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

Overview

This role involves joining the Transactions team within the Legal department as an experienced transactional attorney. The position primarily focuses on:

• Corporate Development and Ventures transactions (including M&A, strategic transactions, and venture investments)
• Financial Partnerships transactions (including agreements with banks and other financial institutions that support reserve, treasury, and payments operations)

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

You will report to the Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Transactions, and serve as a senior individual contributor and trusted advisor to internal teams, partnering with Business Development, Product, and other stakeholders as needed.

Responsibilities

• Support mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, asset purchases, and other strategic transactions, including structuring, due diligence, drafting definitive agreements, and coordinating signing, closing, and integration.
• Advise on joint ventures, minority and venture investments, strategic partnerships with an equity component, and other non-ordinary-course transactions; including term sheets, investment agreements, side letters, and ancillary agreements.
• Structure, draft, and negotiate agreements with banks and financial institutions supporting reserve, treasury, and payments operations, including deposit, custody and safeguarding, account control, and cash management arrangements.
• Serve as a trusted partner across Corporate Development and Ventures, Treasury, and Financial Partnerships by leading transactions that involve Legal, Regulatory, Risk, Compliance, Tax, Corporate Governance, Product, and other stakeholders, and coordinating with outside counsel when appropriate.
• As needed, support select commercial transactions where the organization provides products, services, or technology to banks and other financial institutions by translating business objectives into practical contractual terms.
• Develop and expand transaction templates, playbooks, diligence tools, processes, and metrics to improve speed, consistency, and effectiveness across recurring transaction types.
• Help design and lead adoption of AI-enabled workflows across the Transactions team, rethinking how transactional legal work is structured and delivered.
  • Use AI and other technology to improve diligence, contract review, issues lists, drafting, deal tracking, and other recurring workflows.
  • Experiment with new approaches and develop scalable processes and playbooks.
  • Review and validate 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, including accelerating due diligence, reviewing counterparty drafts against internal playbooks and prior positions, preparing first drafts of issues lists, term sheets, and ancillary documents, and keeping deal trackers and precedent current.

You will help identify recurring workflows where AI can improve speed and consistency, design and test new approaches, and build and refine prompts, templates, and playbooks for AI-enabled work.

You will remain fully responsible for the work: review and validate AI-assisted outputs for accuracy and legal judgment, protect privilege, confidentiality, and material non-public information, and follow internal 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, an in-house legal department, or a combination of both.
• Substantial experience with M&A and other corporate transactions, financial services transactions, or both, 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, sound business judgment, and the ability to coordinate legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, securities, and operational considerations while balancing legal risk, commercial objectives, and strategic goals.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong ownership and organization, and the ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously in a fast-moving environment.
• Demonstrated familiarity with and practical use of generative AI in legal or other professional workflows, including 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 the organization’s mission and values, financial technology, and the potential of stablecoins, digital assets, and blockchain technology.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with banking, deposit, custody, safeguarding, treasury, or other financial services agreements and/or seller-side technology or financial services transactions involving regulated financial institutions, digital assets, stablecoins, payments, cross-border transactions, or other fintech businesses.
• Experience building, implementing, or scaling AI-enabled workflows, 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.

Equal opportunity employer. No discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, or any other protected status required by the laws in the locations where hiring occurs.

Location

Compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.