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

Overview

The legal team is seeking an experienced transactional attorney to join the Transactions team. This role focuses primarily on:

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

The attorney will serve as a senior individual contributor and trusted advisor, working under the direction of the Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Transactions. Responsibilities span the full transaction lifecycle—from inception through negotiation, signing, closing, and, where relevant, implementation or integration.

Responsibilities

• Support mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, asset purchases, and other strategic transactions, including:
  • structuring and leading deal execution
  • conducting due diligence
  • drafting definitive agreements
  • coordinating signing, closing, and integration matters
• 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
• Partner across internal stakeholders (including Legal, Regulatory, Risk, Compliance, Tax, Corporate Governance, Product, and others) and coordinate with outside counsel where appropriate
• As needed, support select commercial transactions where the organization provides products, services, or technology to banks and other financial institutions, 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 the adoption of AI-enabled workflows for the Transactions team by:
  • rethinking how transactional legal work is structured and delivered
  • using AI and other technology to improve diligence, contract review, issues lists, drafting, and deal tracking
  • experimenting with scalable processes and playbooks
  • reviewing and validating AI-assisted work product for accuracy, confidentiality, privilege, and risk

Requirements

• J.D. or foreign equivalent
• 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 and the ability to balance legal risk, commercial objectives, and strategic goals while coordinating legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, securities, and operational considerations
• 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 on when/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.

Location

Not specified in the provided description.