Legal Counsel

Aave Labs•New York, NY

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

Aave Labs is seeking a Legal Counsel to support its global business, with a primary focus on commercial matters, acquisitions, and strategic transactions. The role involves working closely with various business teams to structure, negotiate, and execute a wide range of commercial arrangements and transactions, including strategic partnerships, acquisitions, asset purchases, and acqui-hires. This position is ideal for an individual with a robust corporate and commercial background who can manage complex transactions, understand their commercial drivers, and provide practical, business-oriented legal advice in a dynamic environment. The role offers global responsibilities, engaging with diverse teams and navigating international legal complexities.

Requirements

4+ years of experience as a practicing lawyer.
Strong background in corporate and commercial law.
Experience handling complex transactions.
Experience working in fintech, crypto, or digital assets.
Strong understanding of the commercial and legal environment in fintech/crypto.
Strong experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements.
Experience advising on acquisitions, corporate transactions, and other complex commercial arrangements.
Working knowledge of digital asset regulatory frameworks, including securities law issues and token classification, as they relate to deal structuring and diligence.
Familiarity with DeFi protocols and on-chain/DAO governance structures.
Experience conducting legal due diligence.
Experience drafting and negotiating transaction documentation.
Experience structuring transaction consideration involving tokens.
Experience within a leading law firm and/or an in-house legal team within a technology or financial services environment.
Strong commercial judgment and the ability to identify material legal risks and translate them into practical recommendations.
Ability to operate autonomously, manage multiple workstreams, and take ownership of transactions from start to finish.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Confidence to work with senior internal and external stakeholders.
Experience working across multiple jurisdictions.
Experience coordinating specialist external counsel.

Nice To Haves

Preference for this role to be based in New York, NY.
Relocation assistance is available for the right candidate.

Responsibilities

Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including strategic partnerships, technology and software agreements, integrations, vendor, and service agreements.
Partner closely with Business Development, Product, and other teams to structure complex commercial arrangements and develop practical legal solutions for new partnerships and products.
Support the negotiation and execution of strategic partnerships with financial institutions, fintechs, infrastructure providers, and other participants in the digital asset ecosystem.
Provide legal support throughout the lifecycle of partner integrations and strategic initiatives, from initial structuring and negotiation through implementation and launch.
Advise business teams on contract interpretation, rights, obligations, and commercial risk.
Support acquisitions, asset purchases, acqui-hires, and other strategic transactions from initial evaluation through signing and completion.
Conduct and coordinate legal due diligence, identifying key risks and translating findings into clear, practical recommendations.
Draft, review, and negotiate transaction documentation, including NDAs, LOIs, term sheets, purchase agreements, IP transfer arrangements, and other ancillary documents.
Work closely with senior stakeholders and external counsel on transaction structuring, negotiation, and execution.
Advise on corporate, commercial, and intellectual property considerations arising from strategic transactions.
Support post-transaction matters, including the transfer and integration of contracts, intellectual property, and other assets.
Develop and improve commercial templates, contracting processes, and legal playbooks to enable the business to operate efficiently and at scale.