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

Overview

This role is for an experienced transactional attorney to join the Transactions team within the Legal department. The position primarily covers:

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

As needs arise, the role may also support select commercial transactions involving products and services provided to banks and other financial institutions.

Responsibilities

• Independently lead transactions from inception through negotiation, signing, closing, and, where relevant, implementation or integration.
• Support mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, asset purchases, and other strategic transactions, including:
  • Structuring transactions
  • 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
  • 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 to internal Corporate Development and Ventures, Treasury, and Financial Partnerships teams, leading matters that involve Legal, Regulatory, Risk, Compliance, Tax, Corporate Governance, Product, and other stakeholders; coordinate with outside counsel when appropriate.
• As needs arise, support select commercial transactions where the organization provides products, services, or technology to banks and financial institutions, partnering with Business Development and Product on translating business objectives into practical contractual terms.
• Develop and expand transaction templates, playbooks, diligence tools, processes, and metrics to increase speed, consistency, and effectiveness across recurring transaction types.
• Help design and lead the adoption of AI-enabled workflows across the Transactions team, including 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 by developing scalable processes and playbooks, and take 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 and to help shape how the Transactions team operates in an AI-enabled environment.
• Responsibilities include using AI tools to accelerate due diligence, review counterparty drafts against internal playbooks and prior positions, prepare first drafts of issues lists, term sheets, and ancillary documents, and keep deal trackers and precedents current.
• Identify recurring workflows where AI can improve speed and consistency, and design and test approaches.
• Build and refine prompts, templates, and playbooks for AI-enabled work.
• Help other attorneys, interns, and business partners adopt effective practices.
• The attorney remains fully responsible for outputs, including reviewing and validating AI-assisted work for accuracy and legal judgment, and protecting privilege, confidentiality, and material non-public information in a public company environment.

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 and commercial objectives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; strong ownership and organization.
• Ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously in a fast-moving environment with rapid change.
• Demonstrated familiarity with and practical use of generative AI in legal or other professional workflows, with judgment about when and how to use AI, validate outputs, and protect privileged, confidential, and material non-public information in a public company environment.
• Interest in 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, including prompts, templates, playbooks, or tools for a legal team.

Compensation & Benefits

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

Location

Compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.