Description
Ready to be pushed beyond what you think you're capable of? At Coinbase, our mission is to increase economic freedom in the world.
We're seeking a Counsel, Commercial (Institutional Legal) to join our Institutional Legal team covering U.K. markets and professional trading clients including banks, brokers, hedge funds, market makers corporates and other professional traders.
As a Counsel, Commercial (Institutional Legal), you will be responsible for negotiating first-of-a-kind, highly-tailored agreements with strategic partners and sophisticated counterparties in the finance, payments and digital currency space.
You will provide full product life-cycle counseling for a variety of global prime brokerage, custody and derivatives related products, and practical advice on associated legal issues and risks, complex agreement structures and company policies in a risk-tolerant, but compliance-oriented environment.
You will stay abreast of and advise on digital currency and blockchain technology legal and regulatory issues.
You will lead and assist with complex and global cross-functional efforts, driving and ensuring cross-functional alignment with other stakeholders (Institutional Sales, Business Development, Product/Engineering, Finance/Tax, Compliance).
You will effectively collaborate with those same cross-functional teams and legal colleagues to solve problems, build partnerships, and close deals quickly.
You will proactively solve problems for the business as they plan and execute on an aggressive global growth plan, develop scaled strategies for addressing risk in business-centric ways and build commercial processes that allow the business flexibility and freedom to move quickly.
You will look around corners and creatively solve problems for the business as they plan, build, and execute their transactional and product roadmap.
You will be a business partner, not just a lawyer.
We are looking for a lawyer with solid product development, regulatory and negotiation skills preferably developed within the traditional prime brokerage, securities financing, and/or derivatives sectors.
A sense of curiosity, flexibility and adventure combined with the desire to make an impact at the intersection of crypto and traditional global markets is essential.
Key responsibilities include: Negotiating first-of-a-kind, highly-tailored agreements with strategic partners and sophisticated counterparties in the finance, payments and digital currency space. Providing full product life-cycle counseling for a variety of global prime brokerage, custody and derivatives related products, and practical advice on associated legal issues and risks, complex agreement structures and company policies in a risk-tolerant, but compliance-oriented environment. Staying abreast of and advising on digital currency and blockchain technology legal and regulatory issues. Leading and assisting with complex and global cross-functional efforts, driving and ensuring cross-functional alignment with other stakeholders (Institutional Sales, Business Development, Product/Engineering, Finance/Tax, Compliance). Effectively collaborating with those same cross-functional teams and legal colleagues to solve problems, build partnerships, and close deals quickly. Proactively solving problems for the business as they plan and execute on an aggressive global growth plan, develop scaled strategies for addressing risk in business-centric ways and build commercial processes that allow the business flexibility and freedom to move quickly. Looking around corners and creatively solving problems for the business as they plan, build, and execute their transactional and product roadmap. Being a business partner, not just a lawyer.
Requirements include: Licensed attorney with at least 5 years experience working in a financial services institution (e.g. bank, e-money issuer, payment service firm, broker dealer / asset manager) or in a law firm supporting such clients. Strong negotiation skills and ability to review and negotiate financial agreements (e.g. prime brokerage, lending and derivatives documentation). Strong history of commercial and transactional legal work. Interest in digital currency and blockchain technology. Experience working and leading with cross-functional, globally located teams. Familiarity with US and/or EU or UK regulatory regimes applicable to financial instruments. Comfortable challenging the status quo and preconceived notions of what is possible. Excellent judgment, analytical rigor, clear communication, and business pragmatism. Top-notch analytical skills with experience owning projects from concept to finish. Creativity, comfort and experience with oral solutions that help scale financial services businesses and technology solutions that help scale practices. Sound and practical business judgment. Intellectual curiosity and flexibility. Attention to detail and focus on process ownership from start to finish. Team-oriented and collaborative. Demonstrates the ability to responsibly use generative AI tools and copilots (e.g., LibreChat, Gemini, Glean) in daily workflows, continuously learn as tools evolve, and apply human-in-the-loop practices to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in efficiency, cost, and quality. Nice to have: Experience working with product teams launching fintech, financial services, investment or similar products. Experience registering and perfecting collateral arrangements. Experience with bankruptcy rules and regulations. Experience with cross-border analysis. Experience with Edgar and analyzing regulatory filings.
Salary: £99,360-£110,400 per annum.