Senior Counsel, Strategic Partnerships (Lending)

Overview

This role involves leading strategic partnerships in the financial technology and banking space, focusing on simplifying and innovating banking infrastructure. The position requires ownership of partnership agreements from initial discussions through launch and ongoing expansion, working closely with cross-functional teams including Go-to-Market, Engineering, Finance, Risk, and Compliance. The role reports directly to the Bank’s General Counsel.

Responsibilities

• Lead the legal structuring of loan agreements, line of credit products, earned wage access (EWA) lending, non-lending offerings, and buy now pay later (BNPL) partnerships.
• Draft and review customer-facing terms, marketing materials, onboarding flows, and applications.
• Determine Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements and conduct true lender analyses.
• Collaborate with engineering to design flow-of-funds models and reflect product structures in legal documentation.
• Structure, draft, and negotiate complex customer and third-party partnership agreements covering a broad range of banking products and services.
• Provide strategic legal guidance to enable product innovation across credit and lending portfolios.
• Advise on credit product structuring and legal implications of new lending features and partnership models.
• Build and evolve regulatory frameworks for existing and new products, leveraging expertise in TILA, ECOA, UDAAP, FCRA, state usury and licensing laws, EWA regulations, federal preemption, and true lender risk.
• Partner with compliance and risk teams to develop scalable approaches that protect the business while enabling growth.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on legal and regulatory requirements impacting credit and lending business lines.
• Embrace and drive adoption of technology, including AI and automation tools, to increase efficiency and scalability of legal workflows.
• Design and implement scalable legal processes to support hypergrowth, improve partner onboarding efficiency, and maintain compliance.
• Develop template loan program agreements, disclosure packages, and servicing frameworks to accelerate new partnership launches.

Requirements

• Licensed to practice law in a U.S. state with a J.D. or equivalent.
• 7–15+ years of experience as a practicing lawyer, with preference for candidates having both law firm and in-house experience at fintech companies or financial institutions.
• Deep expertise advising product teams on banking infrastructure and embedded finance solutions, especially in consumer and/or commercial lending regulatory frameworks.
• Ability to independently draft and negotiate complex commercial agreements with strong understanding of contract law and commercial transactions.
• Comprehensive knowledge of regulatory frameworks governing banking partnerships and fintech services.
• Deep working knowledge of TILA/Regulation Z, ECOA/Regulation B, FCRA, UDAAP, state usury laws, rate exportation and valid-when-made doctrines, state licensing regimes (servicing and collections), BSA/AML, and true lender doctrine.
• Experience structuring agreements and advising on bank-fintech lending partnerships.
• Familiarity with loan sale, participation, and servicing agreements.
• Proven ability to manage a high-volume, cross-functional workload without sacrificing quality or speed.
• Strong desire to work at the intersection of fintech and banking innovation, with comfort making fast, sound risk decisions in complex legal environments.

Compensation & Benefits

• Annual base salary range: $210,000 - $300,000 plus equity.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans, including options fully covered for employees and dependents.
• Family planning and fertility benefits with reimbursement up to $20,000 in qualified expenses.
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) options.
• 401(k) plan with self-directed brokerage options.
• Flexible time-off policy.
• 100% paid parental leave: 16 weeks for birth mothers, 12 weeks for primary caregivers, and 8 weeks for secondary caregivers.
• Catered lunches and dinners for San Francisco employees.
• Commuter benefits.
• Regular team-building events including annual offsite.

Location

The position is based in San Francisco, CA, with benefits and commuter perks applicable to this location.

Equal Opportunity

The organization is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all qualified individuals. Reasonable accommodations are available during the application and recruiting process upon request.

Additional Information

Participation in the E-Verify program is required in certain locations as mandated by law.