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 banks’ compliance teams.
• Track regulatory change in payments, data protection, and AI, and assess product impact.
• Train internal teams on compliance obligations and encourage early risk identification.

Requirements

• A law degree and qualification to practise in at least one jurisdiction.
• 3–5 years of legal experience in payments or fintech, either 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 judgment on risk and 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