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

Overview

This role supports the Transactions team within the Legal department, reporting to the Deputy Assistant General Counsel, Transactions. The position is a senior individual contributor and trusted advisor covering two primary 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 needs arise, the role may also support select commercial transactions involving the organization’s products and services for banks and other financial institutions.

Responsibilities

• Support mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, asset purchases, and other strategic transactions, including structuring, conducting 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.
• Partner with Corporate Development and Ventures, Treasury, and Financial Partnerships teams to lead transactions involving Legal, Regulatory, Risk, Compliance, Tax, Corporate Governance, Product, and other stakeholders; coordinate with outside counsel as appropriate.
• When 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 adoption of AI-enabled workflows across the Transactions team, including experimenting with new approaches, building scalable processes and playbooks, and validating AI-assisted work product for accuracy, confidentiality, privilege, and risk.

AI-Enabled Work (How This Role Uses AI)

• Use AI as a core part of day-to-day transactional work and help shape how the Transactions team operates in an AI-enabled environment.
• Use AI tools to accelerate due diligence; review counterparty drafts against playbooks and prior positions; prepare first drafts of issues lists, term sheets, and ancillary documents; and keep deal trackers and precedent current.
• Identify recurring workflows where AI can improve speed and consistency; design and test new approaches; build and refine prompts, templates, and playbooks for AI-enabled work.
• Remain fully responsible for outcomes, reviewing and validating AI-assisted outputs for accuracy and legal judgment.
• Protect privilege, confidentiality, and material non-public information, and follow 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, and 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 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.
• 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, 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

This position’s compensation may vary by location, depending on hiring location. (No specific work location was provided in the original posting.)