Sr. Counsel, Digital Assets

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze℠, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

Overall Purpose

We are seeking an experienced Sr. Product Counsel to serve as a trusted advisor to help us shape the future of payments. As a member of our legal team, you will be the go-to subject matter expert responsible for advising the business on cutting edge, innovative and first-of-their-kind payment solutions at the center of the banking industry. You will partner with our Product, Compliance, Risk, Strategy, Marketing, Communications teams and our owner banks to solve a broad range of challenging and complex legal and regulatory issues across the product life cycle.

Essential Functions

• Provide first-line, day-to-day legal counsel and support to the product team on all legal matters arising in the business unit

• Interpret and apply U.S. and international legal and regulatory frameworks and requirements applicable to payments, digital assets, blockchain, bank regulatory, and privacy such as the GENIUS Act, the National Bank Act, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), OFAC/sanctions compliance, EFTA/Reg E, UCC, UDAAP/UDAP, GLBA/Reg. P and evolving stable coin and digital asset regulations.

• Guide business partners in the launch, operation and scaling of innovative payment solutions in a legally compliant manner.

• Support the Product and Contracts teams in the drafting and negotiation of commercial agreements including strategic partner, sales and supplier agreements.

• Provide pragmatic and strategic legal counsel and support to the product team regarding new business initiatives and product development

• Draft, review and approve clear and concise public facing disclosures, disclaimers, terms of use or other public facing documents pertinent to the products

• Advise clients both on individual customer contract issues and in designing contract language that best meets business objectives

• Act as department expert on specialized product or legal issues in the context of contract negotiations, audits, litigation, regulatory exams and other legal proceedings

• Assess legislative or regulatory developments with actual or potential impact on key product initiatives and strategies and partner with the business team to identify and implement related policies, standards, processes and practices

• Liaison with other Legal department personnel to provide seamless support to the business unit

• Manage and supervise outside counsel as needed

• May manage and supervise lower-level attorneys and/or other legal personnel 

• Assist with corporate governance functions

• Support the company’s commitment to risk management and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data

Minimum Qualifications

• Juris Doctor from accredited law school; admission to Arizona or other State bar

• Eight or more years’ in-house or corporate counsel experience, with strong background advising financial institutions or financial services companies on compliance with consumer financial services and privacy laws and regulations

• Ability to learn new substantive areas of the law

• A strong understanding of relevant experience advising clients regarding the regulation of digital assets (including stable coins and tokenized deposits), and blockchain technology.

• Significant expertise and relevant experience advising financial services industry market participants regarding compliance with anti-money laundering, sanctions, data privacy, consumer protection regulations including, for example, Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN guidelines, FATF recommendations, OFAC sanctions, GLBA, CCPA, GDPR, Regulation E, CFPA/UDAAP, and FTC Act.

• Ability to understand and be responsive to business’ needs and to partner cross-functionally throughout the organization to achieve results while mitigating risk

• Strong presentation and excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills to build partnerships and alliances internally and with external partners at all levels of the organization

• Strong business acumen—the ability to be forward-thinking and innovative while understanding our business needs and limitations

• Demonstrated experience identifying and resolving legal and regulatory issues quickly and effectively, with an ability to make real-time decisions with imperfect information

• Ability to comprehend and communicate complex law and regulation and judicial and regulatory interpretations of law and regulations to internal clients at all levels of the organization

• Organized with ability to prioritize multiple tasks and achieve objectives in a fast-paced environment

• Prior experience effectively managing outside legal resources.

• Unyielding commitment to highest professional ethics

• Ability to maintain professional licensing and memberships in appropriate professional organizations

• Background and drug screen

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise or working knowledge of international law applicable to payments

• Knowledge of/experience with foreign corridor digital asset and payments, privacy, anti-money laundering and economic sanctions regulations/frameworks.

• Experience working with and representing clients before foreign bank prudential and consumer protection regulators.

Physical Requirements

Working conditions consist of a normal office environment.  Work is primarily sedentary and requires extensive use of a computer and involves sitting for periods of approximately four hours.  Work may require occasional standing, walking, kneeling, and reaching.  Must be able to lift 10 pounds occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently.  Requires visual acuity and dexterity to view, prepare, and manipulate documents and office equipment including personal computers.  Requires the ability to communicate with internal and/or external customers.

Employee must be able to perform essential functions and physical requirements of position with or without reasonable accommodation.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States at the date of hire

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position.  Incumbents will follow instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor.
 

The base pay scale for this position in:
Phoenix, AZ/ Chicago, IL in USD per year is: $188,000 - $235,000.
New York, NY/ San Francisco, CA in USD per year is: $226,000 - $282,000.
Additionally, candidates are eligible for a discretionary incentive plan and benefits.

This pay scale is subject to change and is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific candidate, which is always dependent on legitimate factors considered at the time of job offer. Early Warning Services takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining a competitive salary offer, including, but not limited to, the job scope, market rates and geographic location of a position, candidate’s education, experience, training, and specialized skills or certification(s) in relation to the job requirements and compared with internal equity (peers). The business actively supports and reviews wage equity to ensure that pay decisions are not based on gender, race, national origin, or any other protected classes.

Some of the Ways We Prioritize Your Health and Happiness 

•  Healthcare Coverage – Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.

• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.

• Paid Time Off – Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.

• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave

• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

And SO much more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure to check our Benefits page here for the latest. Our team can share more during the interview process!

Early Warning Services, LLC (“Early Warning”) considers for employment, hires, retains and promotes qualified candidates on the basis of ability, potential, and valid qualifications without regard to race, religious creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, protected veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law, and as such affirms in policy and practice to support and promote equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws. The company also prohibits discrimination on other bases such as medical condition, marital status or any other factor that is irrelevant to the performance of our employees. 

Early Warning Services LLC is a proud participant in E-Verify, a federal program to help ensure a legal and authorized workforce. As part of our hiring process, we electronically verify the employment eligibility of all new hires through E-Verify. For more information on your rights and responsibilities under E-Verify please visit Home | E-Verify.