Legal Counsel

Company Description

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money.

Min fees. Max ease. Full speed.

Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.

As part of our team, you will be helping us create an entirely new network for the world's money.

For everyone, everywhere.

More about our mission and what we offer.

Job Description

About the job

We're looking for a Legal Counsel to join our growing Legal Team in Austin, TX and help support the North America region. This is a unique opportunity to build on your legal experience, help deliver Wise's mission of money without borders, grow as a lawyer in a fast-paced listed company environment, and help millions more people save money.

This is a broad, high-coverage generalist role. You'll undertake a wide range of legal matters relating to Wise's day-to-day operations and strategic initiatives across North America. To achieve this you'll be:

• Working closely with and building relationships with multiple business teams across Wise to provide strategic advice and practical solutions on a wide range of legal matters, including financial and consumer regulation, payments, banking arrangements, money transmission, new products, partnerships and employment.
• Owning aspects of the contract lifecycle with bank partners, online platforms and enterprise customers, from structuring and drafting to negotiation.
• Assessing and advising the business on risks specific to feature launches, regulatory implications and the overall relationship with a bank partner or online platform.
• Collaborating with multiple business teams to launch innovative products, services and partnerships, including Product, Finance, Banking, Risk, Compliance and People.
• Supporting expansion efforts across North America (including Canada), license applications, market entry and corporate matters.
• Managing changes to Wise's customer agreement for new services, new market entry and general agreement maintenance.
• Identifying, assessing, managing and reporting the risks to the business, and providing practical advice and solutions to reduce or mitigate risk.
• Reviewing current practices, developing and maintaining templates, and streamlining legal processes.
• Mentoring and upskilling business teams and other members of the Legal team, including supporting responses to legal support queries.
• Working with the global Legal team (based in Austin, London, Tallinn, New York, Tampa, Singapore and São Paulo) to deliver initiatives that impact the wider group, including training and workshops.

This role will give you the opportunity to: Choose your path to impact — we believe people are most empowered when they can act autonomously, so rather than only being told what to do, you'll take ownership from day one; Be part of our mission to make money without borders the new normal; Build experience fast across a broad range of legal issues — regulatory, contract, IP, privacy, consumer protection and risk — applicable to the North America region; and Grow into owning partner relationships and mentoring others, learning from a diverse and award-winning legal team with little red tape.

Qualifications

About you

• A Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an ABA-accredited law school and qualified to practice law in any state in the US.
• 3+ years of professional experience as an attorney.
• Experience in the banking, payments, financial services and/or technology industry.
• Previous law firm or in-house experience, ideally focusing on payments, card processing, financial services, banking or investments.
• A proven aptitude for commercial contract structuring, drafting and negotiation.
• A strong interest and experience in financial services regulation, including payments, consumer protection, banking and investments.
• A broad legal knowledge that enables you to spot and resolve a variety of legal issues in upcoming product offerings (e.g. regulatory, contract, IP, privacy, consumer protection, risk), and an ability to distil complexity and clearly communicate practical, risk-based solutions.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities, including proficiency in project management and partner relations.
• The ability to navigate difficult issues and multiple stakeholders, advising the business on key risks and developing solutions.
• Knowledge of how fast-growth companies work — how to balance maturity in corporate governance and operations with the practical considerations of fast growth and scaling.
• A get-it-done, collaborative approach to problem solving and a committed, dependable work ethic.
• Fluent in English.

Additional Information

For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.

We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.

Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.

If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.

Keep up to date with life at Wise by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.