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

Overview

This role supports the Transactions team within the Legal department. The position 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 products and services provided to 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 the Corporate Development and Ventures, Treasury, and Financial Partnerships teams. You will work closely with Business Development, Product, and other teams on select matters.

Responsibilities

• 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 and venture investments, including minority and strategic investments, and other non-ordinary-course transactions involving equity components (e.g., 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
• Lead transactions independently from inception through negotiation, signing, closing, and—where relevant—implementation or integration
• Partner across Legal stakeholders (Legal, Regulatory, Risk, Compliance, Tax, Corporate Governance, Product, and others) and coordinate with outside counsel when appropriate
• As needs arise, support select commercial transactions in which products, services, or technology are provided to banks and other financial institutions
• Build 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:
  • redesigning and streamlining transactional legal work
  • using AI and other technology to improve diligence, contract review, issues lists, drafting, deal tracking, and other recurring workflows
  • experimenting with approaches, developing scalable processes and playbooks
  • reviewing and validating AI-assisted work product for accuracy, confidentiality, privilege, and risk

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 combination of both
• 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, with 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, and ability to manage multiple matters 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

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with banking and financial services agreements, including deposit, custody, safeguarding, treasury, and related areas; 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 factors including relevant experience, skill set, qualifications, and other business and organizational needs. Compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.

Location

This role may vary by location; compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.