Head of Legal

Fairlo•Stockholm, ME

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Fairlo is seeking a Head of Legal to lead its legal function as the company transitions into becoming a bank. This role involves providing pragmatic legal advice, ensuring robust governance, and managing legal risk in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment. The Head of Legal will also serve as the SUB (Särskilt utsedd befattningshavare) responsible for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. The position requires a strategic approach, leveraging AI to improve legal operations and compliance, and building systems that empower the business to operate efficiently and compliantly. The role is broader than a traditional in-house position, encompassing strategic advice, corporate governance, financial regulation, AML/CTF, and hands-on support for product development and everyday legal challenges. The company is also undergoing a transformation to become an AI-native organization, and the Head of Legal will play a key role in navigating the legal implications of AI usage.

Requirements

A Swedish law degree (juristexamen) or equivalent legal qualification.
At least 5 years of relevant experience from an in-house legal function or law firm, with a focus on banking, financial services, or another regulated environment.
Strong knowledge of corporate and commercial law, financial services regulation, and AML/CTF legislation.
Experience with corporate governance and legal documentation within the financial sector.
Experience advising senior management and working directly with Boards.
Strong commercial judgment and the ability to translate complex legal and regulatory requirements into clear, practical advice.
Hands-on experience using AI in legal work, with honest judgment about its capabilities and limitations.
Demonstrated ability to build something with AI that others use.
Confidence and integrity to challenge when needed, while remaining pragmatic and solution-oriented.
Excellent communication skills in Swedish and English.
Ability to work independently, take ownership, and prioritize in a fast-moving environment.

Nice To Haves

Working within a bank or credit institution regulated by Finansinspektionen.
Acting as SUB or holding another senior AML/CTF responsibility.
Regulatory applications, authorization processes, and interaction with Finansinspektionen or other supervisory authorities.
Knowledge or experience from UK regulation and consumer credit acts.
Experience in consumer credit regulation, data protection, technology, or outsourcing.
Experience with AI governance, the EU AI Act, model risk, or algorithmic accountability.
Experience in legal operations, contract lifecycle management, automation, or building internal tooling.
Experience working across multiple jurisdictions.
Experience building or developing an in-house legal function.

Responsibilities

Build, not brief: Ship working tools and systems to automate legal work.
Implement AI-powered agents for tasks like agreement review, contract analysis, and regulatory change management.
Ensure the 'golden thread' of governance from Board decisions to processes is intact and continuously evidenced.
Conduct adversarial reviews (red-teaming) of governance frameworks, contracts, and processes.
Transform legal expertise into infrastructure, allowing for compounding knowledge within the company.
Integrate legal support into the flow of work, providing timely advice within business platforms.
Ensure compliance by construction, working with Tech to enforce requirements through pipelines.
Measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the legal function, including the amount of work done without direct lawyer involvement.
Act as the primary legal advisor to the CEO, Board, and Executive Crew on corporate law, financial services regulation, commercial agreements, data protection, and outsourcing.
Ensure Fairlo’s corporate governance framework, decision-making structures, and Board documentation meet legal and regulatory requirements.
Own the legal perspective of the internal governance framework, including policies, instructions, and guidelines.
Manage group and subsidiary governance, intragroup agreements, related-party transactions, and conflicts of interest.
Monitor legal and regulatory developments and translate them into practical implications for the business.
Support new products, partnerships, and strategic initiatives with legal advice and risk assessments.
Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements, and manage external legal counsel.
Oversee Fairlo’s AML/CTF framework, processes, and controls.
Own and update the general AML/CTF risk assessment.
Ensure appropriate processes for customer risk classification, due diligence, and transaction monitoring.
Ensure sufficient resources, systems, processes, and controls for effective AML/CTF risk management.
Report regularly to the Board on AML/CTF risks, activities, deficiencies, incidents, and required actions.
Take responsibility for periodic AML/CTF reporting to Finansinspektionen.
Act as Fairlo's Sanctions Responsible, owning the sanctions exposure assessment and screening framework.
Navigate legal questions related to AI, including data usage, the EU AI Act, confidentiality, automated decision-making, and customer rights.
Build legal processes and governance that are robust, clear, and scalable without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Work closely with Compliance and Risk, maintaining a clear division of responsibilities.
Shape the development of the Legal function and its future capabilities, focusing on building leverage over headcount.