Assistant General Counsel

Koalafi•Arlington, VA

14d•$180,000 - $235,000•Remote

About The Position

Koalafi is seeking an Assistant General Counsel to lead and manage external legal matters and provide strategic legal counsel for its growing consumer-finance business. This role will be primarily responsible for managing consumer litigation and arbitration, regulatory examinations and investigations, enforcement matters, and escalated legal complaints. The individual will manage these matters from initial assessment through resolution, including internal fact development, discovery, motion and trial strategy, settlement, and coordination with outside counsel. The role involves working closely with various departments such as Compliance, Risk, Operations, Product, Finance, and Sales to assess exposure, develop strategies, and communicate legal risks. Additionally, the Assistant General Counsel will serve as a strategic legal partner for new product launches and business initiatives, assessing legal and regulatory risks and providing practical guidance. This position is ideal for an attorney with significant consumer-financial-services litigation and regulatory experience, strong business judgment, and a proactive mindset, serving as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and helping Koalafi manage legal risk and support strategic growth.

Requirements

Juris Doctor from an accredited law school.
Active license to practice law in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction, with the ability to practice as in-house counsel in Virginia and/or the District of Columbia.
8+ years of relevant legal experience at a law firm, financial institution, fintech company, regulatory agency, in-house legal department, or a combination of these environments.
Experience in a fintech, high-growth lending, or other dynamic and highly regulated environment.
Experience with at least one of the following: lease-to-own products, point-of-sale financing, non-prime lending, bank-partnership models, or consumer-loan servicing.
Significant experience managing complex litigation, arbitration, regulatory investigations, enforcement matters, or other adversarial proceedings.
Demonstrated experience advising business leaders on new products, strategic initiatives, or operational changes, including identifying legal and regulatory risks and translating them into practical, business-oriented recommendations.
Strong knowledge of federal and state consumer-financial-services laws and regulations, including laws applicable to lending, servicing, payments, credit reporting, collections, and lease-to-own products.
Ability to assess legal risk in areas where the law or regulatory expectations may be evolving, incomplete, or subject to interpretation, and to provide clear recommendations on options, tradeoffs, and paths forward.
Strong advocacy, analytical, negotiation, collaboration, and communication skills, including the ability to give senior leaders concise, actionable, and risk-based advice.
Sound judgment and the ability to independently manage multiple high-stakes matters while also partnering effectively with cross-functional teams on strategic business priorities.
A practical, proactive, and intellectually curious approach, with a strong execution mindset and an ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with the CFPB, FTC, state attorneys general, state financial-services regulators, or similar agencies.
Capital Markets experience.

Responsibilities

Lead Koalafi’s strategy and response across individual and class-action litigation, arbitration, threatened claims, demand letters, subpoenas, and other adversarial matters.
Manage matters throughout their full lifecycle, including initial assessment, internal fact investigation, discovery, motion practice, settlement strategy, trial preparation, and resolution.
Assess legal, financial, operational, customer, and reputational exposure and provide clear recommendations to senior leadership.
Direct and manage outside counsel, including matter strategy, staffing, budgets, performance, and work-product quality.
Maintain clear reporting on active matters, significant developments, potential exposure, and emerging trends.
Support Koalafi’s response to regulatory examinations, investigations, inquiries, enforcement actions, and requests for information.
Manage regulatory matters from initial request through investigation, response, remediation, settlement, or other resolution.
Develop response strategies in partnership with the General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Legal Operations team, outside counsel, and relevant internal stakeholders.
Serve as a legal point of contact for federal and state regulators and represent Koalafi with credibility, responsiveness, and sound judgment.
Identify patterns across regulatory matters and escalated legal complaints and communicate relevant risks to the appropriate business owners.
Serve as a trusted legal advisor to the General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer and senior leaders on strategic business initiatives, new products, and evolving operational priorities.
Partner closely with Compliance, Risk, Operations, Product, and Sales to identify, assess, and address legal and regulatory risks associated with new and existing business initiatives.
Translate complex or evolving legal requirements into concise, practical, risk-based recommendations that enable informed business decision-making.
Evaluate legal risk, potential exposure, and competing business considerations to help stakeholders understand available options, tradeoffs, and paths forward.
Provide legal guidance throughout the lifecycle of strategic initiatives, from early-stage concept and design through implementation, launch, and ongoing operation.
Lead or support cross-functional legal workstreams on high-priority initiatives by aligning stakeholders, clarifying legal requirements, and helping drive issues toward practical resolution.
Develop practical frameworks, playbooks, and scalable legal processes that improve consistency, speed, and quality of legal decision-making across the organization.