Special Counsel, Transactions (M&A and Bank Partnerships)

Overview

The organization is seeking an experienced transactional attorney to join the Transactions team within its Legal department. This role primarily supports two connected areas:

• Corporate Development and Ventures, including mergers and acquisitions, strategic transactions, and venture investments
• Financial Partnerships, including agreements with banks and other financial institutions that support reserve, treasury, and payments operations

As business needs arise, the role may also support select commercial transactions involving the organization’s products and services for banks and other financial institutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end transactions from inception through negotiation, signing, closing, and, where relevant, implementation or integration.
• Support M&A and strategic transactions, including:
  • Structuring
  • Conducting due diligence
  • Drafting definitive agreements
  • Coordinating signing, closing, and integration matters
• Advise on joint ventures and venture/strategic investments, including:
  • Minority and venture investments
  • Strategic partnerships with an equity component
  • Non-ordinary-course transactions and related deal documents (e.g., term sheets, investment agreements, side letters, and ancillary agreements)
• Structure, draft, and negotiate financial institution agreements supporting reserve, treasury, and payments operations, including:
  • Deposit, custody and safeguarding, account control, and cash management arrangements
• Serve as a trusted advisor to Corporate Development and Ventures, Treasury, and Financial Partnerships, coordinating with cross-functional stakeholders across Legal, Regulatory, Risk, Compliance, Tax, Corporate Governance, Product, and others.
• Coordinate outside counsel where appropriate.
• Support select commercial transactions when needed, translating business objectives into practical contractual terms in partnership with Business Development, Product, and Legal subject matter experts.
• Develop and improve transaction tools and processes, including templates, playbooks, diligence tools, and metrics to increase speed, consistency, and effectiveness across recurring transaction types.
• Help design and lead AI-enabled workflows for the Transactions team, including:
  • Redesigning and streamlining transactional legal work while preserving legal judgment and client service
  • Improving diligence, contract review, issues lists, drafting, deal tracking, and other recurring workflows
  • Experimenting with new approaches and taking responsibility for reviewing and validating AI-assisted work product for accuracy, confidentiality, privilege, and risk

How This Role Uses AI

AI will be used as a core part of day-to-day transactional work. The attorney will help shape how the Transactions team operates in an AI-enabled environment. In practice, this includes using AI tools to accelerate due diligence, review counterparty drafts against playbooks and prior positions, prepare first drafts of issues lists and deal documents, and keep deal trackers and precedent current.

The attorney remains fully responsible for outcomes, including:

• Reviewing and validating AI-assisted outputs for accuracy and legal judgment
• Protecting privilege, confidentiality, and material non-public information
• Following organizational AI, security, and data policies

Requirements

• J.D. or foreign equivalent and active membership in good standing of at least one U.S. State Bar.
• 7+ years of transactional legal experience at a leading law firm, in-house legal department, or a combination.
• Substantial experience with M&A and other corporate transactions and/or financial services transactions, including:
  • Structuring transactions
  • Drafting first-turn agreements
  • Leading negotiations and diligence
  • Independently driving complex matters through signing and closing
• Strong working knowledge of corporate and commercial law, including the ability to coordinate legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, securities, and operational considerations while balancing legal risk and commercial objectives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong ownership and organization, and the ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously in a fast-moving, rapidly changing environment.
• Demonstrated familiarity with and practical use of generative AI in legal or other professional workflows, including sound judgment about when and how to use AI, validating outputs, and protecting privileged, confidential, and material non-public information in a public company environment.
• Passion for financial technology and the potential of stablecoins, digital assets, and blockchain technology.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with banking and financial services agreements involving deposit, custody, safeguarding, treasury, or related arrangements, and/or technology or transactions involving regulated financial institutions, digital assets, stablecoins, payments, cross-border transactions, or other fintech businesses.
• Experience building, implementing, or scaling AI-enabled workflows, including prompts, templates, playbooks, or tools for a legal team.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Pay Range: $200,000 - $262,500
• Starting pay is determined by factors including relevant experience, skill set, qualifications, and other business and organizational needs. Compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.

Location

• Expands into some of the world’s strongest jurisdictions; candidates may be considered in other locations (compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations).